Personal Self Reflection Template [Free Download PDF/Docx]

Below I am sharing my weekly reflection template which I am using for over 5 years. I’ve built this personal reflection template and iterated on it multiple times over 5+ years. This originated out of the desire to live a more reflected personal and professional life and to grow as a person over time.

Personal and professional growth compounds over time. Even just a little improvement from 15 each week thanks to a strong self reflection template can significantly improve the quality of your life. This has been a guiding north star for me, most importantly in the dark and challenging times. Guiding me through many years of living abroad, loneliness, work challenges and other topics worth reflecting on.

I am a big believer in the Harvard-termed concept of “growth mindset” and for me personally, a weekly reflection was a big step towards ensuring I am growing consistently as a person, building my character and most importantly reflecting on my failures, lessons learned the hard way and how I can change myself to not repeat making the same mistakes.

Stoicism has guided me through life in many ways and it is a big part of what I consider my personal life philosophy. I’ve read many books about philosophy and stoicism specifically such as “the art of living a good life” and readings from Seneca and Marcus Aurelius. I built this template on stoic principles. However, previous earlier versions are built not as strongly on stoic principles. Feel free to reach out if you think it is worth sharing and I will add them into the article.

Download the personal self reflection template for free:

Below you find the text from the downloadable self reflection template in case you prefer to read it without downloading:

Weekly Reflection: CW #

Date: xx.xx.2025

Place: xx

Short summary of the week

—Your reflective thoughts here—

Did I experience anger? envy? lust? Why did the week’s events upset me? What could have I done to avoid getting upset?

—Your reflective thoughts here—

What failures have you overcome? Where can you improve? What has disturbed my inner peace?

—Your reflective thoughts here—

3 things I am grateful for

1. —Your reflective thoughts here—

What goals did I achieve?

Professional life

1. —Your reflective thoughts here—

Private life

1. —Your reflective thoughts here—

State of mind and thoughts

—Your reflective thoughts here—

Stoic Inspirations

“Keep away from low company.” – Seneca

Stoic Mental Checklist

Are we practicing the psychological techniques recommended by the Stoics? 

Do we periodically engage in negative visualization?

Do we take time to distinguish between those things over which we have no control at all, those things over which we have some but not complete control?

Are we careful to internalize our goals? 

Have we refrained from dwelling on the past and instead focused our attention on the future?

Have we consciously practiced acts of self denial?

Stoic Progress Checklist

How to judge our process as Stoics? 

Did my relations with other people have changed?
Acc. to Epictetus, our feelings aren’t hurt when others tell us that we know nothing or that we are “mindless fools” about things external to us. 

Do I stop blaming, censuring, and praising others?
Acc. to Epictetus, we will stop boasting about ourselves and how much we know; and we will blame ourselves, not external circumstances, when our desires are thwarted. If we have made progress as a stoic, we will come to regard ourselves not as a friend whose desire must be satisfied “as an enemy lying in wait”.

Did practicing Stoicism affect my dream life?
Acc. to Zeno, as we make progress in our practice, we will stop having dreams in which we take pleasure in disgraceful things.

Does my philosophy of life consist of actions rather than words?
Acc. to Epictetus, what matters most is our ability to actually live in accordance of stoic principles. 

Did my emotional life change? Am I experiencing fewer negative emotions?

We will also find that we are spending less time than we used to wishing things could be different and more time enjoying things as they are. We might be able to discover that our practice od Stoicism has made us susceptible to little outbursts of: We will, out of the blue, feel delighted to be the person we are, living the life we are living, in the universe we happen to inhabit.

Stoic techniques to start practicing:

1. Negative visualization.
2. Practice trichotomy of control: Distinguish between things we have no control over, things we have complete control over, and things we have some control but not complete control over.
   E.g. instead of winning the tennis match as your goal, make it your goal to prepare for the match as best as you can.
3. Do things that cause mental and physical discomfort.