It’s the first month of 2021.

If you feel like you should be off to a roaring start but just don't have the energy to back you up, take it slow. This is a quick reminder that in the northern hemisphere, we're in the thick of winter which is a natural time to slow down, rest & reflect. Many thanks to my friend Yari who reminded me of this yesterday when I was feeling off.

January is one of the most common times to set intentions/goals/resolutions for the year. But remember, you can choose, reassess, come back to this at any time of the year. Because I grew up in a culture where we also follow a calendar where the months & year start at different times than the Gregorian calendar we typically follow, I tend to think of this practice as more fluid and come back to it multiple times over the course of 12 months.

But if setting goals/intentions/resolutions is a practice that you implement for yourself, I wanted to share the following with you...

Last year, I came across an old blog post by Gretchen Rubin about picking a one-word theme for the year.

Before, my resolutions always had all these parameters and I felt like I was locked in...that if I didn’t do it exactly as I’d laid out at the beginning of the year, I’d failed…

AND I realized that I was always choosing things that I wouldn’t do unless I had them listed as a resolution. After a while, I just stopped coming up with any at all.

But then I came across the post, and the idea really intrigued me.

By choosing a theme, I feel like I’m allowing for more flexibility and flow.

I can choose what fits under that theme in the moment, at any point in the year.

My 2020 theme was growth - and looking back, even with everything that happened, I realized that I did experience growth in different parts of my life, some in very subtle ways. It wasn't necessarily in the way I'd envisioned, but I can look at all the ways I did and feel good.

Right now, and for the foreseeable future my theme is JOY. What’s yours?

Know someone who could benefit from this message? Please share this post with them.

Cheers,

Vidya