How to End the Year and Start a New One?
When You’re Not Feeling Very Motivated...
Hello, my fabulous friends, and Happy Friday! I hope you are enjoying your holidays, even if that just means finding some tiny moments of peace, joy, or enjoyment of simple pleasures.
The holidays can be a bit overwhelming and draining. They can be hyped up to the point that we are disappointed when we don’t have “a perfect holiday.” They can just leave you tired.
And then there’s the push to supercharge your new year by doing a year-end review and goal setting for the new year. I’ve been feeling both attracted to and repelled by the year-end review as 2024 comes to an close.
I do want to reflect on 2024 and put some positive energy forward for 2025, I just don’t want it to feel cumbersome. That, my friends, is the focus of today’s post – a way to wrap-up and start fresh without overwhelming ourselves. But first…
Today’s Inspiration: We all need to see the good that is constantly happening in our world, so we have a round-up of inspiring stories from the KarunaNews website. The links take you to a short summary and offer the option to read the entire story.
Fantasy Flight Takes Kids to North Pole In Denver Airport
Okanagan Senior Knits 100 Toques for Ukrainian Children
New England Ski Area Offering Free Lift Tickets All Season Thanks to Generous Gift
Today’s Probing Question: How to end one year and start a new one, when you’re not feeling very motivated?
In past years, I’ve gotten a lot of emails around this time that offer “the best ever” framework for a year-end review and tools for setting amazing goals for the new year. Sometimes, I’ve tried to work with someone else’s format and see where that leads. Most often it leads to feeling overwhelmed.
This year, I do want to do a little looking back on what I set out to accomplish, and what I’m proud of from the year. I want to be intentional about what to carry forward into the new year and what I want to leave behind in 2024. I just want it to not be overwhelming.
So here goes…I’m making this up on the spot. I plan to set aside some time where no one needs me and I can enjoy a cozy journaling practice, with these questions and a good cup of tea or coffee.
What am I proud of from this year? What did I learn? I did set some goals for this year and I’m not sure how I did vis-a-vis the stated goals. In order to not make this an exercise in self-flagellation, I’m going to focus on learning over accomplishments as I look back at the year.
For the new year, what do I want more of? In the past I’ve used the “Nudge Word,” to point myself towards a feeling or way of being. It’s worked OK but may leave something to be desired. I can say this, at least I still remember what my 2024 word was as we approach the end of this year.
My word for the year was “Unclench”. Specifically, this was referring to my goal of waking up in the morning with a relaxed jaw, instead of coming into consciousness with the tension in my jaw being the first thing I’m aware of. It was also about relaxing more generally in my life, finding a new way of being that doesn’t involve so much tension. The two are related, being more relaxed generally will hopefully (but hasn’t yet) result in waking up with a relaxed jaw.
Knowing that I haven’t yet accomplished this goal is a big part of why I’m trying to be gentle with myself through this look-back at 2024.
For the new year, instead of one word, I’m aiming for a more nuanced concept - a polarity. I want to embody both Confidence and Humility. They may seem like opposites, but in point of fact they inform each other. Each has a dot of the other in them - like the Yin and Yang symbol.
So, finally I’ll journal on how I work toward embodying this polarity of Confidence and Humility. And, how will I know if I’ve made progress?
That is the extent of the Looking Back and Looking Forward process I’m planning. I’ll let you know how it goes.
Take Action:
Take a few minutes now and reflect on how you like to close out one year and prepare for a new one.
Then, consider how you can make your process enjoyable instead of feeling overwhelming or cumbersome.
Or, do you prefer to just slither into the New Year? (No judgment here, just curiosity…)
Whatever you decide to do or not do, wishing you the very best in the New Year!
Colleen Osborne is a ‘Conscious Life Creation’ Coach who lives in Wheat Ridge, Colorado. She is on a mission to Level Up, both herself and the human species. Learn more about her work HERE.