Happy new year everyone!
Suffice to say I’ve completely fallen off of the bandwagon in terms of sticking to my plan regarding more frequent updates, but to say 2021 was a whirlwind would literally be the understatement of the year.
Whilst I’m not one to go down the ‘woe is me’ route as I’m well aware that especially over the last 3 years, life hasn’t been easy for any of us and of course everything is relative. That said, we all have varying priorities and definitions of hardship and sadly my writing took the brunt of it towards the end of 2021.
On the plus side, I’ve been blessed to see it through to another year and if you’re reading this then so have you. That in itself is a massive achievement so let’s give ourselves the pat on the back that we all deserve, we’ve earned it after all!
It’s never really been my style to make an unreasonably and unrealistically long list of resolutions and hold myself dead to rights if I begin to falter before January’s even over. I have images of beating myself up over what a terrible person I am because I dared to eat a square of Cadbury’s Dairy Milk, when I promised myself I’d go on a 30-day detox to cleanse my body ready for the new year – because healthy body, healthy mind, right? Only in this scenario I’ve already failed at the ‘new and improved’ version of myself I was aiming for, all in the name of indulging in a taste of chocolatey goodness — curse you cravings!
Catch my drift?
Don’t get me wrong, this is not a criticism or jibe at people who set themselves what they feel to be achievable and realistic goals for the year ahead, even if the list is what some would consider to be extensive there is nothing at all wrong with being ambitious. Applying pressure is sometimes necessary to push ourselves in the right direction, however it’s good to know your limits as there is a fine line between pushing yourself to achieve and pushing your well-being over the cliff’s edge.
Some people may argue that nothing actually changes as we go from one year to the next and although I understand that this statement is literally true (Molly-Mae eat your heart out), for me it’s a matter of mentality. Much like the beginning of a new day, week or month; a new year symbolises a new beginning. That’s not to say I feel that the entirety of my previous 28 years on this earth are now null and void, but it’s as good a time as any to get my affairs in order.
At the turn of the new year, any areas in which I may have been procrastinating up until this point can once again take priority as I drag things from whichever particular piece of woodwork they’ve been lurking under, dust them off and get back at it. That’s doesn’t mean I’ve been lazy or not focused on a certain thing deliberately or out of choice and it’s definitely not to say that I can now go from putting something off and flip a switch where I’m now able to focus on it 24/7.
However, what it does mean is that my focus has now shifted. Sometimes the deeper you bury something the harder it can be to dig it out from where you’ve left it, so realigning your focus can make the world of difference. Identifying what it is you are trying to achieve, what serves as a priority (around your essential and at times mundane daily duties), ask yourself what your end goal(s) are and put in place a plan of action of the steps you intend to take to make things happen.
I’m not ashamed to admit that throughout this pandemic navigating my career aspirations alongside being a first-time mother has felt extremely overwhelming. These factors on top of the many curveballs we’ve all been trying our best to dodge, has left me clawing my way out of a rut on numerous occasions. but you know what? That’s perfectly fine.
At this point we are all clueless as to what’s going to be thrown at us from one day to the next, so how are we supposed to maintain enthusiasm about the distant future when the here and now has been so unpredictable. You know what that makes us? Human beings.
So this year, above all else I’m going to make sure that I’m a lot kinder to myself and instead of blaming myself for everything that doesn’t go ‘according to plan’, I’m going to do more of what makes me happy. Despite not being able to eject ourselves from the rollercoaster ride which has become life as we know it, there are many things we do still have control over and there is truly no tool more powerful than the mind.
I may not be coming into the new year as a new and improved version of me, but I’m kicking things off by reminding myself that the person I already am is pretty amazing and I can be whoever I want to be as long as I believe in myself and dare to dream!
What (if anything) does the New Year symbolise for you?
Thanks for reading guys,
Vicky ✌🏽 xo