I hope that you had a wonderful Christmas!! If you’re reading this, congratulations! You survived the craziness and stress that come with the holiday. Although I truly hope that through the hectic hustle and bustle, you were able to enjoy the magic and wonder and pause amongst the busyness to enjoy some merriment and find joy. And now as we’re all getting back to our regular routines, I hope you can look back on the past week with a full heart of gratitude. It is in this season of giving, as we’re surrounded by friends and loved ones, that we’re able to see just how blessed we truly are.

We’re only two days away from the turning over of the New Year so I wanted to share a few thoughts to help inspire you to make the most of it.

I use to love this time of year because somehow I thought when that clock turned 12:00 a.m. on January 1 of the New Year, I was instantly going to be this NEW person. New year, new you. Right??

Not exactly.

I couldn’t wait to write down my New Year’s resolutions. Every year I would get this feeling that the next would be different. It was going to be MY year. I would sit down to write my resolutions, but item after item would be things I wanted to “fix” about myself. I would put myself down for goals I hadn’t accomplished over the past year and almost feel sorry for myself. I completely ignored any progress and achievements I HAD made. At the time I really thought I was doing a good thing. I felt pumped up about it, but I was just planting seeds of self doubt before the year even began.

I put too much hope in the simple fact that the changing of the year was somehow going to make ME different. That it was going to give me the motivation I needed to finally make the changes happen that I wanted to see in my life.

And… Every. Single. Year. I’m sadly mistaken when the shiny newness of the holiday wears off, so does the motivation. As soon as the first sign of an obstacle (stress, anxiety, inconvenience) comes in my way, all bets are off and the resolutions are out the door!

Anyone else experience this?? If I’m speaking to myself, that’s 100% OK. The #1 reason why I started this blog was to simply remind MYSELF of where I’ve been and things I personally want and need to work on. But if you HAVE experienced this, I changed my New Year’s perspective and I’d like to encourage you to join me. And even if my circumstances aren’t exactly the same as yours, I think you can find value in how I use this time to reset for the coming year. Let’s bring positivity and forward momentum into the new year and love ourselves and the journey through the process.

New Year. Improved Mindset.

Let’s use this time for reflection on where we are and where we want to go rather than make a list of all the negative things we don’t like about ourselves and our lives. Don’t get me wrong, there is a time and place to have those conversations with yourself. To take a good hard look in the mirror and examine your flaws and weaknesses, but I think New Year’s eve and the surrounding days should be a celebration and more about a positive look back at what you’ve accomplished with a renewed spirit and projection into the new year.

I am personally going to 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 next 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. You can read more on my post here about making lasting change one habit at a time if you’re wanting to grow and work on you EVERY DAY.

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.

So let’s put all of that into practice:

I have provided a worksheet here 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, Being a Parent, Being a Friend, Job, Education, Finances, Marriage)

I chose:

  1. Health & Self-Care
    1. I took huge steps in my mental health by seeking help from a therapist.
    2. I started a gratitude journal to seek joy and the things in my life of which I am thankful.
    3. I attended numerous hydro fitness classes to gain a better measure of physical health.
    4. 2019: Seek intentionality throughout my entire day by taking breaks and resetting my mind through meditation and reflection on the type of person I want to be.
  2. Relationships
    1. My husband and I waded into a lot of hard, vulnerable, and sometimes painful conversations about mistakes we’ve made that have helped heal us.
    2. I was open and honest with my mom about hurtful things that happened in my childhood in hopes that we might better understand each other.
    3. Slowly opened up day by day to more people and found a great friend in a sister at church. She encourages me and inspires me to be my best self!
    4. 2019: Seek better connection and communication with my husband by taking time each week to spend time together doing something we both enjoy.
  3. Faith
    1. Added prayer into my daily routine and mindset.
    2. Taught two quarters of lower elementary bible class and could see the effects of my teaching in the kids.
    3. Studied and meditated on the word more and have shared my thoughts on scriptures here on the blog.
    4. 2019: Successfully write and release a series of articles/blog posts/lessons on one biblical topic.
  4. Profession
    1. Played a key role in designing and implementing a brand new external website.
    2. Promoted to Bank Officer
    3. Applied and selected as a member of a professional development program
    4. 2019: Play a key role in designing and implementing a brand new internal website within our organization
  5. Education
    1. Completed a Financial Services Diploma from the Center for Financial Training.
    2. Read and listened to more self-development books than I can count.
    3. Attended a women’s Bible weekend and was edified, uplifted and learned some invaluable lessons from other godly women.
    4. 2019: Attend a self-development conference and come away with the tools and knowledge to continue in my journey to my best self.

2019 Word of the Year:

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 2019 Word of the Year: Wholehearted

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 to help me lead a wholehearted life:

Psalm 119:10

With all my heart I have sought You; Do not let me wander from Your commandments.

Galatians 5:22-24

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.

How these verses apply to my life or how to achieve my word of the year:

I will seek to do things through love. I will love myself and take care of myself so that I am completely WHOLE. I will trust in the Lord and seek to obey his commands. I will fill my heart with all that is good so that I will bear the fruit of the spirit. I will cut off all sin and desire that hold me back from living a life fully dedicated to Christ.

Focus Forward

After filling this out, I feel SO proud of the year I had and things I accomplished. I feel the energy to continue to make progress every single day. I know the type of life I want to lead in the new year and am excited to reach for Wholeheartedness. I personally can’t wait for this coming year because I know my WHY and feel prepared for what I’m reaching for in each of my focus areas.

In the coming week, I plan to create a display of my 2019 word for my bedroom, craft room, and my office space at work so it will be a daily reminder of who I’m trying to be. I will be posting these ideas here on the blog soon.

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 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 2019 an amazing year of growth.

I’d love to hear your biggest accomplishment from 2018 and the word you chose for 2019. Leave me a comment below!