NEW YEAR - Reflection and Resolutions

Reflection

The end of a year is always a good moment to reflect on the year that’s been, take stock, and consider the year ahead – and this year maybe more than most. For many of us, this year has presented great challenges. I believe that there have also been many gifts within the difficulty – for those willing to look.

Where would we even start in looking back over a year like 2020? What jumps out? Personally, I think that while many people out there did amazing work in learning to adapt their lives and businesses to the times, for so many of us just making it through was more than enough.

Challenges always present opportunities – to grow, to change, to learn. What did you learn this year? Maybe your priorities changed; maybe you started to see life differently. Perhaps things that were no longer working in your life started to fall away. Perhaps you started to appreciate things or people more than before.

I know that when I look back at the year, I am so thankful for the people in my life. Being unable to be together in person created the opportunity to turn to other methods of communication – such as phone calls, Zoom calls and corresponding via email. I am so thankful for the friendships that deepened as a result.

The lockdowns also supplied the opportunity for me to step up my self-care practices, spend more time in nature and listen to the voice within. As a result, I am now following a dream I’ve held all my life. Without the space supplied by lockdown, I might never have given that dream serious thought, much less put it into action.

Resolutions

So many of us will inevitably make declarations of intent going into a new year: to start going to the gym, to lose x amount of kilos, to stop/start doing something. How does that usually pan out?

Instead of making the same old declarations, why not make a ‘feeling’ goal instead of a ‘doing’ goal? Why not think of how you’d like to feel in 2021, and work from there? Perhaps you’d like to feel happier, freer, more peaceful?

Once you’ve figured out how you’d like to feel, you may like to write a list of the things that make you feel that way. Then choose one or two things from that list to do as often as possible.

For example, you may decide you’d like to feel more peaceful in your life. You would then write a list of the things that make you feel peaceful – perhaps walking in nature, reading in a café, or taking a bath. Finally, pick one of those things and do it at least once a week, or as often as possible.

It may seem small, but don’t underestimate how big a difference one small change can make.