A Weekly Reflection Template

I woke up today and realized that while reflecting at the end of the week was really good for me, I didn't have a structure for it, and had never really put serious thought into what good reflective habits looked like.

Because (a) I'm incredibly lazy and (b) thought I probably wasn't the only person in history who had this thought, I decided to ask Claude, ChatGPT and DeepSeek to leverage human knowledge to help me put together a Weekly Reflection Guide (I've included how I did that at the tail of this article).

I wish somebody had shared something like this with me 30 odd years ago, so I thought I'd post it here in case it helps you.

Enjoy!

My Weekly Reflection Guide

1. Check Your State of Mind

• Are you in the right headspace to reflect objectively?
• What's your current energy level, and how might it shape your reflection?
• Would a short meditation, walk, or deep breath help you center yourself?
• What environment would best support honest reflection right now?

2. Celebrate Wins & Gratitude

• What went well this week, and what specific actions led to these successes?
• What unexpected joys or wins surprised you?
• Who or what are you grateful for, and how can you express that gratitude?
• Which small victories might you be overlooking?

3. Review Your Time & Energy

• Where did most of your time and energy go this week?
• Did your activities align with your priorities and values? Where was there misalignment?
• What tasks or interactions energized you, and which ones drained you?
• When were you at your most focused and productive, and what made those moments possible?

4. Analyze Challenges & Growth

• What obstacles did you face, and how did your response align with your values?
• What did these challenges teach you about yourself and your resilience?
• Which struggles were within your control, and which were not?
• What support or resources could have helped, and how can you access them next time?

5. Assess Relationships & Connection

• How did you show up for important relationships this week?
• Which connections deepened or weakened, and what patterns do you notice?
• What conversations or interactions were most meaningful, and why?
• Where did you create or miss opportunities for connection?

6. Check on Well-being

• How did stress show up in your body and mind this week?
• Which self-care practices worked best, and which did you neglect?
• Were there any signs from your body or emotions that you overlooked?
• What one change can you make to better meet your body's needs?

7. Plan Adjustments & Experiments

• What specific behaviors or habits need tweaking, and why?
• What's one small change you can make next week for better balance?
• What new experiment or approach could you try, and what would success look like?
• Who can you reach out to for support or accountability next week?

8. Set an Intentional Focus

• What's one word or phrase that will guide your actions next week?
• Which priorities deserve more of your focus, and which need less?
• What do you need to say no to in order to protect your time and energy?
• What's one simple way you'll track progress without getting overwhelmed?

9. Capture Key Insights

• What are your top 2-3 takeaways from this reflection?
• What patterns or themes are emerging over time?
• What guiding question do you want to carry into next week?
• How will these insights shape your choices and actions?

10. Let Go & Look Forward

• What can you release from this week that no longer serves you?
• What limiting belief or habit can you let go of to make space for growth?
• What excites or motivates you about the upcoming week?
• What's one thing you're looking forward to trying or experiencing?
• Choose one word to describe how you want to show up next week, and envision what that looks like in daily moments.

11. Take Action Now

• What's one thing you can do right now to set yourself up for success next week?
• What small task can you complete today to build momentum?
• What support can you line up now to help you follow through?

How I built this list

I think of myself as a Zetetic Pyrrhonist and a Humanist. Roughly speaking, that means that I'm constantly engaged in inquiry, and I try where possible to live a life of dignity, ethics, rationality and human rights (although I often fail!).

That combination has a big influence on how I personally leverage AI to improve myself, in that I assume the closest 'right answer' likely comes from a mixture of as many sources as possible, and I try to keep an open mind, whilst also remaining open to the idea that they've got it completely wrong.

To whit, I've enjoyed using these very simple prompts with AI LLMs recently:

Step 1 - Leave the scope wide open with one LLM.

While there's no such thing as perfection, what might be a perfect way to (x)?

Step 2 - Ask another LLM to rate and review that response

Rate this suggested template for how to (x) out of ten based on (personal criteria), and then make improvements to it based on your observations.

Step 3 - Rinse and repeat with each LLM until they all rate it 9-10

Whilst this process is never going to be perfect, it's a rapid way to get structured thoughts and alignments out of LLMs by leveraging their range of training, databases, and different instructions they will have been fed, based on local cultures and norms.

A final note on AI and Human Ethics

I'm very conscious that this multi-llm approach contributes to the energy suck and potential global energy/environment crisis. I haven't yet figured out quite how to reconcile my thirst for knowledge and understanding, and my belief that by developing myself I'm in a better position to help others, with my awareness that I'm contributing to more issues through my actions.

As of this date, I don't know what the answer is, so if you have thoughts, let me know!