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Welcome to Before Breakfast, a production of iHeartRadio.
Good morning.
This is Laura.
Welcome to the Before Breakfast podcast.
Today's tip is to consider what concept or idea will define your upcoming year.
In both looking forward and looking backward.
It can be helpful to think about what will set this year apart.
I know a lot of people choose a word for the year.
I generally don't, but I understand the appeal.
A word can help define a mindset, which you can then use as you weigh different choices.
Perhaps this is the year of saying yes, or the year of gratitude, or the year of intentionality.
You could also define a year by a particular habit you hope to start or stop.
This is the year you quit smoking, or the year you become a runner, or the year you learn Spanish.
I like this framing because it makes a goal, an aim and a defining experience part of your identity, rather than a chore.
New Year's resolutions occasionally feel oppressive, but a theme changes things.
If you think of the upcoming year as the year you quit smoking, then it is not you versus smoking.
It's a year when a defining experience is the change in your relationship to smoking.
It takes this to do to a whole new level.
As for the year you become a runner, you are not saying you will run for 45 minutes four times a week at 6 am.
I mean some people would do well with that structure, but for other people that might not always be feasible in a busy life.
Instead, what you are saying is that you are envisioning yourself as a runner on December 31st and behaving in accordance with that identity in the meantime.
A runner runs regularly because, well, she's a runner.
She doesn't need to berate herself and give up if she misses a Thursday morning run because she is sick or it is raining.
A runner just goes on another run in a few days because she is a runner.
And that is what a runner does.
Or maybe, instead of a mindset, of a goal, this framing could suggest that it is the year of a particular activity for you.
It could be the year of dinner parties, the year of calling friends on your commute, the year of watching Tom Stoppard's plays.
Consider an activity that you want to do more of and set that as a theme for the year.
Or maybe these past 12 months have been particularly hard.
You might decide that this is the year of recuperation or rest or getting your feet back under you.
When you know that is what the year is all about.
You have a rubric for choosing which opportunities to accept and which ones to let pass you by, and for figuring out how you spend your time and shape your days.
You won't feel guilty for not saying yes to everything, because the big yes you are saying this year is to recuperation.
Not everything fits with that theme.
Whatever the particular theme for the upcoming year can feel clarifying to have a focus.
And that focus doesn't have to be about self-improvement.
Truly, it can be about anything.
This, maybe, is the year of having fun.
Life can feel so busy, and time can pass so fast.
If we aren't intentional about what we want for the year, it is easy to find ourselves on December 31st wondering what even happened.
So reflect on your hopes for the year ahead and consider setting a focus for the year.
When you know what you want the year to be about, you are positioned to make that intention a reality.
If you decide what will define the year for you, you can let me know about it at laura.com.
In the meantime, this is Laura.
Thanks for listening.
And here's to making the most of our time.
Thanks for listening to Before Breakfast.
If you've got questions, ideas, or feedback, you can reach me at laura at lauravandercam.com.
Before Breakfast is a production of iHeart Media.
For more podcasts from iHeart Media, please visit the iHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.
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