Last year, I said I was leaving behind five things: double-booking and overscheduling, clutter, dirty laundry, excuses to not exercise, and weak glutes and bad posture. I think I did a pretty good job with leaving those things behind – though I still have plenty of room for growth on the glute strength and posture improvement.
Hoarding Luxurious Experiences
On New Year’s Eve, I saw
this tweet, and it was right on time!
The best New Year’s resolution I ever made was to start devouring all my nicest things, and save no small pleasure for an unspecified future. Now I burn the good candles, wear the expensive perfume at home, scribble imperfectly in pretty notebooks. You can’t pin joy like a moth.
— 🌹 Witch Cake 🌹 (@hollycassell) January 1, 2022
In the final days leading up to January 1, 2022, I was cleaning out my linen closet and found so many face masks, bath bombs, skincare products/samples, and more that I was saving for “a better day” or “a more-deserving day.” As I was forced to throw out things that had expired – which seemed very wasteful and contrary to my beliefs around sustainability and waste-reduction – it dawned on me that I had all of these luxurious (to me) things that I never got to use.
Was it better to have used these items sooner on a “less-deserving” day than to have never used them at all? Why was I hoarding these experiences?
As I purged and organized over the last week, I came to the realization that I was saving so many of my nice things for “later.” Time to YOLO dem joints! Time to stop hoarding joyful experiences for a later date! https://t.co/8ttGN3WdyB
— Alexis Reed (@flecksOFlex) January 2, 2022
In 2022, my goal is to use these products, test out these samples, burn those fancy candles, and just experience these things that I thought were worth experiencing! What’s the point of keeping them around if I’m never going to use them?
Negative Self-Talk
I’ve been beating myself up a lot lately, and it’s not productive. My goal this year is to stop using negative language to talk to and about myself, and to instead use affirming and supportive language. I thought giving myself “tough love” talk would help me hit my goals, and for a time it worked, but it became hard to stop talking to myself this way. Not helpful!
To combat this, I’m going to focus on positive affirmations, meditation, and other mindfulness practices. Goodbye, tough love! Hello, self-compassion!
Lack of Focus
Oy. This is a big one, and this encompasses pretty much every facet of my life. Finding more focus and consistency is going to be an ongoing battle for me for a number of reasons, and while I know I can’t snap my fingers and fix this challenge overnight, I’m proud of myself for recognizing it as something that I need to get ahold of! It may seem that I’m being vague here, and perhaps I am, but this is something that I don’t really know how to articulate at this point in time.
Ignoring Calendar Reminders
This could be connected to the last point, but this has become part and parcel of my inconsistency, particularly when it comes to growing my business and maintaining and cultivating good habits.
I did such a great job of setting up recurring events, like journaling, scheduling social media and blog posts, watering my plants, etc., but then, somewhere along the way, I just started ignoring them!
In order to break this bad habit, I’m going to assess my existing reminders and determine whether I need to adjust the schedules so that I have less of an excuse to ignore them. My schedule has changed dramatically over the last year, so it seems like now would be a good time to check back in on everything.
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| I’ve been watching all of the Marvel Cinematic Universe movies lately, so this seemed fitting… |
Not Stepping Into My Power
Do you ever feel like you know what you’re supposed to be doing, but something is holding you back from just… doing it? That’s how I’ve been feeling for the last year or two, and I’m 100% over it. This year, I’m taking back the reins!
I think that leaving all of the aforementioned things behind in 2021 will enable me to step into my power in 2022 and beyond. It’s at least worth trying!
What are you leaving behind in 2021? What are you bringing with you into 2022?
