Embracing Joy in 2023

I start each new year by looking back at what I have learned and looking forward to how I want to be in the coming year. By looking back it helps me to celebrate successes and new learnings prior to setting goals for the coming year. I often fall into a trap of looking ahead at the problems and how to solve them and not stopping long enough to celebrate what made my year one of growth and brought me joy. Every thing that happens brings me closer to my values and being the person I want to be.

Living in Integrity

As I consider my coming year I select a word that becomes my focal point for the year. For 2022 this was integrity. Integrity is about doing the right thing regardless of who is watching or what the situation is. It is about following your inner compass, like a GPS, to help you decide the path that is best for you.

It is about balancing courage and compassion with a grounding in doing what is right, even when it is not the easiest path to take.

As a perennial pleaser, I have wrestled my whole life with ensuring my actions align with what I value and the person I want to be. It is so much easier for me to figure out what will make things easier for others, even if it means I take on more than I can or should be doing. Using integrity as my focus it gave me permission to stop and consider the best course of action, rather than trying to find the answer for the road with the least bumps. It was freeing for me to stop and consider alignment and decisions in this way.

As 2022 evolved I realized that having this focus encouraged me to speak up more, share my opinion and put myself out there. This happened in personal, professional and also in my own self talk. I really found it. interesting how much this guided me in considering my actions, especially as I found my footing coming out of the restrictions and uncertainties of the last two years. I found myself more aware of how my values were shaping my decisions and also how they were guiding me, when I stopped and listened to what my heart was telling me to do rather than overthinking the situation.

It took courage for me throughout the year to be clear in my position and make in alignment with my values and goals. I felt more grounded and confident in how I showed up and my engagement in my life increased. It encouraged me to speak my mind, challenge when I saw things differently and be curious to understand when I did not have the information I needed. I noticed that my imposter voice in my head was heard less and less as my focus shifted to my values. What a difference this made for my life!

Finding Joy

For 2023 I struggled with finding my word. I played with many words before I landed. My initial focus was around courage - continuing to challenge myself to say what needs to be said and challenge myself and others to be our best. While this is something that spoke to me, I found this year that a driving word like courage created a level of anxiety for me. It was as if something inside of me was screaming at me to consider self care or my needs, rather than just looking and results and pushing things forward. I know that I am a planner and that I will never let go of the momentum that I have been building these last two years to find my voice and be the leader I know I can be. What I have not always done as well is looking after myself..... This kept coming back as I considered potential words. It was like having two voices in my head - one that was telling me to keep pushing forward and look after others and a second voice that was telling me I could look after others and find time to care for me.

After carefully considering what growth I felt I needed to align myself more strongly to my heart and my values I decided that my word for 2023 will be JOY. This will allow me to continue to ground in my values and also give myself the permission to take time to just "be" and not always try to "do". Joy is about connecting with others, trying new things, challenging myself, celebrating successes, learning, being creative, as well as looking after myself. It is about taking time to rest and recharge as a habit and inviting others to join me in my journey. As soon as this word came to me, my whole body was washed over with a sense of calming peace. As someone who thrives on helping others, I know that this focus will challenge me and guide me to find my voice and take time for self care. It is exciting and at the same time scary!

Now I challenge you - what is one word you could use this year to help your focus and ground yourself to find the success personally and professionally that you are capable of? Write it down and consider what it means to you. It will help you refocus when you find yourself at a crossroads and need to decide what to do. It will help you find the path that best aligns with your goals.

Embrace JOY in 2023!

Judy