Grad School Femtoring: Inclusive Grad School Stories, Personal Development, and Productivity Tips for First-Gen BIPOCs · A podcast on thriving in graduate school for first-generation BIPOC students, offering insights on academic success, career development, mental health, and navigating diversity and inclusion in higher education.

353: Achieve Your Annual Goals with 10 Monthly Reflection Questions (Replay)

·27 min·2 clips

I've been gently pushing myself to do a little bit more and a little bit more

Dr. Aivette opens by saying she is on a short break and resharing a popular replay. She says she will be back with brand new episodes next week. From there, she starts with a familiar problem: big annual intentions that fade after a month or two. Her answer is a different rhythm. Instead of putting all the pressure on January, she uses monthly reflection to keep goals in view without making them feel heavy. She describes the practice as a way to notice progress, stay grounded in values, and pay attention to well-being along the way. She then walks through the questions she uses to reflect on accomplishments, challenges, energy, relationships, and long-term goals. The idea is simple enough to use on your own, but structured enough to keep you honest. She also talks about making time for reflection instead of waiting for it to happen by accident. A concrete example from her own spiritual practice shows how even small rituals can carry real weight. Another question focuses on relationships, and this part makes the point that community does not take care of itself. Listeners are asked to think about who they reconnected with, who they met, and who they want to check in on. She then turns to habits and daily routines. The goal there is to spot one practice that could become more consistent with a better system. She keeps coming back to the same idea: reflection should make next month more intentional than the last. The questions can also be used later in a performance review, in long-term planning, or in any document where someone has to write about themselves. By the end, the episode feels like a practical reset built from small monthly steps instead of one big yearly deadline.

As heard by us

The year works better as a monthly practice than a January sprint.

This episode treats annual goals as something better served by monthly reflection: a steadier way to track progress, notice growth, and stay tied to values and well-being. Dr.

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Why you'd press play

Reset your annual goals with a monthly check-in instead of waiting for everything to be figured out in January.

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