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Photo Credit: Jim Gardner

January – a time for reflection and goal setting

January is often thought of as time for reflection.  Therefore, it’s not surprising that this month is named after the Roman God, Janus (“the doorway”) whose image is one of a head with a face looking forward and a face looking back.

Janus became the ancient symbol for resolutions.

As we enter 2023, it is an opportune time to take stock of our thoughts and behaviour.

Ask yourself, if you are feeling joy in your life?

Are you more positive than negative?

Are you taking responsibility for the choices you are making in creating your life?

Are you taking too much on?

Are you finding some time to re-charge your batteries?

The season of winter invites contemplation as we move from the darkest days of the year towards more light.

January is a great time to press the “re-set button”, put negative situations in the past and try to work on the positives.

It is a time for identifying aspirations.

It may feel trite to set “New Years Resolutions” but research shows that people who write down their goals are much more successful than those who don’t.  The key is to actually put your goals into writing – this can also be a great exercise to do as a family.

Create Your Own Happiness Project

Gretchen Rubin’s great book The Happiness Project, is an inspiring read of her year of goal setting.

Each month she focussed on one goal, put it in writing, kept checklists, and reviewed her progress.  She then added one goal per month while continuing to work on the previous goals.

This year she’s focussing on 23 in 2023.  You can read more about this idea here.

I loved her book, because she’s a researcher at heart, thus she backed up her goals with current research to motivate her to make changes in her life.  She also came up with the fun idea of creating her own twelve commandments:

• Be Gretchen
• Let it go
• Act the way I want to feel
• Do it now
• Be polite and be fair
• Enjoy the process
• Spend out
• Identify the problem
• Lighten up
• Do what ought to be done
• No calculation
• There is only love

If you can get in the habit of looking at your checklist every thirty days, you will keep yourself accountable and on track.

For some people, choosing one word as a theme to focus on for the year resonates more with them.  Gretchen Rubin writes about this idea too, in her blog.

If you are feeling overwhelmed and don’t know where to start, incorporating Mindfulness breathing into your life could be a transformative experience.

Taking 20 minutes a day to sit and breathe in quiet meditation could provide you with the renewed energy and calm in your life that you may be seeking.

Getting more sleep and exercise, eating less sugar and more vegetables are also popular and beneficial ways to be more healthy.

Cutting out pictures and words from magazines and creating a Vision Board is another way of setting goals and putting them on paper.

Whatever may be your goals, I encourage you to write them down or glue them down and as Marianne Williamson says:

Use each interaction to be the best, most powerful version of yourself.  Try to rise to the occasion.  Be the most wonderful expression of you that you’re capable of. 

If you can do this for yourself, you will also be role-modelling for your children.

Your vision will become clear only when you look into your own heart.  Who looks outside, dreams; who looks inside awakens. ~ C.G. Jung

When I think of JOY, I think of J – Judge less, O – Open mind and heart, Y – You – take time for you and be your authentic self.

I wish you and your family much JOY for 2023,

Warmly,

PS. There are a few spaces available in my children’s “Brain Science” groups to learn more about anxiety and how to manage it.  These groups start on Tuesday(in-person – space available for 10-12 year olds) and on Wednesday (space available for 7-10 year olds).  Click here to learn more and to register.

Here’s an email message from a parent whose child participated in the 10-12 year old anxiety management group:

 “Hi Sharon, I just wanted to thank you for what you have given my son and me.  He has really connected to you. The tools he has learned in your Brain Science group have been a game changer for him and for me. I am so thankful to you.   You are an amazing soul and we are grateful to have come across your path! ~ Cindy”