3-2-1 HAPPY NEW YEAR!

The holidays have wrapped up and you are now entering the new year with a renewed energy to better yourself, your outlook, your life. But the idea of making a “resolution” seems a little old school. Sure, there are plenty of benefits of making a resolution and there is nothing wrong with them- if you are truly motivated to see it through– but it can often feel obligatory…making the follow-through feel stale.

By definition, the term resolution means “a firm decision to do or not do something.” It’s a very concrete idea, but it also subtly implies that there’s an issue that needs to be addressed. It is generally safe to say that we all want to better ourselves in some respect, but that betterment doesn’t HAVE to take the form of a “to do or not to do.” When we turn inward, the idea of bettering ourselves is more fluid, sometimes that can take form in a physical way, but other times it may take form in an emotional, or mental capacity. In fact, sometimes that introspection shows contentment, meaning, we shouldn’t always be looking for things that are wrong with us to fix, but rather celebrating ourselves for just…being.

There is no shame in wanting to improve, but there is something inherently perplexing that in today’s cultural climate, people are constantly looking for something to improve when the reality is, you may truly feel perfectly fine (and happy) with where you are.

That my friends, is called gratitude.

By contrast, gratitude is “the quality of being thankful; readiness to show appreciation and to return kindness.” How often do you look at yourself in the mirror and just say “thank you” to yourself? Probably not as often as you’d like (guilty as charged over here!). The point is to appreciate yourself exactly as you are, in this moment.

It is through this gratitude that natural growth happens in our life around us. And whether you know it or not, we experience a natural shift in our attitude perspectives.

Research by Dr. Robert A. Emmons and Dr. Michael E. McCullough has shown that those who wrote about things they were grateful for were more optimistic, felt more positively about their lives, exercised more, and had fewer trips to the doctor compared to those who wrote about their daily grievances.

What’s interesting is all that growth could have been framed as a resolution: Be more positive, get more exercise, be healthier…but what is likelihood that those would have been followed through with and achieved a similar outcome? It’s not about the outward representation of change that you should be looking for, it’s about the inward appreciation that frames those changes to occur naturally, they don’t manifest themselves from nothing, they must be laid on the foundation of gratitude.

Gratitude is not just a buzzworthy trend for 2022, it is an opportunity to sit in contentment and let growth begin to bloom organically.

This year, challenge yourself to be more inwardly appreciative, really dive deep into that appreciation, and I’d be willing to bet that the change that happens around you will be 10-fold more rewarding than a standard resolution!