It’s 2023 and everyone has New Year’s resolutions – except for me, I don’t believe in resolutions, I believe in commitments. I am tired of hearing the same list people come up with: “to lose weight, spend more time with their children, go to the gym, meditate, and so on.”

I want to hear how committed you are to your well-being, your healing, your peace, and to your growth!

Once you have taken a step forward into 2023, never look back or start regretting what you have left behind. Simply expect the most wonderful future and see it come about. Leave all the old behind, it is finished. Be grateful for the lessons you have learned and for the experiences lived, which have all helped you grow and have given you a deeper understanding. This brings me to a question I want to ask of you for 2023….

Do you have a growth mindset?

Personal growth is about improving your own attitudes, behaviors, and reactions.  So, how do you know that you’re in a growth mindset?

Personally, I grow when I learn to connect more deeply with my authentic self, prioritize my own desires, and express my wants and needs to other people.  This requires setting healthy boundaries – not just with other people, but with yourself too. You know when a behavior isn’t good for you, so instilling a boundary and sticking to it can only ever benefit you.

How do you grow?

Learn who is bringing positivity and growth to you as a person and keep them around. Learn who is bringing your energy down and kick them to the curb.

We’ve all experienced pain through someone’s words.  In fact, the old saying ‘Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me” could not be further from the truth!

Yet, when we keep in mind our own personal responsibility for our growth, we are more likely not to give too much credence to the opinions of others. People often act like they know everything even if they have no clue what they’re talking about. This can be easily illustrated by the well-known Dunning-Kruger effect. This effect says that people who know less think they know more, and people who know more believe they know less.

Another sign of personal growth is that even with feelings of dislike or envy, you won’t be tempted to spew nastiness.  Instead, and this takes practice, you can identify why you’re feeling the way you are, acknowledge it, and let it go.

You’re the goldsmith of your future and only you can forge it to a brighter path.

It’s been a tough few years for the world collectively, but I believe 2023 will be the Year of Healing! This past year 2022 may not have been the sea of calm you had hoped for after the turmoil of 2020 and 2021. The pandemic continued, war broke out in Europe, we experienced natural disasters and troubling shortages, and more viruses stoked fears. But 2022 was also a year of learning and discovery. The best way to make the world a better place is to heal yourself.

Perhaps this year is the perfect time to, instead of running away from our shadow, face it head-on. All our destructive patterns were formed as part of an escape – an emotional escape from something that caused us far greater pain. Subconsciously we tried to find a way to escape. We tried to find emotional relief. We tried to find our happiness. The emotional toll the last 3 years have taken on us is far greater than we realize. Some of us turned to books and music as a way to escape. Some turned to sports. Some turned to food. Some turned to drugs and alcohol. But whatever it may be, we can all agree that our destructive patterns formed to help us escape, to help us feel better, to help relieve us from feelings of deep, unbearable pain.

Healing is a constant work in progress. It is a lifelong commitment and a never-ending journey of pouring self-love and self-acceptance into you.

Cheers to never giving up, understanding yourself, and to being here and moving forward.

Stay strong. Everything will be okay. And don’t be too hard on yourself.

2023 I am committed to my own healing and growth.

My New Year’s resolution is simple: Remember to write 2023 instead of 2022.

Love, Tania