Happy new year! One of my favorite parts of a new year is taking time for reflection, setting new goals and getting a fresh start. We have an opportunity to consider what is most important, create a new ideal week and practice rituals that will support a healthy rhythm. Join me this week as we ask four questions to help you set up your new year. These questions can apply to every area of your life – relationships, career, business, physical, emotional, spiritual, intellectual and more.
What is mine to own?
Last week, I listened to a really interesting podcast with Emily P. Freeman and Suzanne Stabile discussing the Enneagram and decision making. This is one of the questions that resonated most with me and that I am carrying into this new year. In many areas of life, I want to help, support and encourage others; however, I can easily find myself overwhelmed because I attempt to do too much for too many people and projects. This question provides thoughtfulness and boundary-setting that guides our decisions about how to spend our time and what we really need to be doing in our current season. As we begin this new year, what is yours to own?
What do I want more of this year?
This could include being more thankful, exercising, leaving the office (or desk in your house) to spend quality time with those closest to us, sleeping, scheduling time with close friends or family, reading, praying, writing, giving, listening, focusing on priorities, believing the best in those closest to us, and many other things. You may want more focused time to do what is most important to you or you may want to hire new staff so that you can expand what is possible in your coalition. When you know what you want more of, this will help you prioritize your time. Start out by thinking of the area that you want to emphasize and then turn it into a goal for the year.
What do I want less of this year?
This could include complaining less, working fewer hours, saying “yes” too quickly, participating in extracurricular activities, eating unhealthy food, eating out, shopping, spending time on social media, comparing ourselves to others, scheduling meetings without a clear purpose and agenda, talking too much, avoiding conflict and the list could continue. These can also become goals for the year. I remember one of the goals I set for myself a few years ago was to “Reduce involvement in at least two extra curricular activities (and say no to any new ones) by a specific date.” Reflect upon what you want less of so that you can prioritize what you need to reduce or eliminate.
What do I want to be about the same this year?
It’s easy to think that every year has to be completely different with entirely new goals, priorities and focus areas. However, we don’t have to move on so quickly just because it’s a new year. Last year, you may have had some great breakthroughs in one of your most important relationships and you want to continue that progress. You may have found a rhythm in your day and your week that you want to continue. You may be exercising consistently or have successfully created some margin in your life. As you reflect on 2022, I encourage you to keep up the things in your life that are working well and not to get burdened by having to move forward to new things in every area of life. You want to keep things the same that are working for you right now!
Now that you have taken some notes on these areas, I encourage you to pick a few (2-3) to focus on in the first quarter of the new year. Find ways to make them specific, measurable and ensure that they are areas that are really important to you. Review them daily and make weekly notes on what is going well and what you would like to adjust.
So what kind of things make your list? What is yours to own? What do you want to do more of, less of, or stay the same this year?
If you would like more support in this year to find balance, rhythm and escape the overwhelm, check out my Masterclass recording, Escape the Overwhelm.
Photo by Ana Municio on Unsplash
