With the new year comes new resolutions, plans to break habits, setting up vision boards and goal setting. As for me, I plan on continuing towards my journey of “getting unstuck” with a few shifts.
Now getting unstuck can take many different forms. It doesn’t only apply to career shifts, but it can also mean creating and building in a new routine, changing how we approach completing existing goals and tasks and making overall shifts in our approaches to the many different areas of our lives- from our physical and mental health to finances to improving our relationships, both with ourselves and others. Beyond career goals, getting unstuck, at least for me, has meant figuring out how to bring alignment to all of these various areas.
One shift in my approach to figuring out what for the new year was to spend a little time doing some reflection. I don’t think I have ever really done that before. Usually, it has been setting up my new bullet journal and planner, writing down all the big goals, maybe a few actions to go along with them. I’d do it from a mindset of good riddance! Goodbye to the awfulness from the year before. New Year, New Me! But is there anything really wrong with the old me? Or is she already pretty awesome and just in need of a few shifts to help her continue to improve and get even better? A little tweak to the code to help her evolve. This year, I said you know, instead of looking over the past year with such an attitude of I’m so glad the past year is over, how about a shift in mindset. Instead, I decided to say thank you 2018 for helping me grow and get stronger. Thank you for the lessons. Thank you for helping me learn more about myself, start to figure out and identify what I truly need, and most importantly what I truly want and value. Do I still have all the answers? Of course not! And guess what? No one does.
Here are a few ways to shift into the new year with an open mind and open heart.
- Write down 5–10 things you were proud of in 2018.
- Write down 5–10 things that made you happy or smile in the past year.
- Write out a personal mission statement with just a few words. Sort of like a vision board, but you choose the words that represent the things you’d like to manifest in the new year.
- Daily Gratitude. Practicing a little gratitude each day goes a long way. Write down just one thing each day.
Once I started writing things down, I realized I was able to write so much more. I began to remember things I had done or accomplished because I had been so weighed down by everything that hadn’t gone so well. In having written these things down, the next time I find myself swimming in doubt and fear, or confused about a decision or what next, I can have a place I can turn to remind me of just how far I’ve come and just how strong I am. In taking these steps, you may start to sense a bit of a shift. Shifts in how you react when bad things happen, and even when good things happen. It has made me take stock of what truly matters.
So go on and give it a go! Get comfortable. Brew yourself a cup of tea or coffee in your favorite mug, grab that pretty new notebook or one you’ve had laying around and get to writing. I look forward to continuing to share my journey. Good things up ahead!
Follow along with me on this journey and let’s chat. I’m Dr. Tiffany Gray. Public health nerd, a coffee lover, chasing marathon goals and setting out to do some good and make some change in the world around me. I think. I run. I do. Find me on twitter @drgrayhealth, LinkedIn, and at drgrayhealth.com
