It's that time of year. Best of wrap-up lists are everywhere. Make 2024 Your Best Year Ever guides abound. Announcements are rolling out about new offerings and big business plans. Words of the year are being chosen. Goals are being set.
It's all very exciting,
And overwhelming.
It's completely inspiring,
And anxiety-inducing.
It's extremely motivating,
And intimidating.
Reviewing the past year and thinking about the future can bring up lots of feelings. If all the productivity talk this time of year leaves you feeling more overwhelmed, anxious, and intimidated than excited—that's okay. Not having all your 2024 goals and plans for your creative work/business all tied up in a bow on January 1 does not mean they won't happen. Not picking a word of the year doesn't mean you'll have no direction. You can choose projects and make plans throughout the year. You can seek words and mantras and little pieces of inspiration all year long.
And also,
If this is your absolute favorite time of the year and making plans and choosing words and telling the world about your amazing year to come is the pinnacle of excitement, inspiration, and motivation for you—that's okay. Document all your accomplishments from last year. Sing your big plans for next year proudly from the rooftop. Share that pretty graphic of your word of the year on all the socials and tell us what it means to you.
There is no one right way to set yourself up for success. Just like you get to define what success means to you, you also get to define how you plan for it and when and how you motivate yourself along the journey.
My wish for all of us, as we move into the new year, is that we do so in a way that feels just right to each of us as individuals. That we not feel pressured to do more because it seems like everyone else is. That we not squash down our excitement because it might make someone else feel uncomfortable.
That we move forward with confidence in the fact that the only certain thing is that nothing is certain.
There is no one best way.
May we simply give each other the grace to choose the next right step for ourselves, however similar, different, or somewhere in between it is from the New Year's norm.
Beautiful Thing of the Week
Just one little something I loved.
🎉 I really enjoyed this essay from Tiffany Yates Martin about measuring your success:
My wish for you and all of us in 2024 and every year beyond is that we learn to see and appreciate where we are, every moment. That even as we look ahead, we can take time to enjoy the path we're walking. Measure your life and your work by what you are doing and what you have done, not what you plan to do or haven't managed yet.
What are you up to in these last days of 2023? Making all the plans? Reflecting quietly? Or out loud? I'd love to hear about all of it— every beautiful, messy, amazing bit of it.
Be well, find tiny joy-
Mary Chris