The pressure to be perfect feels like a weight that clings to your back, and there’s probably blame to put on how society really relies on January 1st as a reset button. It’s not though.
New year resolutions? You can have them just as long as you keep yourself steeped in the reality that the new year season is a construct you can work outside of.
Meaning you’ve gotta stop looking at your progress painted in years.
That’s living your life in fractions when your path is a unique one that’s supposed to be experienced, to be processed, to be applied, and make you a better person.
Again: the new year isn’t a reset button. So if you were unhappy on December 14th the year before, January 1st wasn’t the effective answer you were looking for. Chances are there’s still inner work to do. Because who else is taking your life into their hands?
No one.
How can you work on your personal progress and nurture your journey to become a better person? Let’s rephrase that.
To become a constantly evolving and improving person* (it’s not a destination).
Here are 5 ways that you can improve to become a better person each day.
1. Practice controlled social media use.
Social media is always moving with or without you. There’s a level of pressure that comes with being an observer of posts crawling over your monitor or mobile device, and at times, you’ll feel the urge to chime in.
Whatever the topic is, when you engage on social media, you open up doors for anyone to open and invite situations that are outside of your control. What was within your control? How you reacted to a post: engaged negatively.
Moderate your use of social media to control peoples’ access to your energy.
Recommended: Give yourself a daily social media limit to help you moderate your stress.
2. Make gratitude your mindset.
It’s not just about saying thank you. Gratitude is a mindset and way of focus. To be grateful is to assess the life around you, everything within you, and use the positives to charge your steps forward in life.
NeuroHealth stated, “Gratitude activates the hypothalamus as well, with downstream effects on metabolism, stress, and various behaviors. The hypothalamus is located at the base of the brain and regulates hormones responsible for many critical functions, such as body temperature, emotional responses, and survival functions like appetite and sleep. One of the neurochemicals associated with the parts of the brain affected by gratitude is dopamine, a pleasure hormone.”
Recommended: Use the 100-Day Gratitude Journal from Lovet Planners to start exercising those gratitude muscles. It’s a daily journal you use to start the day and start things off on a positive note. The combination of gratitude practice with journaling yields double the therapeutic effects.
3. Don’t burn yourself out.
There’s that pressure to be perfect again. Instead of burning yourself out and then turning to a self care weekend, what if you tried distributing self care actions and activities throughout your week? At least one a day.
When you set a self care plan, you moderate and reduce cortisol (the stress hormone). With consistency, burnouts are avoided, and your resilience to everyday stressors grows stronger. You’re less likely to engage or be negatively affected by trivial issues.
Recommended: The Self Care Planner follows the One Thing A Day structure and not only gives you the space to plan your daily self care, but it encourages you to get to know yourself and love yourself deeply. It has weekly reflections, a self care ideas bank, affirmations, and more.
4. Listen to what others have to say and process before responding.
It’s natural to feel defensive in situations but this world is our world. Choose what you’re putting your energy into wisely, but say for example, you’re in a disagreement or situation with a close friend, don’t be quick to respond.
You can’t unring a bell and you can’t take back anything you say that isn’t true or is harmful. It’s natural to be defensive, but there’s a way to negotiate perspectives. It’s called communication and that requires patience. Listen and process.
Recommended: If this is something you struggle with, the Positive Thinking Journal and Gratitude Journal make an excellent combination. It’s far from toxic positivity but it’s a vibe shift that can help you create a safe space for yourself, which in turn can positively reflect through your relationships.
5. Allow yourself to be excited about your future.
This isn’t a dress rehearsal. This is the final act. The life of your dreams only has a chance if you give it the spark and that’s simply believing. You can use affirmations and manifesting methods like a vision board to encourage excitement and positive emotions about making strides for a brighter future.
Recommended: Use the Vision Board Planner to create your vision boards! It contains pages upon pages of cutouts from empowering affirmations to money manifesting visuals as well as space to assemble your vision boards. Manifest on the go!
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