In place of writing a new year’s resolution, the last few years I have chosen a couple of words to focus on. Like anyone, I can and do sometimes fall away from resolutions, so I find choosing centering words help me focus and adjust my plans based on current circumstances.
After reflecting on challenges that I had last year and wanting to create greater hopefulness within myself, this year I will focus on being purposeful in my decisions and intentional in my actions.
Last year took twists and turns that I did not anticipate and were very much out of my control. Unfortunately, I further forfeited my control by primarily operating in a reactive state. As the year progressed, I lost sight of my plan and focused on how I could help with everyone else’s needs. Though it is beneficial to be a problem-solver and team player, at the end of the year, I felt exhausted, overwhelmed, and unfulfilled.
In addition, those closest to me noticed I was focusing on negative interpretations and struggling to be more positive, which is not like me. Before their feedback, I wasn’t aware of it, but I could feel it.
I could blame my various situations or others, but I am responsible for my mindset and the energy I am conveying. That is why this year, I am focused on being intentional in actions and purposeful in my planning.
There will still be situations, opportunities, and challenges that will require me to divert from my plans. The first month of this year has already challenged me to see if I really am going to commit. Instead of feeling defeated by my first few weeks, I’m choosing to see this as a reminder that this is WHY I need to focus on being intentional and purposeful because otherwise the year is going to get away from me again.
Here are some ways I am going to practice:
- Focus on learning new things. Instead of stumbling into new experiences and by chance learning new things, I will choose the five new things I am going to do each month. For more than 15 years, I have enjoyed intentionally trying and doing five new things a month. Learning, stretching myself, and creating new memories brings me great joy and makes me stronger.
- Prioritizing my physical health. Two years ago, I did so well at this, and last year I let everyone else’s needs cannibalize my time and reduce my energy to work out. I will plan the time I will work out each day and view it as breaking a promise to myself if I don’t do it. In addition, I will get back to planning dinners in advance, so I plan my eating earlier in the day to achieve a more balanced diet. Building up these habits takes time, so I’m doing it in phases instead expecting perfection from myself overnight.
- Recapturing a positive outlook. Journaling helps me change the tone of my inner voice, which, like so many of us, can be very negative naturally. I am keeping a gratitude journal each week. It does not take more than a few minutes. The year has started with challenges, but writing down the things I am grateful for each week has been helping me stay positive. I am hopeful about how a year of doing this will lead me to more positive interpretations of situations and overall outlook.
Perhaps you can identify with these feelings of lack of control and being adrift in your career or personal goals. The good news is that we don’t have to allow circumstances to take us off track. We can’t get rigid in our scheduling and ignore the needs of those in our lives; instead, let’s focus on choosing what is most important to us and be deliberate in the actions we take.
Cheers to a new year of opportunity and growth.
Samantha
