Starting a brand-new year provides us with a wonderful opportunity to reflect on our past year(s).  It serves as a landmark to ask ourselves what has gone well/what is working and what other possible opportunities or solutions we can explore moving forward.  It for many people represents a fresh start and a renewed sense of hope.

It is traditionally common for many people to set New Year’s Resolutions, and then again because most resolutions are not successful, many others avoid them at all costs.  We prefer to view this time as the reflection opportunity mentioned above.  Whether you’re running a business, teaching a class, or navigating life, it’s important to take time to stop and assess.  Without some sense of where we’ve been, where we are, and where we’d like to go, we typically find ourselves roaming aimlessly.

New Year’s Resolutions usually fail because we decide that we’re going to fix all of the problems we feel we’re experiencing in life and tackle them swiftly and on a grand scale.  We expect to go from 0-60 immediately.  This obviously is a recipe for failure.  Change is hard and most success comes in small, consistent, incremental gains.  Therefore, the most important part of this time of year is combining the act of reflection, self-awareness, goal setting, and self-compassion to take a gentler approach to the ultimate goal of continuing on with the process of living a life according to our values in a space conducive to growth.

Most of life’s concerns come from a sense of extremity.  We’re pulled in one direction or another.  We are on or off.  We’re going to the gym, eating all the vegetables, and making sure the lights are out by 10, or we say, “oh well” and eat Taco Bell at 3am while binge-watching Netflix.  Finding balance in life is our greatest task.  So, combine your new hopeful inspiration with some self-compassion and self-love to begin this year in a way in which you may never have before.  Gentle forward progress is the pathway to success!

For a more personal, in-depth exploration of how to make 2023 your best year yet, contact us!  Counseling provides a wonderful opportunity to explore all of the skills related to self-awareness, reflection, goals, and more!  Happy New Year to you all!