New Year's Resolutions
/New Year, New You? If you roll your eyes every time you hear that phrase, then this blog is for you, my friend. I always cringe a bit when each year people ask me what my New Year’s Resolutions are. There’s just something about them - maybe it’s the pressure? - that just makes me sweat a little bit. I don’t need a new version of me! I like me! In fact, I have a different approach to the whole “resolution” thing. Let me explain.
What Can I Leave Behind?
Instead of beginning a new year trying to change myself, I like to instead reflect on what I can leave behind from the previous year. What things from last year are no longer serving me? What burdens or worries would I like to begin this new year without? This type of focus is a good reminder for myself to really look inwards and think about where I’m thriving and where I’m barely surviving.
Perhaps you are a recovering people pleaser? Let’s resolve to leave behind all that guilt that comes from setting boundaries and saying no.
Maybe you are forging a healthier relationship with food and exercise? Leave behind any negative self talk you were raised with around weight and scales and clothing sizes.
Are you seeking to improve relationships with family or friends? I challenge you to leave behind comparison to others and lean into the ways that these relationships are unique and meaningful to you.
Shedding the weight of things that consistently contributed to your worries, anxieties, and stresses in 2023 is so freeing. Enter 2024 feeling lighter and more free! So what can you leave behind that is not serving you in this new year?
New Year, New Word
Another approach to New Year’s Resolutions that resonates with me is the idea of choosing a word for 2024. This word is like your theme for the new year. Something that symbolizes the hopes and goals and aspirations that you have for the next 365 days.
You can’t just thumb through the dictionary and pick any random word that your eyes light on. This should be a word that comes to you after some meaningful thought and reflection. Think about all aspects of your life - your family, your career, your health, your interests. What is a word that will bring joy to all of those things? Or improve the quality of those things? Or help you reach a goal you have been striving for?
Some words that might resonate for 2024:
Strength
Joy
Fortitude
More
Me
Calm
Peace
Balance
Do any of those words strike a chord with you? If not, keep reflecting on your word. Find that word that will bring meaning to your new year.