Unveil the New You. New Year, New Beginnings!
As each year ends, we tend to come to a reflection point, where we stand and look back at life to understand why we are where we are. Call it societal pressure, self-pressure or even just a routine you have followed since childhood, year-end is a time of reckoning and reflection. Everyone just takes stock of what happened, why it happened, and what we can change for the better. That is what it should be about—making changes for the better. New Year, New Beginnings! As this year comes to an end, what are your reflections telling you?
“Life can only be understood backwards, but it must be lived forward.”
Nothing explains the end-of-the-year emotion better than this quote by Søren Aabye Kierkegaard, the Danish theologian, philosopher, and poet.
Reflection and Assessment
So, what has 2022 been like for you after the last year? Were you able to come off the mental jam that Covid had pushed you into? Were you able to manage well getting back to work and being out in the open after being at home for a while? What values helped you steer through all the challenges the year posed? Did you use or throw away the lessons you learned during Covid? Were you ruthless in your ambition or were you compassionate and empathetic in your actions? The saying “new year, new beginnings” – did it manifest for you in reality in 2022 or do you still find yourself stuck in the same mental rut? You could perhaps take this self-assessment to find out your core values and thus, what is most important to you!
Resolutions
Let me tell you that you can turn over a new page in your life any day. Even now! You don’t really have to make new-year resolutions or wait until January the 1st to make a new beginning. We are all conditioned into believing the new year is an opportunity to start with a clean slate, create new goals, and make new resolutions. But I am sure you won’t be surprised that by the middle of the year (or even earlier), we have no clue about what we set out to do. We often dump our resolutions because they seem far too difficult to stick to. Many of us fail and give up on our resolutions. So, what makes us fail? What can we do to make sure we achieve our new-year goals?
Set Realistic Goals: Set a core goal
There is only one mantra: Set realistic goals. Set goals you are sure you can work on (e.g., reducing stress), goals that are achievable (e.g., moving your body), or goals you can count as a success even if you take one step in that direction (e.g., being grateful).
But let’s face it – we usually overwhelm ourselves in doing that. That means, we set far too many goals. This time as you set out to define your new resolutions, challenge yourself to choose only one goal. I highly recommend the book called ‘One Word’ to take a step in that direction. Another good way of doing that is setting a core goal—the kind of goal that takes care of most other things for you. Prioritizing your wellness is one such core goal.
New Year, New Beginnings: Wellness First
New year or not, the times we are in, make self-care an imperative. Make wellness your priority. No one can help us stay healthy in mind, body, and soul. It is for us to make sure we love ourselves enough to be able to take care of ourselves. Put your wellbeing first. If you make wellness your number 1 resolution, you will be surprised how it takes care of everything else you may want on your resolutions list. Treat your mind, body and soul the way it deserves to be treated: with care!
Wellness is the Real Wealth
Our wellness is our biggest wealth and asset, but we know how we usually take it for granted. If we would pay closer attention, we would realize that we aren’t really kind towards our mind, body, or soul – ourselves. We just keep doing whatever we feel like without giving even a minute’s thought to how our mind, body and soul are coping with our constant and thoughtless impulses. We start to think only when our mind, body, and soul start crying for help. We look for solutions to our physical, mental, and emotional health issues only after they have started manifesting as problems.
Don’t you think, it would be better if you listened to what your mind, body and soul said everyday so that you don’t come to a tipping point? Here are a few tips for your mind, body and soul, so that you can make your wellness the centre of your life.
Matters of the Mind
- Laugh more. Find things to be happy about. See the joy in little things. It’s not really hard. Spend more time with people who make you happy, things that make you happy, watch shows that make you smile, books that make you feel positive. In a nutshell, surround yourself with whatever makes you feel good, happy, and energized. If you manage to do this, you will have found a million reasons to laugh more every single day.
- Get rid of clutter. Yes, clutter in your house (clothes, objects, etc.), in your life (toxic people, relationships, etc.), and in your mind (negativity, overthinking) – don’t hold on to things you do not need. If you haven’t used something in the last five years, say good-bye to it. You don’t need so much. Give away to those who do not have or discard if it has been useless for a while. Similarly, let go of people who are not adding any value to your life and are in fact dragging you down. Put your mental wellbeing first. Sticking on in such relationships is not worth it. Again, work towards a positive mindset to get rid of negative thoughts and let go of overthinking. Being stuck in your head can suffocate you, so ease up a little.
- Meditate. Take little inward journeys to find what drives you, what makes you tick. De-stress by slowing your mind down and going blank so that you can fill it up with awareness of yourself and your surroundings and gain clarity.
- Be grateful, thankful, and forgive. Keep a journal to be grateful for things you have. Forgive yourself so that you can overcome your guilt. Don’t punish yourself if you fail at something or you have not been able to keep up. It’s no big deal. It’s OK to make mistakes. It’s OK to fail. Be kinder to yourself. Forgive others who you feel have wronged you.
- Give your virtual life some rest. Get off social media, the Internet or anything that keeps on bombarding you with information and more information. You aren’t really missing anything if you don’t know what your friends had for lunch today or which secret trip your favourite movie star went on or even what the endless chatter on chat groups was about. Give your mind some space to breathe.
Your Body, Your Best Friend
- Eat healthy. Try to make sure you are eating right. It may not be easy to find out what’s right for you. So, it would not hurt to consult with someone who can help you with your diet plan or at least guide you towards what’s good for you. But eventually, you are the one who can find out what makes you feel good and healthy.
- Sleep well. You know you need to work hard, but you should also tell yourself that it’s just as important to get a good night’s sleep. It’s easier to compromise on your sleep to make up for lost time or to finish something you need to. But this needs some time management on your part, which means, in your daily routine do not forget to allocate time for good sleep. Not only will this keep your stress away, but it will also keep you alert and feeling positive throughout the day.
- Control damage. Cut back on what’s damaging your health. Make sure to say no to smoking, too much alcohol, substances, junk food, aerated drinks, sugar, foods that trigger your allergies or migraines, etc.).
- Move your body. This does not mean making trips to the gym every day. You can move any way you want. Dance, do yoga, walk, run, swim—as long as you are moving and feeling good doing it, it is fine.
Feed Your Soul
- Join volunteer groups or support groups. Teach underprivileged students or spend time with the elderly or terminally ill. Take time out of your busy schedule to add meaning to someone else’s life. Share a bit of yourself. Help others find joy, joy will find you.
- Travel alone or with friends and family. Or go for any nature trip you want–watching birds, taking a boat ride, or a cycling trip, or a mini hiking trip—to reconnect with nature. The destination need not be fancy. A small trip to the countryside or a place you haven’t been to before is also fine. Any new experience out of the ordinary refreshes your soul and connects you to nature and with yourself.
- Nurture valuable relationships. Make an effort to stay connected with those you value and those who add value to your life and make you happy. Doesn’t matter if your attempts in the past did not work out. This new year make a fresh start!
New Year, New Beginnings: It’s never too late
It’s never too late to start. But, as you already know, everything starts from you. Taking care of your wellness is a step toward knowing yourself better and helping yourself become a better you each day. Start with baby steps, I have talked about this in much detail in my book Change Me.
My new-year resolutions, did you ask? Well, as the Irish actor Cyril Cusack once said, “If you asked me for my new year resolutions, it would be to find out who I am.”
Happy New Year, Everyone!
Read more articles and check out our YouTube channel.
