Monday, 12/27/21: Talking about different approaches to New Year’s resolutions and books to read this week

Happy Monday!

That’s right, it is Monday 🙂 And the last Monday of 2021 at that!!

I hope you had a very Merry Christmas (if you celebrate) and a festive weekend. It’s still a new week, which means it’s time for your next Monday motivation newsletter. Read on below for some steps to a happier Monday, a short story and a roundup of positive thoughts to get your week started.

Three Steps to a Happier Monday

Each newsletter starts with three prompts to inspire gratitude and simple intention setting. Take a moment and jot down answers to these three questions. To give an example, I share my answers below.  

Step 1: What are three things I appreciated from the weekend? 

Step 2: What is one thing I can be excited about today?

Step 3: What is my intention for this week? 

GRATITUDE: From my weekend, I am thankful for being with my family on Christmas, the sunny Florida weather and time to relax and recharge. 

TODAY: Today, I’m most excited to start my new book. I’m off work this week and am so excited to get lost in a few books. Finished the last two books in the Winter Street series in a matter of days (would recommend!) and am not ready to give up on the holiday genre just yet.  

INTENTION: My intention this week is do some reflection on 2022 (more on this below!). 

Okay, your turn! And if you want to share your three steps, I am all ears. 🙂

Meaningful Musings: Different Approaches to Resolutions 

Some people love them, some people despise them, but personally, I can’t resist a good New Year’s resolution.

I know there’s nothing special about Jan. 1. Things don’t automatically get better and slates don’t get magically wiped clean when the clock strikes midnight on New Year’s Eve.

You could start a new resolution today… or a month from today… or not at all.

But I love a fresh start (hello, Monday morning newsletter!). And I’m drawn to the feeling of hope that’s usually tied up in a resolution.

But I have to admit… I’m struggling with the concept a bit this year. Maybe it’s Omicron or uncertainty about 2022 in general or coming off a couple of busy weeks at week, but when I think about resolutions for next year, I’m coming up blank. I’m thinking I need to approach the whole thing a little differently this year.

I read an article earlier this month that I haven’t been able to get out of my idea. It talked about our inclination to always be “working” on something – working on ourselves, working on our performance at work, working on a hobby – and how that can just get quite exhausting. Of course, there are always going to be things in life that require hard work, but the “reflexive urge to make everything into work can leave us vulnerable to burnout and leave us with less energy for the things we really want to do in life.” Yep!

As the author of the article so simply put it, what if it could be easy…? Not easy in the sense of dropping standards or settling for less, but “trading control for presence,” reserving energy for those bigger things, and acknowledging that “ease” doesn’t mean lazy or less than.

It’s an idea so simple I had to read the article twice to make sure I didn’t miss anything. Now, this “how could this be easier?” question has started popping up in my mind as I go throughout my day.

So, when I realized I just don’t know if I have the energy or desire to make a list of resolutions this year, I asked myself, “what would the easy path look like?”

Of course, just not making resolutions altogether would be a perfectly acceptable option. But as I thought about it more, I realized what I like about New Year’s resolutions is not necessarily the defined resolution I end up with, but rather, I cherish the experience of taking a moment to reflect on this past year and think about some of the things I hope to experience next year. I love the sense of direction the reflection provides. I feel like when I’m armed with this direction, I’m more likely to recognize or seize related opportunities as they present themselves throughout the next year. I feel more intentional.  

With this helpful insight, I decided on three easy ways I’m thinking about New Year’s resolutions this week. None of them will require much energy or produce strictly defined aims for the year (fine with me), but instead they’ll be fun to do (at least I think so) and provide that general sense of direction I’m craving for 2022. Sharing them here this morning in case one of the below resonates with you too!

Three Reflections for the Start of a New Year: 

Making a 22 in 2022 List
I picked up this idea at the end of 2019, and it is one of my favorite annual traditions. It comes from author Gretchen Rubin and essentially, it’s just a list of things you want to accomplish by the end of the year… a “bucket list” if you will. I made a list of 20 things in 2020 and 21 things in 2021.  As Gretchen writes (and I wholeheartedly agree), “somehow, this approach makes it more pleasant to think about what we want for the new year—it feels more hopeful and helpful.”

