New Year Energy

I prefer to see the Spring Equinox as the beginning of the new year but I still want to make use of the winter season and the new year energy. Everyone seems to be making plans and setting goals. My YouTube feed is full of planner setups and goal setting for 2024. I want to use this energy in a way that works for me. When I think about the seasons, I see spring as the time to plant new seeds, summer is the time to nurture them, autumn as the time to harvest them, and winter as the time to reflect and prepare for spring. I love the gardening metaphors. I struggle with winter and want to change that this year.

My last post shows me realizing that no matter how many weeds I pull, they will always come back because I have created an environment for them to thrive. I know that my theme of the year next year will be about addressing that. So in the meantime, I want to spend the winter preparing myself for that, whatever that is going to look like and start building habits or systems that will help me progress.

Thinking about things that have worked for me in the past, I have decided to start using a planner again. I haven't used a planner in a number of years because I was spending too much time setting it up and was then not able to use it effectively. I have ADHD and my ability to focus is very limited, so by the time I set it up I didn't have the focus to use it. I found a way to simplify my planner set up so I have been relearning how to actually use it. I want to use it to focus on achieving my goals and creating better habits.

I am also working on addressing my finances. I struggle with impulse buying and object permanence so I forget about upcoming bills when they aren't in my face. Also, some of the changes I want to make involve redoing my apartment and my wardrobe which is going to cost big money no matter how much I try to keep costs down. I also had some major car repairs and a large unexpected vet bill that pretty much emptied my emergency fund. I'm taking the opportunity to rethink my finances. I make enough money, I just need to get organized and find a system that works for me.

Finally, I really need to think about my next steps in life. It took me a long time to get to this point in life where I feel fairly stable and secure, so I’ve been sitting here for a while. I needed the time to sit still. But I think it’s time to start moving forward. During the sales, I bought a couple of Udemy courses. I am going to use them to explore a couple of things I am interested in learning and potentially pursuing. I have been thinking about potentially making a career shift and it is time to really explore that.

I want this year to be about making moves to improve myself and my life so preparing for spring is going to be trying to map out these things and seeing where it takes me.