It’s 2017! Time to change everything about yourself, right? Not quite…

As someone who gets incredibly excited about fresh starts, especially when a new year rolls around, it may be surprising to read that I don’t want you to “throw the baby out with the bathwater” (what terrible phrases we have in the English language). What I mean to encourage, is that you acknowledge the incredible amount of strengths and good that are already inside of you. Sure 2016 was pretty terrible for many people, but you did grow in some way.

Take some time to reflect on what you learned about yourself in the past year, especially the good bits. Write it down. Did you form new positive relationships? How about trying something new? Were you successful in any way? Did you have any days of inner calm and peace? What were you most proud of? How did you brighten someone’s day? You can likely find some positive qualities or achievements by taking time to remember and appreciate them. Notice how you feel when you think of these positives in you/in your life.

Now, knowing that 2016 wasn’t complete rubbish, how can you cultivate and strengthen those good qualities that are already inside of you? Did it feel good to think of that time when you made a friend or family member smile/laugh when they were having a bad day? How can you create more of that?  Did you feel “on top of the world” after accomplishing that fitness goal? Make a detailed plan of how to get to that feeling again. Everything that you want to change is already within you. You and I are capable of tremendous things when we believe in ourselves. Let’s see what our inner superheroes can do, shall we?

So, Happy New Year and Cheers to the Same You, because you are beautiful and complete just as you are.