The new year is often a time of setting resolutions and making goals for the coming year. But that puts a lot of pressure on this time of year! And we’ve seen in the last two years that even the more carefully attended plans sometimes get derailed by things totally out of our control. So why would we spend this year making resolutions?
Let’s face it–the last two years have been hard. Unpredictable and emotionally draining and exhausting to constantly be adjusting and readjusting to new circumstances. If you had a life plan before the beginning of the pandemic, it’s almost certainly on a new route now. So instead of taking this time to set resolutions in such an uncertain time, let’s take advantage of the opportunity the new year brings for reflection.
Have you taken time to sit with how much you’ve grown and changed in the last year?
We’ve had to adjust our expectations and routines, but we too have changed through this pandemic. Have you noticed how you’ve changed? Maybe not–usually when we change it’s so gradual to us because we change bit by bit rather than overnight. So from day to day we don’t feel that different, but if you think back to a year ago you probably are a lot different now.
And you will keep changing! The only thing that doesn’t change in life is the fact that we’re all changing all the time. For people who have just lived through two years of constant change and unpredictability, that might not sound all that comforting. But when we embrace our constant state of growing and changing, we give ourselves the freedom to be exactly who we need to be in the moment, rather than getting caught up on who we “should” be based on our previous needs or behavior.
And accepting that we’re constantly changing also allows you to embrace your own growth and direct it how you want. What sort of growth do you want to continue? What do you want to leave behind as you grow?
With that in mind, here are twelve journal prompts to help you reflect on your growth over this last year:
- If I met myself from December 2020, what would their first impression of me be?
- What would my first impression of them be?
- What have I had to say goodbye to in the last year?
- How did I manage that loss?
- What has been added to my life in the last year?
- How have these new additions served me (or not served me?)
- What have I learned about myself in the last year?
- What surprised me about myself in the last year?
- What am I proudest of myself for accomplishing in the last year?
- In the next year, how can I continue to grow?
- What do I want to leave in 2021?
- What do I want to find in 2022?