I will start right off the bat by saying that I am on the nay side of the fence. As someone who has worked out pretty frequently for most of my adult life, New Year resolutions were annoying. Every January my favorite spin class would be full unless you got there 30 minutes early. All the machines and ellipticals were packed. The only good thing was that I knew it would only last 3-4 weeks and then everything would go back to normal.
So why am I writing a blog post about resolutions? I figured I would continue to write encouraging posts given 2022 already has shown that it may not necessarily be much different than 2021. People tend to make resolutions, not follow them, and then beat themselves up about it. I came here to tell everyone that you don’t have to make any resolutions. It is also fine if you make them and don’t follow them.
I like to take the time at the end of each year/beginning of the next to reflect on the past year. I do something similar at different times. My favorite time to do this is on Yom Kippur (Jewish High Holiday, also called the Day of Atonement). It is usually a day of fasting and praying. I don’t always fast but I do spend a big part of the day reflecting/praying on what went wrong/things to atone for and how I can improve for the next year.
My job also allows me to reflect on how things are going by having annual meetings with supervisors for different reasons. These means that I get to review how I am doing regarding achieving the goals I have set every year and make plans for future goals. These meetings happen in the Winter and Summer roughly.
Today’s post is a short one since I am still trying to get everything back in order after a nice Winter vacation but I didn’t want to miss a chance to give more words of encouragement. If you can, take this time to reflect on your past year and make plans for this one. You don’t have to call it “resolutions” and set yourself up to fail by creating unattainable goals, like losing 20 pounds in 2 months or going from never working out to working out every day.
Call To Action:
- Make a list of 3 things that went well in 2021 – How can you keep those going? Can you improve them?
- Make a list of 3 things that did not go well in 2021 – What can you learn from these? How can you improve?
- List 1 big goal you would like to achieve in 2022 (remind yourself it is ok if you don’t make it but at least you should try!)
My blog next week will answer those questions for myself. I would love to hear from all of you, especially about what your big goal is. As always, be kind to yourself!
Happy New Year!
