I don’t know about y’all, but the “New Year” and all of the celebrations and traditions around it give me complex feelings.
I tend to feel a lot of excitement over the New Year- it’s fresh, clean, a new slate. But, because of that, I also feel a lot of pressure around it, too. Is this probably just because of my anxiety disorder? Yeah, most likely. And I acknowledge that. A lot of people feel similarly, though, and that’s why I’m writing this post.
People love writing goals for the new year in their journal, or creating vision boards. Those have been massively trendy ways to celebrate and prepare over the last few years, and I get it! I like to do that (or similar activities) too. But personally, I feel a lot of pressure to do that. Like, yeah, part of it is because it’s what the *it girlies* do, and I LOVE being that girl. But also, it feels like a great way to prepare yourself and goal set for the coming year, and I like doing that. I like feeling prepared. It makes me feel like I’m actually going to come into a new year and accomplish big things!
I have a tendency to not do it “on-time” though- or at least what I think should be on time. In 2021, I literally made my vision board for the year in March. And even though I loved it and the activity was super helpful and encouraging, I still felt like I had missed out on opportunities for like three months. Isn’t that weird? That literally writing things down on pieces of paper made me feel so organized and prepared?
This year, I knew I was going to feel that way, so I actually set aside time on Friday night (Dec 30th) to make note of some of my goals and hopes for the new year. I’ll tell you what those look like at the end of this post. It was super important for me that I did this- and doing it ahead of time, instead of trying to make sure I do it symbolically in this aesthetically perfect moment on New Year’s Day surrounded by candles and fairy dust or something like that. I get in my head like that, and want moments to be perfect- and if it doesn’t feel perfect, sometimes it’s hard for me to actually do the thing (whatever it is) because I’ve got it so worked up in my head. I feel like it can’t be done, unless it is that perfect moment.
Of course, I had a similar vision for how I would talk about goal setting with Adam for the new year. SHOCKER, Adam is not nearly as sentimental/spiritual/insane as I am, so every time I tried to talk to him about goals, I felt pressure to do it in a certain way that i had visualized, but he just said “huh, I don’t know, I haven’t thought about it much.” So what did we end up doing? On New Year’s Day, we went on a little family walk in the state park down the street from us. As we wondered the trails, I brought it up again. Started asking questions to try to get him to goal-set and reflect. This sparked another conversation about how different we are in some ways and how Adam doesn’t approach life the same way I do (obvi lol) but it was actually a good, calm, beneficial conversation. You know why? BECAUSE I wasn’t trying to pressure all of these things to happen exactly the way I had envisioned. Because I let go and let things happen more organically. And we did end up talking about some of our couple goals and reflections on our past year together/ways to grow. And it was easy and beautiful!
So I’m telling y’all about all of this because, well, we know I just love to blab. But also because I want to encourage everyone to do those things that make you feel organized, put together and prepared, no matter when. I also want to encourage everyone to just TRY THINGS and figure out what works for you. I don’t necessarily love making a visual board with magazine cuttings and words of affirmation- it makes me feel really pressured lol. But, my friend Julee likes to do that! And it works well for her. Personally, I’ve come to realize that I like to write things down in a journal or some place- this year, I used a big, brand new journal to write my goals and hopes for the year. I organized it and thought about how I wanted it to look and be laid out, but I didn’t put a ton of pressure on myself about it. I just let it happen. Similarly, I did have to ask Adam to talk to me about our goals and reflections, but instead of letting myself be stopped by this vision I had in my head of exactly how the interaction would go, I just started the conversation when it felt easiest and most organic. I am *trying* different things and finding what works for me/us. So I want y’all to try what works for you, too! And for you, it might be a post it note affirmation or goal that you stick on your mirror. It doesn’t have to be a whole thing- don’t let social media or family traditions or friends pressure you into thinking you have to do things a certain way, okay?
So, now that I’ve ranted the way I have- I’m going to share with y’all some of my goals for the new year. This is just a small sample of the goals I’m setting and the reflection I’m doing, but I love openness with y’all and thought it might help someone get inspiration for their own goal setting process.
Emotional Growth
-focus on rest, self care, and reflection
-prioritize workouts, meditation, study and walks
Artistic Growth
-create out of passion, not necessity
-find inspiration everywhere and let it flow
Pod Growth
-expand guest network/community
Social Growth
-create out of passion and have fun!
I love this community we’ve created so far, and I hope to grow it in the coming year. I love you guys, and I can’t wait to see what we do in 2023. The Year of the Thinker!