A New Outlook on the New Year
As the days draw nearer to 2020, I recognize a familiar feeling. It’s actually a heavy sense of disappointment crowned with a hint of sadness. But why? A New Year is supposed to be a time of joy and celebration.
This discrepancy between how I usually feel and how I should feel made me realize something for the first time…
Wow, I have a terrible outlook on the New Year. I should probably work on that.
I just find myself thinking about the things I had planned to do during the year, all the goals I had set, and the “new and improved” version of myself that should have already developed. When the New Year comes around, I will have no choice but to accept that some of the key goals I had set for myself for the year will not be met. Hence, the less than celebratory feeling I get on a day that deserves to be celebrated.
If you can relate to this, let’s walk through a more positive outlook of the New Year, together.
A New, New Year Outlook
1. Reflect on the unintended positives.
It’s easy to measure our success only by our intended goals. But what about things that were unintended? What new positive habits did you pick up? In what ways did you grow and mature? What life lessons and perspective did you gain? Basically, instead of focussing on all the things we’d planned to accomplish the past year but didn’t, it might be a good idea to reflect on the things we didn’t plan to accomplish but did.
2. Be grateful.
Be grateful for all that you did do, all the good things that did happen, and all that is–at least–better than before. Most of all, be grateful simply for the fact that you are fortunate to celebrate another year.
3. Anticipate.
It’s a common theme to come up with New Year resolutions, but it’s less common to think of New Year anticipations. What things can you look forward to in the coming year? If you don’t have anything, what can you put on next year’s calendar?
Perhaps, doing more of these three things will help create a more positive reflection on the current year and the year to come.
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“Never limit yourself because of others’ limited imagination; never limit others because of your own limited imagination.”
“Success is nothing more than a few simple disciplines, practiced every day; while failure is simply a few errors in judgment, repeated every day. It is the accumulative weight of our disciplines and our judgments that leads us to either fortune or failure.”
