We’re already 18 days into the new year. Hope it has begun well for you. Hope you are not carrying any baggage from 2025 into 2026. Otherwise it’s a new year only on the calendar, no?
The truth is, most of us drag the past into our present without even realizing it—unfinished conversations, broken promises, unprocessed emotions, and incomplete tasks.
These aren’t just minor irritations; they occupy valuable mental and emotional real estate, preventing you from fully showing up for what’s possible in 2026.
Here’s a checklist of 20 questions to ask yourself to clarify if you’ve really left the past in the past. Read on..
SET 1:
PROMISES & ACCOUNTABILITY
1) Have I honoured all the promises I made to myself and others in 2025? Have I taken responsibility for all the promises I did not honour? Have I committed to myself and others to finish whatever is incomplete in those promises?
2) Did I keep my word to myself about my health, relationships, or personal growth in 2025? If not, have I owned that without making excuses?
3) Did I do my best at the jobs or tasks pending from 2025? Did I do what I promised? Did I do it as it was expected to be done, whether or not anyone was looking?
4) Is there a commitment I abandoned in 2025 that I’m still pretending doesn’t matter —but deep down, I know it does?
SET 2:
RELATIONSHIPS & COMMUNICATION
5) Is there an apology I owe to anyone from 2025? Do I need to make a new promise to anyone? Do I need to make amends to someone or for something that happened last year?
6) Is there something from 2025 that I have left unsaid? Is there a question lurking from the past year that I am still looking for answers to?
7) Have I returned what I borrowed, paid what I owe, or acknowledged what I received help with in 2025?
8) Is there unfinished communication — a thank you unsent, appreciation unexpressed, or acknowledgment withheld from 2025?
SET 3:
FORGIVENESS & LETTING GO
9) Have I forgiven myself for the mistakes I made in 2025? Or am I still carrying guilt, shame, or regret that’s weighing me down?
10) Is there someone I need to forgive from 2025—not for them, but to free myself from resentment that’s still occupying space in my mind?
11) Am I still holding onto a grudge, complaint, or story about how someone wronged me in 2025?
12) Am I still waiting for someone else to change, apologize, or give me closure from something that happened in 2025?
SET 4:
EMOTIONAL CLOSURE
13) Am I still replaying conversations from 2025 in my head—things I wish I’d said or done differently?
14) Is there a decision I made in 2025 that I’m still second-guessing, preventing me from moving forward with clarity?
15) Have I acknowledged and processed the losses or disappointments of 2025, or am I pretending they didn’t affect me?
16) Have I acknowledged what I learned from 2025’s disappointments, or am I still replaying “what could have been”?
SET 5:
SELF-HONESTY & MOVING FORWARD
17) If it’s something with myself related to an incident from 2025, am I clear that I’ve done everything there was to do about it, or that I am actually willing to do?
18) Have I cleaned up the lies I told myself in 2025—the stories I created to justify not taking action?
19) Did I celebrate my wins from 2025, or am I dismissing them and only focusing on what didn’t work?
20) Have I let go of the fantasy of “perfect timing” or “ideal circumstances” from 2025 that prevented me from taking action?
So, have you left all of 2025 back in 2025?
Think of it this way: your mind is like a blackboard. Right now, it might still have the scribbles, calculations, and half-erased marks from 2025 all over it.
How can you write something beautiful and new on a board that’s already full?
The good news? You hold the eraser. Closure is available to you right now. Pick one question that landed hardest. Journal on it. Have the conversation. Make the call. Clean it up. Wipe the board clean.
An amazing 2026 is waiting for you — but only you can create the blank slate on which a truly fulfilling year can be written.
What will you erase today so something new can be created?