“New year, new me!” is one of the most discouraging sentences, and quite honestly disappoints me for the upcoming year. This one single sentence puts so much pressure on a person to change – maybe I am just feeling this pressure because I am in a life stage where shift is inevitable. Sure there are aspects on my life I know I need to work on, but that doesn’t mean a completely new me. I like who I am, and if I notice aspects of my life where I an improve on, I act on them gradually, with minimal pressure.

BUT with that being said, if you are looking to make changes in your life, do so without such a pressure buildup. Work towards things that you want to do for yourself, not what you think you need to do. Instead of doing something daily, try weekly. Instead of jumping the gun with an “I’m going to workout everyday” mindset, try a goal to work towards a week, specifically dropping these numerical standards. If you are doing something a number to times over and over for yourself, it will become more of a chore, as your goal starts to slide out of reach. Be mindful with your goals, as nothing comes overnight.

Going into the new year, I tend to reflect on things I have done in the past year. And 2021 was extremely impactful on my life and my future. I was fresh out of college, and took a gap semester before starting my job and my graduate program. I traveled, lived at home, started my first corporate job, moved to a new city, and began a whole new part of my life that I would have never pictured for myself if you asked me where I would have been a year ago. Through all of the chaos, I really took away one thing – balance. You know how people say water is the key to life? Well, balance is too. When I was in high school, I thought I knew everything there was to know. When I went to college, I realized how naive I was in high school, and thought about what an adult I had become now that I was in college. When I graduated college and started living on my own, I realized I was back in that same spot. Just when you think you know it all – you don’t. You have learn to balance new things every single day. For me now, that balance is juggling a social life, full time school, and a full time job. I learned the hard way on how to do this, and I have to make sacrifices for myself to better all three aspects of my life. Without finding that balance, I would have failed my first time on my own. And that is what I taking with me from 2021, and moving it into 2022.

With all of that being said, there are small things that I need to work on. And while goal setting needs to be done so tediously, and is hard work, it lies as a motivator and reminder that there is opportunity for growth. In 2022 I want to:

• Make my bed first thing every morning
• Get movement in every day, whether that’s a walk to get coffee, or yoga in my apartment
• Lower my screen time, and learn to remove myself from my phone
• Write more consistently
• Allow myself to be more vulnerable with others
• Eat more whole foods and make time for cooking
• Say “yes”more – I’ve been wanting to read the book The Year Of Yes by Shonda Rhimes, and now is the perfect time to do so

New year, same me, more mindful habits.