Welcome to January 2023 – Happy New Year!
I hope you’re all well and had a wonderful Christmas break, whether celebrating with your families and friends, or having a quiet one (I know I did!)
I wanted to start the year off on the right footing, and I’ve seen so many posts on social media saying “2023 will be MY year”. So I dug into it a little to find out why people say this and put so much pressure on themselves to create this perfect vision for the year ahead.
With a New Year, lots of people take the opportunity to write resolutions, I must confess that I used to be that person, I used to write them, but I don’t anymore – why? Because I would always break them! It can feel like you’re setting yourself up to fail, which leads to disappointment and it knocks our confidence when things go wrong. This is why the new habits don’t last very long.
The place I like to start is to review the previous year. When we look back on the year just gone, it is a rollercoaster, life is not linear, but it is full of learning experiences so that we are better equipped for future situations, and that my friends is that sought after resilience we hear about! Once you start going through everything, you’ll probably realise that there are many more positives than negatives.
Once you’ve done your review, ask yourself two questions:
- What do you want to STOP doing?
- What do you want to START doing?
These two simple questions can really help you to get more specific with your goals which makes them more achievable.
It’s important to highlight that there will never be a perfect year. You can’t control or influence everything, but you can control the choices you make.
Don’t get hung up on the small stuff and focus on being present, comparing years never helped anyone. Embrace life’s unpredictability, learn from your experiences and live a little!
Wishing all of you the happiest of new years and may your 2023 goals put you in good stead for the year.
Natalie Ellis HR 