As the year comes to a close, it’s easy to feel stuck or overwhelmed with everything you want to achieve. However, before start setting goals for the new year, take some time to reflect on your journey so far. A life audit is a structured process that helps you evaluate where you are and align your next steps with your core values. Doing this important work allows you to set meaningful, fulfilling goals. It will enable you to find goals that truly resonate with your personal life and aspirations.
This post will guide you through the steps to conduct your own life audit—a first step to creating the fulfilling life you deserve. Grab a pen and notebook and let’s get started. Or you could download the FREE PRINTABLE that will guide you through the process.
*Some of the links included may be affiliate links which means that I may earn a small commission when you make a purchase. However, this does not affect the end price.
What Is A Life Audit?
A life audit is like a personal inventory. It’s a tool to review the key areas of your life. This process helps you review things such as your career, finances, personal growth and relationships. This review isn’t about being hard on yourself but about gaining clarity on where you stand. It’s your key to identifying the steps you need to take toward a better year.
When you give yourself time to pause and reflect, you set the foundation for more effective goal setting. Furthermore, a life audit ensures that your goals align with what matters most to you—your values and priorities—not just the things other people expect. I implore you, please don’t jump into setting goals before you do this!
This is especially great to do when you are dealing with feelings of failure or overwhelm in your life. I myself was dealing with this and wrote a whole article on being 30 and feeling like a failure. Check it out here.
Step 1: Assess Different Areas of Your Life
Firstly, to begin your life audit, assess various aspects of your life and rate them on a scale from 1 to 5 (1 = very dissatisfied, 5 = extremely satisfied). Or you can grab your workbook and color in the stars based on how you feel in each area. Consider these areas:
- Personal Life: Your happiness, sense of purpose, and overall well-being. Are you giving yourself time to breathe? Time for your hobbies. This really encompasses, how you feel individually.
- Career/Work: Are you fulfilled in your job, career or business? Are you moving toward your goals? Do you feel at a standstill where you are now?
- Finances: How secure do you feel about your financial situation? Do you have a lot of debt or feel you are spending recklessly?
- Health/Fitness: Your physical and mental health—are you prioritizing them enough?
- Relationships: How connected do you feel to the people in your life? Really this can be any relationship, whether it is your family, partner, or friends.
- Personal Growth: Are you learning and growing as a person?
- Other: If there is a different aspect you would like to assess, feel free to do so. Truly, no two life audits are the same!
This step helps you see which areas need attention and which are already thriving. Now that you have all of your areas assessed, average it all out and assess your life as a whole. This will help you see how you feel where you are right now. If your rating is low, don’t be hard on yourself, just know this is a great opportunity for next year. Just take it as a chance to really look deep within and work on the life you envision.
Step 2: Find What You Need To Cut Out And Add More Of Next Year
Amy Landino, a YouTube personality shares a great take on the Life Audit Process. She shares an important step of the exercises which lies in your calendar. Honestly, your calendar is a detailed record of how you’ve spent your time. Additionally, it’s a valuable tool for this audit process. Go through your calendar or planner for the year and list the events, activities, or commitments that stood out to you. But here’s the catch, you must make a list where you separate those into two categories:
- Positive Things: What brought you joy, fulfillment, or growth? These could be accomplishments, memorable moments, or habits that made your life better.
- Negative Things: What drained your energy or caused stress? These could be obligations, routines, or people that didn’t align with your values.
Once you’ve listed these, highlight 2-3 positive things that you want to focus on adding more of next year and 2-3 negative things that you want to cut out or minimize. This step ensures that your goals reflect what truly matters to you while creating space for more positive experiences in your life. And it is important to assess both the positive and the negative, not just focus on the negative.
Once you have the items that you will cut out and add more of, make sure to write them somewhere. You can keep them in your planner as reminders or incorporate them in your goal planning process. For example, if you didn’t enjoy attending a certain type of event, make it a point to not attend next year.
You can watch her do this process in her video HERE.
Step 3: Reflect on Your Wins
Now that you’ve broken your brain with a couple difficult tasks, it’s time for the happy part! Don’t rush into the “fixing” mindset just yet. Take a moment to celebrate your achievements! List the goals you’ve reached and the things you’re proud of this year. This exercise not only boosts your confidence but also shows you what’s working in your life. You can list 3 big achievements or 20 smaller achievements. It is up to you to decide how to list your accomplishments.
Step 4: Identify Challenges
Next, think about the areas where you struggled. What challenges did you face, and what did you learn from them? Perhaps you found it hard to balance work and personal life or struggled with sticking to healthy habits. Use these insights to guide your next steps.
Additionally, you really want to list all of these challenges and how they affected you. You can tie them in with a little story as to why they were challenging. Although this is a great journaling opportunity, it can be difficult to face these things that affected you all year. However, I can promise you, it will be a tremendous help by the time you are setting your goals.
Step 5: Align Your Goals with Core Values
Now that you’ve assessed your life, reflect on your core values. What’s truly important to you? A fulfilling life is built on goals that align with these values. For example:
- If personal growth is a priority, consider steps like reading more, taking a class, or starting a new hobby.
- If relationships matter most, focus on making time for loved ones or improving communication.
This is your chance to build a life that reflects your authentic self. List out your values first. I would say probably list 3 to 5 values. It is a very personal thing to write down but it is very simple. Your values may be something like playfulness, self development, family, love, friendship, etc. Truly, the list is endless but you must find the values that resonate with you the most.
Step 6: Create a Vision for Next Year
Write down how you want your life to look by the end of next year. This vision will act as a compass for setting goals. Be specific about the areas of life you want to improve, whether it’s your health, personal life, or professional achievements.
Furthermore, there is no need to get fancy with this step, this is the moment where you simply jot things down that you want to accomplish. Creating a Vision Board is also an excellent exercise for this step. Specially for someone who is visual, seeing pictures of things that they want to accomplish is a big help. Learn how to make a Vision Board Here.
Step 7: Set Actionable Steps
Let’s go back to your initial Life Audit in Step 1. At that moment, you assessed different areas of your life. Now, for every area rated below 3 stars in your assessment, list one specific action you can take to improve it. Small steps are the key to big changes. Here are some examples:
- Health: Walk 30 minutes a day.
- Finances: Start tracking expenses weekly.
- Career: Take on a new project that challenges you.
These steps should be simple, clear, and aligned with your values. Finally, you are at the point where you can set your goals! This goal setting process is completely up to you. You can set SMART goals or simply write a few things down that you want to accomplish. Success is what you make it and only you can determine it.
Why Do a Life Audit Before Setting Goals?
People often jump into goal setting without reflecting on their current state. However, without this first step, you may set goals that don’t truly address your needs or values. A life audit ensures you’re working toward a life that feels authentic and fulfilling—not just checking off a list of things.
Additionally, doing a life audit also helps you avoid feeling stuck or overwhelmed. It’s about recognizing where you are, celebrating your progress, and taking intentional steps forward.
Download the Life Audit Workbook
To make this process easier, I’ve created a free life audit workbook. It includes prompts for assessing different areas of your life, reflecting on your activities for the year and celebrating your wins. It’s a simpler way to do finalize this process of your life audit so you don’t just have to write it down in a notebook. But if that’s your jam, all the power to you!
Closing Thoughts
The end of the year is the perfect time to give yourself the gift of reflection. By doing a life audit, you can set goals that truly align with your core values and take steps toward creating the fulfilling life you deserve.
Are you ready to start your life audit? Download the workbook and take the first step toward a better year today!
Let’s Get Social!
Let me know how the workbook works for you and if you will be doing a life audit this year.
