Reflecting on the past year

Before we look at goals for the new year, I’d like to take a minute to talk about looking back at our past year. I think this is important every year, but this year especially. Most people have been tried in ways they never expected throughout this past year. Think about where you were at the beginning of the year. What has changed? What have you overcome? In what ways have you had to pivot and change plans? Make do with what you have? Just focus on getting through the day/month/year? All of that is worth celebrating. You did it. It is so easy for us to focus on what we didn’t do. The ways that we should have handled things. Or the resolutions we had at the beginning of 2020 that just didn’t pan out.

Most years, for most people, there are going to be things that didn’t pan out (I have a whole post on resolutions coming soon) and that’s okay. When we focus on what went well and give ourselves a break for those things that we feel could have gone better, we actually put ourselves in a better position going into the new year. It’s similar to working for a boss who only sees the negatives, points out the flaws, and never seems to notice the hard work and successes of her team. The team inevitably gets tired of working for this person and feels less motivated to work hard for the team. On the other hand, if a boss constantly encourages her team, sees the positives in each person, and helps to move past the roadblocks, her team is likely to feel more motivated to work for her. Same thing happens within us. If you put yourself down and harp on every little flaw, you won’t even want to try anymore.

I encourage you to give yourself credit for the incredibly difficult year you have just gotten through. Allow yourself some grace for things you wish you would have done differently. Reach out for help if you are struggling. And aim to move into the new year with compassion for yourself and a gentleness as you create goals and plans for 2021. If 2020 has taught us anything, it’s that nothing is forever. Good or bad, everything comes to an end at some point. So embrace the imperfection and impermanence of life. I hope that this helps you to wrap up 2020 and come out with a new respect for yourself and your resilience.