Are you ready for a New Year?
It’s that time again when we prepare to say goodbye to the old and look forward to ringing in the new. Armed with our laundry list of resolutions and promises to ourselves to do the things we’ve either neglected or dreamed of trying, we run towards the New Year full of hope.
Every year when January rolls around, I get excited about organizing. I can’t wait to get my life, my home, and my family in some semblance of order. I pull out the date books, fill family calendars with notes in multi-colored markers, and set up all sorts of bins to make the house more functional and life easier.
But this year I have a different goal. I’m going to make 2017 not about the things around me, but the things within me.
As we all know, attempting personal change isn’t always easy; most times it doesn’t last. Often, we end the year no further along in accomplishing our hopes and dreams than when we began. If you visit your local gym the second week of January, then head back in April, you’ll have a very different experience.
Personal change is even harder when it’s a part of our core personality we somehow wish to alter.
For example, I am an introvert. A trait which presents me challenges. In today’s over-saturated book market, it’s a requirement for well-known authors to be socially savvy and have a knack for not only marketing books but themselves, also.
My thoughts flow when I’m in my secluded writing world, but when I’m in a large group, those words evaporate. My comfort zone is family and a few good friends. But to become the writer I’ve always wanted to be, I have to step out of that safe circle.
We all have something we fear, or struggle with, or wish we could master. The New Year is about embracing change, right?
The internet is teeming with offers, options, and solutions for quick fixes meant to help with whatever it is we want to overcome. Personally, I prefer to learn from others like me, rather than paying some self-proclaimed “expert.” As I’ve read posts and followed blogs, I’ve seen a technique other authors and friends use when struggling, or searching for inspiration. They choose a word to describe what they want, or picture for themselves, to use as their guide or mantra. I decided to try it, too.
When choosing a word to best encompass my New Year goals and what I want to accomplish, and being that it is Christmas, I turned to one of my many all-time favorite books, made holiday movie, The Polar Express. A story that contains the magic and power of believing. If you haven’t read, or seen it, learning to believe makes all the difference to the little boy who seems to be unsure about everything around him.
So, I chose Believe as my word for 2017. I think it’s a word we can all use from time to time to help us out.
This year I am going to Believe…
- Believe in myself, and the power of my writing as a way to connect, inspire, and entertain.
- Believe in success, in whatever form it takes.
- Believe in what’s meant to be, and that I’m on the right path.
AND
- Believe in the power of dreams.
Whatever you have planned for 2017, I hope you believe in your ability to accomplish your goals.
Tell us what word would best describe you in your New Year?
Photo credit: Rdoke via Visual hunt / CC BY-NC-ND