Is your New Year’s Resolution something you could have chosen sooner?
It is hard to believe the new year is upon us! 2021 has been interesting, I wonder what 2022 will bring? Many people make New year’s Resolutions to make improvements to themselves. Weight loss or exercise are huge endeavors people stereotypically take on. I have tried to stay with resolutions in the past but usually lost interest. My problem has always been the follow through. What I have discovered about myself in the past year is I can take on new disciplines and stick to them. These new initiatives can happen whenever, not just when the new year arrives. My self-discipline has increased in recent years. One example is this blog. I took on this writing process and have been doing for almost 2 years. Another example is my personal journaling. I have been doing that for over a year as well. Each of these tasks bring growth for me or improve me in some way. We don’t need to wait for the new year to improve. We can take on paths to improvement whenever we want. Are you contemplating a New Year’s Resolution or are you looking to improve yourself regularly?
Journaling has been a topic we have discussed in several posts. Journaling about all the ins and outs of our day is in many cases a first attempt at journaling. We have also discussed gratitude journaling to express all the things we are grateful for each day. I have done them all and recently have made a change to my process. What is your journaling format, is it paper/pencil or digital? I am a bit old-school, so I like the paper and pencil format. I did the planner and journal combo, and found I disliked that. What we need to do is choose a method and stick to it. What I have found valuable, is journaling about a small lesson I learned each day. We all have lessons throughout the day that we need to capitalize on and pull out the nuggets that will help us. If you are like me, you may experience uncertainty of the decisions you make each day. To combat the uncertainty, I have chosen to periodically write about past successes. This is good for our confidence, and it also highlights the good we are doing. Journaling will bring focus to all the great things you are already doing and assist you in your daily development.
Dialogue is another avenue for growth. Who is your sounding board or confidant? We all have a person or two that we can bounce our ideas off or share our frustrations. The premise of this blog is conversations about a variety of topics. Why do people try to solve things alone? Can we be more effective when we ask for help solving issues, we face each day? No one should suffer alone in their frustration. The simple act of talking things out with a trusted colleague can be so beneficial. The key to learning through dialogue is recording the learning we find. Again, journaling can assist here. We can journal about the conversations we had throughout the day and solidify the lessons and messages we receive.
Are you journaling and is the process working for you?
Who can you engage in conversation with to talk through your ideas?
When you notice a life change is needed, do you wait or act quickly?
It is natural the experience excitement with a new year. Everyone is looking for something new and wonderful, after the two years we all experienced. What I hoped to share in this week’s post was that we can always grow, learn, or make changes at any time. We can react to our needs when we see room for change. I hope you all have a great week and I wish you a wonderful New Year. Thanks for checking in this week, please leave a comment below if you can.
Steven C. Bucks- Leading Conversations
