Thanks 2023, Hello 2024
My birthday is at the end of the year, mid-December, so it has always aligned well with a reflection on the year and intentions for the new year. This end of year self-reflection has had many forms over the years such as self criticism and disappointment followed by setting hefty resolutions – like so many people tend to do. I’ve moved far away from New Year’s resolutions and focus more on intentions for the upcoming year. Intentions align with my values and who I’m striving to be in the highest form of myself versus external or material driven worth and value. If you’ve read any of my previous posts, you’re familiar with my writing about my struggles with seeking worth from external things, such as work or image. Moving further away from seeking external worth further aligns me to my true self worth.
As I approached my intentions for 2024, I did some reviewing of 2023 by re-reading some of my journals, notes from coaching and other growth meetings I’d participated in, and in general tried to reduce the year down to:
What things worked well
What things were hard for me.
From here I gave gratitude and appreciation to the things that worked well. I also felt love for myself for the hard work I’d done to make changes and small pivots to try and evolve in areas of my life that were repeatedly difficult or situations where I didn’t like how I was showing up (responding or reacting).
When I changed gears to thinking about things that were hard for me this year, I needed time to sit with them and try to determine exactly why they were hard. Usually, this exercise brings up varying reasons which allows me to focus on some of those for growth in the upcoming year. For example: I’d like to move away from the mentality that so much of my life and work is a performance. I’m tired of performing, and furthermore, why do I feel like things need to be a performance? I’m just another person living a life and doing the best I can – imperfectly. Period. My daughter recently started saying “Try your best and your best is enough”. I know she heard it somewhere, but she truly gets it and uses it with impeccable accuracy. She's six years old and I hope this sticks with her. This mantra will drive my 2024 intention of moving away from a performance mentality. Thank you, Norah!
My intentions are not just growth oriented. I also add some as reminders for my values and things that I want to remain front and center to my upcoming year. For example: Family is #1. I have no desire to let anything come before my big (extended) family and definitely not the little family I’ve made. Another example is building connections with other open hearts. Connection, in general, was a 2023 intention and I certainly did create a lot more connection in my life. This year, I’m getting a little more specific.
I have several more intentions that are important to me as I head into 2024. They’re guideposts for how I’d like to evolve throughout the year. Every so often, throughout the year, I check in on my list and see if those intentions are still in alignment with my life and values. Sometimes they shift slightly or take on a whole new meaning, but they remain in some form. If you’re thinking of doing an intentions list, my advice is to dig deeper than a typical New Year’s resolution. What’s going to change the course of your happiness, reduce the pressure, allow you to be more present or return to your values in 2024?
Cheers to 2024!
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