Here we are again - NEW YEAR, NEW YOU! We are pumped up to start new year goals and resolutions! We are feeling motivated to finally get to that thing that’s been on our minds about our health, our stress management, our relationships, our fitness and nutrition, our self-care habits…

WAIT. TIME OUT.

What’s wrong with the old you?? The you, you? The person you’ve become over time through your experiences, overcoming challenges, embracing new opportunities? Where does that “you” go if you are starting over?

The new year doesn’t have to be a signal that it’s time to start over with a blank slate. That we have to tackle “all the things” that we didn’t get to last year or maybe even the year before. It doesn’t have to be the starting point for reinventing who you are or how you live just because it magically turned over into another year.

How about a different approach to turning the page into 2022? What if we layer wellness into who we already are, regardless of where we are at on our journey? What if we focus on adding chapters to our personal stories rather than trying to be someone new and rewrite the story?

Ready to try?

Maybe we could start the 2022 chapter like this:    

My one hope for this year is…

Instead of focusing on the things you “should do” or all the things you could do, how about focusing on one thing - one hope or dream - that is meaningful and connects to what you want for 2022? When we start our chapter by identifying one hope, we will give ourselves a clear direction for the new year.

I am currently moving in the direction of my hope by…

You are inherently well and whole before you are ill and broken; however, most of us forget this in a daily whirlwind! So, take a moment and reflect - what are you already doing that supports moving in the direction of your hope? When we focus on what is already going well, we reinforce the structure that keeps that wellness going. 

I believe that ____________ will help me make my hope a reality.

What do you need to create success? Who do you need around you? What supports will help make a hope a reality? As we write a chapter with attention to the support we need to be successful, we generate systemic energy that propels us forward.

One small experiment I can try today to move towards my hope is…

What is that one small commitment you can make today to turn your hope into reality? What is one step down the path? Breaking down big goals, hopes and dreams into bite-sized manageable steps increases our chance for success. Maybe the hope - I’m going to pay attention to improving my health this year - is one manageable step of, “Today, I am going to take 30 minutes away from my computer for lunch.” Whether it’s hope or habit, we build it the same way - by taking one small step at a time.

New year’s resolutions have a bad rap and it’s for a good reason - we don’t have to rewrite our stories or reinvent ourselves in order to set a positive intention for the new year. We can write a new chapter for 2022 by honoring who we are and the journey we are already on. Building and emphasizing new wellness in 2022 doesn’t need a whole new script - it just needs us to breathe a little life into it.