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Whether you’ve faced numerous challenges the past year, experienced many successes or had what feels like an uneventful few seasons, it’s normal to hope for ending on a positive note. With the hustle, bustle and potential stresses of the holiday season, it can be difficult to spend time on the end of the year reflection and get ready to start anew.
Even so, it’s worth the effort. Taking time to reflect on your year and look ahead is critical to starting the new year on a positive note.
The Power of Reflection: Looking Back on the Year
It’s no small task to look back on the year and process everything that’s happened in your life. But it comes with some powerful benefits.
Reflection allows you to analyze and internalize important lessons learned. You can review your mistakes, asking and answering important questions so you don’t repeat them again in the new year. You can also study your successes, looking for patterns in your life when things go well or actions you can take that support positive outcomes.
While reflection necessarily considers the big picture — and you can certainly learn from mistakes or less-than-desired outcomes — it’s important not to dwell on the negatives.
In a study conducted by researchers from the University of California and University of Miami, three groups of individuals were asked to journal weekly. One group was asked to write about something they were grateful about that week, while another was asked to write about something they didn’t like that week. The control group was only asked to write about something in the week that had impacted them. At the end of the study, individuals in the first group reported being more positive about their lives than individuals in the other groups.
Try to balance your end-of-year reflections so that gratitude and positive outlooks outnumber the negatives.
Cultivating Gratitude: Recognizing the Positives in Life
Staying positive in your end-of-year reflection will be easier if you already have a habit of gratitude.
While it sounds simple, a grateful outlook can be difficult to cultivate. You might feel hard-wired to consider the negatives, and there’s some truth to that — survival requires us to consider what can go wrong in a situation so we can plan and implement a response if it does.
But by making gratitude a habit, you can teach yourself to recognize the positives even amid grueling challenges.
So, how to make this year your year of gratitude? One common practice is to keep a journal of what you’re grateful for. You might start with a notebook or a calendar; each day, write down one thing you’re feeling grateful for. It might be a beautiful sunset, a conversation with a friend, a hot coffee or the fact that traffic wasn’t that bad today. As science has shown us, focusing on the smallest positives can make a difference.
Even setting aside 2 minutes a day to foster gratitude can help you grow this habit, which has benefits beyond a more positive outlook. A regular gratitude practice can have positive physical impacts. According to a UC Davis psychology professor, these habits have been shown to improve sleep and immune response and lower blood pressure.
Ending on a Positive Note: Self-Care and Mental Well-Being During the Year-End
Of course, ending on a positive note may be easier said than done during the holidays. That’s why it’s critical to support yourself with self-care and look after your mental well-being throughout the season. Some tips for doing so include:
- Avoid over-extending yourself. Holidays often come with pressure to say yes to everything. Family traditions, invites from new friends and conventions such as gift-giving can all create stress. Create boundaries to support your well-being, and don’t be afraid to enforce them. People who truly love and care for you will understand that you can’t be all things to all people or say yes to everything during the holidays.
- Be aware of triggers. Think about triggers that tend to put you at risk mentally or emotionally and how they may come up during the holiday season. Have a plan in place to support healthy behaviors or remove yourself from the situation or environment if necessary.
- Use your support system. Talk to your support system, which might include relatives and friends or professional providers, about the holidays. Create plans ahead of time that best support everyone’s well-being whenever possible. For example, a large family or friend group might decide to do a Secret Santa swap instead of exchanging gifts to reduce financial burdens across the board. You can also inform loved ones or other people in your support system of your individual worries about the holidays and develop plans for responding to issues if they arise.
Setting Intentions for a Positive Start to the New Year
Being intentional about how you approach the holidays and the new year can make a big difference in how you feel on the other side. You can even make a note of what coping mechanisms worked for you this year so you’ll be ready for the next one.
Think about ways you can continue to cultivate gratitude throughout the year. You might carry on with your gratitude journal or make it a point to tell others why you’re thankful for them. You might choose one person per week or month and write them a note of appreciation. A University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill psychologist notes that expressing gratitude can help support positive relationships and bind people together in closer, healthier ways.
Getting through the holidays and stepping into the new year on a positive note isn’t always easy. If you’re struggling to find the positives in life or find yourself in a mental health or addiction spiral, you’re not alone. The compassionate counselors at FHE are on call 24/7 to help. Contact us today to find out about our treatment options.
