My Wholehearted Year – 2019 In Review

It truly feels like this year passed by in a blur. I can’t believe Christmas has already come and gone! My family celebrated Christmas at my sister’s house this year. We played games, ate some amazing food, opened gifts and created holiday magic for my sister’s three girls. Being their aunt is one of my greatest joys and I truly enjoy the time I get to love on them. They’re just now getting to the age where they like and are able to play some of the games with us. Playing games at their age was one of my favorite things to do and I cherish so many memories of doing this with my parents and grandparents. Now I love watching the girls get excited and it makes my heart happy to be a part of creating these memories with them. 

I loved the time spent, but it was an exhausting week as I am sure it was for you too. There is typically a lot of work involved in making Christmas day happen, but through it all I hope that you all were able to find joy in the little moments.

We are now in one of my favorite times of year between Christmas and the new year. It has become a special time for me to assess the past year, see how much I have grown and make goals for the new year. And this particular year marks the start of a new decade. Where did the last 10 years go?

The older I get, the more I realize just how important it is to take time to refocus and be intentional in continuing to grow and make time meaningful. The turning over of the new year for me used to mean I’d frantically put together a list of things I didn’t like about my life and think of all the ways I was just going to magically make better once the calendar changed to January 1. And within just a few days or weeks, when the newness wore off, the goals were out the window and I would beat myself up for not sticking to these unrealistic expectations.

That’s really no way to live. I found that self improvement is a long game. You take steps forward, you hit road blocks, you take a step backward and then find yourself taking huge leaps forward. It’s about enjoying the journey as you discover new and exciting things about yourself. It’s about stopping to do self-checks and celebrating the victories along the way.

That is what this time is all about for me now. I take the few days leading up to the new year to write and reflect on the past year and celebrate my accomplishments. It helps me to have a renewed spirit and a positive outlook on the year ahead!

Here is a breakdown of this practice:

I personally identify five areas in my life most important to me and simply assess how well I did in those areas. I will write down three positive actions or ways I grew in each category (no matter how big or small – all growth is a step forward and progress) and just ONE thing that I aspire to develop and grow into in the new year. I will take time to meditate and focus on those five growth areas and vision how those will come to fruition in my life.

In addition to the above, I will come up with ONE word and a scripture or two that I can use to help inspire and motivate me throughout the new year. The word and scriptures should reflect the type of person I want to be and help propel me into making those visions come true.

I want to take advantage of the season as an opportunity to survey the past year, but abandon the thoughts that lead to thinking it’s the only time of year for change. Every day should be used for personal growth. You don’t need a new year to start working on yourself and reaching for more in your life.

I accept the place and season that I’m in and I want to enjoy the journey of development rather than hoping to instantly be someone else or someone new. It should be more than just a time to flip a switch and get a quick fix for my struggle areas.

More than anything I want this to be a time of joy. A time to stop and realize the growth and positive things that have happened in my life. I want to be filled with gratitude and rejuvenation for what I hope to be the best year yet.

I have provided a worksheet below to help walk you through the process.

Five focus areas:

What categories in your life are you always working to grow and develop? What areas or roles mean the most to you in this season of life? (Ex: Health, Faith, Relationships, Parenting, Friendships, Job, Education, Finances, Marriage)

I chose:

1. Health & Self-Care
   1. Sought help through a therapist to better understand myself and how my past has influenced my habits and coping mechanisms
   2. Learned to say no and ask for what I need
   3. Learned to take moments to completely feel and work through my emotions
   4. 2020: Put my health and taking care of the body that God has blessed me with as a priority
2. Relationships
   1. I actively pursued friendships and built strong/trusting relationships with several friends
   2. Vulnerability in communication
   3. Worked to create a community of support
   4. 2020: Willingness to ask for help when it is needed. Seek community with those of similar experiences in life.
3. Faith
   1. Actively prayed throughout the day
   2. Continued to take an active role in teaching bible class
   3. Sought to make real connections to God’s word and apply it in my life
   4. 2020: Willingness to talk to others about God’s word and what he has done in my life
4. Profession
   1. Continued to freelance, building the trust of several clients in my work
   2. Successfully completed the first year of a leadership development program
   3. Played a key role in designing a brand new internal website within our organization
   4. 2020: Continue to develop my skills as an animator. Create online and social media videos.
5. Education
   1. Read and listened to more self-development books than I can count
   2. Attended a women’s leadership conference, meeting several inspiring women
   3. Shared my experience with others, reinforcing the knowledge that I have learned
   4. 2020: Attend a self-development conference and come away with the tools and knowledge to continue in my journey to my best self

2020 word:

What type of feelings do you want to embrace in the new year? What kind of life do you want to lead? What do you need more of in your life?

(Ex: Joy, Discipline, Adventure, Success, Self-Care, Fun, Spontaneity, Peace, Perseverance, Strength, Self-Control, Kindness)

My 2020 Word of the Year:

Transformation

Scriptures:

What verse or verses can you meditate on daily to help inspire you to fulfill this mission every single day? Some may be more obvious than others, but I think it’s important to connect what we do in our lives with scripture and how God would want us to be and live.

Scriptures I chose:

Romans 12: 1-2

I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service. And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.

John 15:2

Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit, He takes away; and every branch that bears fruit, He prunes it so that it may bear more fruit.

Application:

I want to surrender to God all of the habits and negative thinking that has held me back for so long. I no longer want to be conformed to this world, worrying about acceptance of man and living for myself, but be transformed into a beautiful being, proving God’s will and His love in me. I want to renew my mind, filling it with God’s word and His will for my life, transforming lies I believed about myself.

I want God to continue to prune the fruitful branches in me and remove those that are dead and no longer necessary so that I can, in my season, completely blossom and be transformed into the most beautiful plant, rooted in His love.

Focus forward

This was a hard year, but also a good one. Living wholeheartedly meant that I took time to face myself, to truly dig into being vulnerable and seeking to build relationships with people. I allowed people to come into places in my heart and life I once cut off from others. It takes courage and bravery to allow people to see you as you truly are, but I learned that it is one of the most freeing things you can do. That is why many of the goals I have set for the coming year involve surrounding myself with community and truly seeking connection with others who relate to me.

This year has allowed me to more clearly see places within myself that needed healing. I have and will continue to be taking inventory of things [thoughts, feelings, habits, etc.] that no longer serve me and work to surrender, give them up, cut them off, and heal them so that I can be free to live as the woman God designed me to be without holding myself back. I fully admit that it may take me more than a year to accomplish, but I fully plan on working on the things that will transform my life.

Conclusion

I do hope that you found this information helpful. I encourage you to take time to fill out this sheet to help you prepare in the same way for the coming year. Start off recognizing the year you’ve had. This past year may have been a hard one, but even if there was pain and trials, I bet you still learned and grew in ways you never even knew you would. I think that is why this is so important. No matter what type of year you had, there are still good things that came out of it. Focus on that and find a word that describes the type of feelings you want to embrace and exude in this coming year.

I wish you all the best in making 2020 an amazing year of growth.

I’d love to hear your biggest accomplishment from 2019 and the word you chose for 2020. Leave me a comment below!