If your’e anything like me, you rolled into this new year with all kinds of plans and expectations. Quickly, we are moving on into March and I am still thinking about what I’d like to accomplish in 2022. I’ve got some idea but I need to zoom in a bit. If I’m being honest, when the new year came strolling in, I wasn’t the ball of excitement I’ve been in years past. It’s pandemic fatigue, I know. My husband bought me a new planner that I should be using for all the ideas rolling around in my head. I haven’t cracked it open yet. Is that a sign? I haven’t even been writing in this space as I intended. Sometimes the inspiration just isn’t there. Never the less, I’m going to push myself to be more enthusiastic about what this new year has in store. We’re almost three months in, seems like a good time to check in with myself.
We all start off with the best of plans, don’t we? The truth is, it’s a huge challenge to “go hard” 365 days a year. At some point, most people lose steam. That, my friends, is normal and to be expected. After what we’ve all been through these last two years, we’re doing great to simply show up. That’s the hardest part. As much as we want to achieve all that we set our minds to in record time, there’s something to be said for pacing yourself. I think of it like exercise.
Another Way to Look At It
I am a huge advocate of working out. It’s one of my consistent forms of self care. I work out six days a week. In the middle of those six days is my recovery day where I take it easy. It’s necessary for my body to recover from the cardio and weight lifting I’ve done. Day seven is the one day a week that I don’t work out at all. It’s my rest day and I do exactly that. The same method of operation can be used when it comes to going after our goals. In a world that promotes “the grind” and #teamnosleep, I’m all about the push back. Balancing my goals with my own self care is imperative.
In truth, you can only push so hard through exhaustion. News flash: we shouldn’t be pushing through exhaustion. That’s the exact opposite of self care. That doesn’t mean that there aren’t times that we do it anyway. The thing we have to keep at the forefront is rest is sacred and it’s necessary. It’s not a gift we give ourselves after barely making it. You don’t earn it. You need it. So take it.
New Year, New Ambition
A new year gives us all the feels and a renewed ambition to really go for it – whatever it is. That feeling may be even more intense because 2020 and 2021 have been such traumatic years. If we learned nothing else, we’ve learned that tomorrow isn’t promised. That would encourage anyone to make the effort to live the life of your dreams. The thing to remember is to not strive for perfection. In truth, perfection isn’t real. Progress and growth are always the goals. Growing into your best self is way more important than chasing the floating target called perfection.
So this year, give yourself room to learn, thrive, REST and enjoy moments. Those moments are fleeting and worth holding on to. Don’t feel like you have to go hard 365 or you’re doing something wrong. It’s just not true. Work hard when and balance that with the rest you require. As long as you keep moving, one step at a time, you’ll look back realizing you’ve climbed a mountain.
