Hello 2023! For some reason, this has been the most excited I’ve ever been going into a new year. Maybe it’s because I’ve entered into my 30s or maybe because I finally feel comfortable setting and enforcing my boundaries. I’ve done some serious self-reflection and left my insecurities and worries behind, or at least have tried my best.
I used to be a big “near year resolutions gal” because I love a good list. But I found myself feeling that I “failed” the year because I didn’t check off all of my resolutions. I hated feeling defeated at the end of a year, so last year I moved away from resolutions. I instead decided on an overall theme for the year. For 2022, my theme was “intentional“. To be more intentional with my time, my friendships, and my actions. I found that having a theme rather than individual resolutions made me feel more accomplished by the end of the year.
For 2023, my theme is “simplify“.
This started out from my desire to simplify clutter in my home – think clear space, clear mind. However, I feel that “simplify” could be applied in other aspects of my life. To simplify my lifestyle and truly enjoy the simple things in life, including sitting in my backyard with Gordo. To simplify my goals in life, rather than create elaborate and arguably way-too-lofty-for-me goals. To simplify my time and allow myself to take things as they come (re: bye-bye hustle culture). To simplify my mindset and minimize all of the “what ifs” and convert those to real-life “to dos”.
There may be a few lists involved (I just can’t help myself), but I’m going to give myself space to explore how this theme guides this next year. Having this word in mind will be helpful when navigating through the year. I know I won’t be perfect and may even make choices that do not align with this theme, but the worst that will happen is that I learn from them and move forward.
Overall, I’m looking forward to entering this next chapter feeling more confident and ready to start my “do more things that make me happy” era. Hopefully, this gives you a different perspective on entering the new year, and maybe even allows you to lessen the pressure of “new year new me”.
Happy new year!
Vivian
