Everyone I speak to feels ready to say goodbye to 2023.
Whether that has been due to personal challenges or feeling heavy from recent world events, or if you're just feeling ready to draw that mental 'line in the sand' and 'start fresh'.
Since Covid lockdowns, the pace of life seems to have ramped up and this time of year is the busiest of all. To help manage the associated feelings of overwhelm and pressure, I try to remind myself to have present moments every day - starting with my loved ones of course. This could be small moments of time, when I put down my phone and play games or read books with my boys, take a walk or do breathing exercises. This will continue to be a focus for me next year.
Our theme heading into January is New Year, Best You. Not the perfect you, just your best. What changes do you want to make, that you can realistically make? And most importantly not all at once! We have the whole year to practice new things and finesse the way we want to live. Most people give up their New Yearʼs resolutions within 18 days*. So, instead make small, realistic goals and continue to set new ones throughout the year.
Think about your goals from a personal, family, and professional and set your dreams around those. Prioritise them too. Then make sure they are broken down into bite size pieces. But don’t forget about your BHAG (big hairy audacious goals). My advice is to create a vision board with these - whether you physically do this on a pin board or create a Pinterest board that you look at frequently.
The temptation to start on the 1st of Jan, and for some this works, but taking some downtime over the holiday period is also super important. That’s why we are kicking off our New Year challenge on the 29th of Jan. Plenty of time to relax and get ready to achieve our most successful challenge yet. Detox and rejuvenation recipes coming alongside this too giving love from the inside out.
*Source: Adobe Analytics July 2022 - June 2023, Google Trends (Last 5 Years), Food D_Stilled GIC 2023, University of Pennsylvania, Weight and Eating Disorder Study