I usually love New Years. It’s honestly one of my favorite times of year. I like to introspect about my growth from the previous year and also my stuck points. I like to tap into my passions and values and strategize how to optimize growth along those lines in the following year. I love generating a personal “theme” each year that will guide my behaviors and intentions. And I love the feeling of January. It’s a fresh start, full of endless possibility. (more…)
Welcome to 2020! I acknowledge that not everyone gets excited about a new year, but I always feel rejuvenated and hopeful when January 1 hits. I enjoy taking some time to reflect back on the past year and recognize ways that I have grown. I try to give myself a generous portion of compassion for my mistakes, failures, and struggles of the past year and try to prioritize self-compassion in the year to come. For me, a new year is a time re-focus and take an inventory of how congruent my life is with my values. (more…)
The holidays are great but even for an extrovert like me, all the extra time with family and friends and neighbor gifts and malls and stocking stuffers and holiday parties and ugly sweaters can be a bit overwhelming. I often feel like yelling “Serenity Now” like George Costanza’s father in order to calm myself down (if you don’t know this reference, I cannot help you). (more…)
In the times when everyone around us seems to be enjoying “comfort and joy”, what are we to make of it when that isn’t our experience? (more…)
It’s the first week of January. Have you set your New Year’s Resolutions? Have you broken them yet? If you’re like most of us, you’ve set resolutions and—unfortunately—you’ve possibly already broken them.
As we approach the New Year, we will soon, if not already, be bombarded by the announcements and declarations of New Years resolutions. Like many others, I too have a history of joining in on the excitement to improve and progress at this time of year. This is how it usually pans out: In the first few days following January 1st, I set out to get a cute planner, new calendar, and download the latest apps to help me stay motivated and accountable because well, “failing to plan is planning to fail”. The first couple of days, weeks even, typically go as planned because the adrenaline rush keeps me pumped to stay focused, to keep my eye on the prize. But like many others, it doesn’t take much for me to feel discouraged about my resolutions, usually towards the end of January, when I don’t have my “summer bod” or all my debt isn’t completely paid off yet. Thoughts like, ‘If I can’t do it quickly or perfectly, why bother at all?’ start to creep in. This mentality is known as the all-or-nothing mindset and it can be a slippery slope. All-or-nothing thinking patterns will inhibit me and you from not only achieving your goals but also from learning, living, and thriving while working towards it.
I signed up for a half marathon this fall…that I didn’t end up running. I stopped training about halfway in. That wasn’t an easy decision for me to make, especially since I sort of pride myself on “doing hard things.” But it was the right decision for me for several reasons. I actually feel that choosing not to run was the harder, and better decision.
For those of us who celebrate Christmas, you and/or the children in your life have probably feared the dreaded promise of coal from Santa for being “naughty”. Let’s face it, we’re all naughty sometimes, even during the holidays. With the fear of being a Scrooge, I’ve decided to talk about how to try and minimize that inevitable naughtiness of children this holiday season – so the children can get their gifts, of course. And maybe also so you can regain some sanity.