I think, especially this year, this will be a great way for me to get the ball rolling on thinking about some of the things I want to do next year. I haven’t started to think about my 2022 list yet, but my plan this week is to do a final review of my 2021 list (reflection!) to survey what I completed and decide what I want to roll over to next year. Then, I’ll start a list on my phone and add to it as inspiration strikes throughout the week. 

Once I have it together, I’ll share here 🙂

Defining a One-Word Theme
I also love the idea of picking a one-word theme for the year. Last year after making my 21 in 2021 list, I noticed a lot of my items had to do with creating memories and adding more joy and meaning to everyday life, so I decided my word for the year would be “memorable.”

To be honest, I think I only thought of this one-word theme a handful of times over the past year, so while I like the idea altogether, I don’t hold myself accountable to perfect remembrance 🙂

However, I’m inspired to think about a one-word theme again this year because of the article mentioned above. I want to find a way to weave in the “what if it could be easy?” question into my 2022. Maybe my one-word theme will be “ease”! Need to think on it more. 

Thinking About Identity-Based Habits
Along the same lines of a one-word theme, I’m also intrigued by the idea of identity-based habits from James Clear, author of the best-seller Atomic Habits. I like his focus on identity over outcomes (i.e. “I’m a runner” over “I want to run 3 miles”), which he says is the key to building lasting habits.

I’m inclined to jump right to results or things I want to do (ahem, the 22 in 2022 list is first on this list…), but I also want to spend some time this week thinking about the person I want to be in 2022. Going along with my theme of “ease,” I think the person I want to be in 2022 is someone who exudes calmness… yes, this feels funny (and kind-of embarrassing) to type out, but I can already see how pondering on this question could influence and change how one moves throughout the day. I can see myself asking “what would a calm person do?” throughout the day and adding some calm-specific things to my 2022 list.  

What do you think? Are you staying away from the New Year’s resolutions this year or do you have a tried-and-true process you are reflecting on this week? Would love to hear! 

Above all, wishing you an absolutely wonderful and joyous New Year – can’t wait to see where this next year takes us! 

On My Monday Radar

Sometimes we just aren’t ready to jump into our Monday to-do list right away. In case you want some content to procrastinate with, here is a roundup of a few positive things on my radar:  

• If you are looking for an inspirational read this week, I can’t recommend The Defining Decade highly enough. I’ve read it twice and it’s my go-to recommendation whenever someone shares they are experiencing the “what am I supposed to be doing?” feeling that often appears during your twenties. Other books that would make for great getting-ready-for-the-new-year reads this week: Off the Clock  (currently making my way through one of the author’s other books, 168 Hours), Happier at Home and Year of Yes by Shonda Rhimes (as fun to read as it sounds). 
• New year means new planners – yay! I used the quarterly Full Focus planner at the end of last year for work and loved it, so I plan to use it again for Q1. I’m also tempted to pick up one of these cute planners from Target too! 
• I had fun reading the various hacks in this Twitter thread. The thread features the “top 10 life tips” from this Life Pro Tips page on Reddit, which I have now spent a fair amount of time perusing… I love reading about this stuff. If you want more, I also love this article featuring the best advice people received and are willing to pass on. Fascinating. 
• This was fun to look up… the top-read newsletters from 2021: Consuming the news when everything felt heavy from August (still feels relevant…lol); Talking about being in a rut in April; Sharing your tips for “keeping house” in June (great tips for anyone spending lots of time in your home right now!) and Remembering how my grandma “chose the bigger life” (a special one for me, too). 
• If you have the time this week and are so inclined, sharing a short, anonymous survey about this newsletter. As we go into this new year, would love your thoughts on how to improve or any feedback. Always value your opinion! 

That’s all for today! I hope you found something in today’s newsletter that sparked motivation, made you smile or inspired a positive Monday thought. Don’t underestimate the power of starting small… a fulfilling week starts with just one fulfilling day. You’ve got this! 

Let’s make it a great Monday!
Megan