Stepping Into The New Year
“No Goals; No Growth.
No Clarity; No Change.”
disclaimer, this isn’t going to be a neatly curated post, I’m writing what I’m feeling, as I’m thinking.
I did a poll the other week on my Instagram stories, asking if you do New Year’s Resolutions, goals, words, (or whatever it might be that you may do this time of year). It was close to a 50/50 of “always” and “not really”. Whether you do them or not… keep reading. There are a few things I want to touch on and for you to take away. In some ways, the things I share may seem to be contradicting to one another, but hear me out.
What
To me, the beginning of the year always brings an overwhelming sense of wanting to do better, wanting more, having a fresh start, taking time to dream, set intentions, reflect, figure out what I am looking for in my life/the new year, what do I want my life to become (or what do I feel it becoming, and expand on that), what do I want to welcome into my life, what do I want to release, remove and let go of things that I am holding onto, that are weighing me down and keeping me small.
Never stop being in motion - that is what it is about.
Never stop being a student, learning, expanding, growing.
It’s about becoming the truest, fullest expression of ourselves… stepping into and tapping into the best version of ourselves.
When
There is no better time than now.
Now is your time.
Now.
Now.
Now.
Maybe it was, January 1st, today, or maybe your “today” will be in a three months time or possibly at a much later time. Whenever you find these words, or get that stir within you, or that lightbulb goes off in you, just remember… now. You don’t need more time or one more day. There is no better time than now, so don’t wait until tomorrow or until you'‘ll have x-y-z figured out - because frankly, that will probably never happen. Start now, just as you are, with what you have. Because you need you, others need you, the world needs you.
HOW
How do you choose your “thing”?
Journal, meditate, read, have deep conversations, sit in silence.
Visualize.
Ask yourself tough questions.
Figure out your reason, purpose, and why.
And honestly, sometimes it’s not always clear. So just… start… and as it does become clearer or things change, learn to pivot.
How do you stay on course and not fall off track?Measure yourself often.
(in all areas of your life, relationships, habits, output, progress, etc)Look at your “goals” every.single.day.
If you aren’t looking at your goals every day and visualizing them, you will get disarranged. It keeps you remembering what you are after and what you want. Looking at them daily allows you to keep them front and center so that they don’t get moved to the back of your mind. So put them somewhere where you will see them and can stare at them every day.Come up with tangible things that can be steps towards your '“goals”.
Identify key skills and then obsessively develop those skills.
Choose. Figure out what you want and what you want to let go of, allowing your roadmap to be clearer.
Set reminders on your phone. I started doing this a few years ago, I have 3-4 repeating alarms go off on my phone. Each alarm has a message attached to it, usually a reminder or questions to ask myself.
Have a support system and a community. Someone who can help keep you accountable, support you, motivate you, and help keep your spark.
Exist
This is where it might feel a little bit contradictory, but this is so, so important.
There is more to our life outside of the work we do.
Our goals are not who we are.
Our achievements do not define us.
We will not be fulfilled by “the next thing” or by “if only I can have/get this” or a title we give ourselves (or that others give us)
Our purpose is not a calling to do something.
We are not those things… the goals, achievements, titles. We are so much more than those things. We are so much more outside of those things.
Goals and those things are not bad, they are good in their own way and necessary. But they are not you. They are not all of you. They are not your purpose or your success. Nor should you measure yourself to them.
Rather it’s the life we are gifted with.
Existing.
Being.
Enjoying life.
Living life.
Seeing the little, meaningful things.
Appreciate the few just as much as the plenty.
Choosing how we approach everything.
Living every moment fully.
You are worth celebrating who you are.
Simply, because you exist and who you are.
Me
I always choose a word. It’s my intent, my internal focus for the year, and my goal.
My chosen word(s) are something that I start living into and the qualities they have.
Going back to the “WHAT”, my word is something that aligns with my life and what I am wanting in my life and/or the New Year, something that I keep coming back to over and over again or that keeps showing up.
The previous two years I chose “Intentional”. While that is something that I want to continue practicing and getting better at, I am at a pivotal point in my life and it’s time for me to step into something else.
For 2021, I keep going back and forth between “Go Deep” and “Rhythms”
Go Deep.
Don’t play it small and comfortable, dive in, get scared, nervous, uncomfortable, have those butterfly moments, do the hard work, be challenged.
Rhythms.
We all have rhythms in our life, whether we know it or not. It’s the things that keep us going and that keep us aligned… it is the things that we feel if we skip, miss, or don’t take time for. We have a bad day or maybe even a bad week.
They are Rest. Restore. Connect. Create.
I really want to hone in on what exactly those rhythms in my life are, to discover them and make them a priority. But, not just a priority… a habit and not just an act out of necessity when I’m feeling the repercussions of not prioritizing and making them a habit and way of being.
If you’ve made it this far into my long-winded thoughts, I appreciate you.
As we enter into 2021, I hope you feel brave enough to face the things you need to face; letting go of things that no longer serve you, continuing to step into who you are and your fullest version of yourself, always remembering that you have a choice on how you see and approach things… and all while, let’s not to forget to enjoy the small things and find the “joy” in each day.
xo,
Alison
