Moving slowly into a new year

The approach I'm taking with setting goals and my word for the year

Part of me loves the energy around a new year. It elicits a desire in me to reflect, look ahead and set goals. However, the messaging around this time of year can be overwhelming and leave me feeling like I have failed if I don’t have a whole new set of goals detailed out before midnight on January 1st. This post will not be adding to that message if you feel the same way! Instead, this is your invitation to join me in walking slowly and gently through January and beyond.

As my family and I stood at the side of the Swan River and watched the (early) fireworks celebrating a new year, I hadn’t set a single goal and had only dipped my toe into reflecting on last year. Regular moments of reflection with an annual deep dive are part of my usual rhythms and I have experienced the benefits of setting goals. Usually I spend a whole day in December on a personal retreat to do this. Life looks different now and that pattern didn’t fit this time around. And honestly, I wasn’t in the right headspace. I put myself down for this internally before remembering that there is no due date on reflecting and goal setting. Any day of any month can be an opportunity to pause and restart.

So I released the expectation that it would look like it has before and embraced a more slow and gentle pace. It was apt that one of the tools I am using for this process has been Amanda Vivier’s reflection book as it was titled Gentle Rhythms. Instead of a one day retreat, I have put aside small moments to work through one or two pages wherever that happens to be, including at the side of the pool as my daughter had a swimming lesson. I haven’t finished it yet and I feel wonderful about that.

You see, this all fits into the sense of invitation I have felt to go slow and resist the pull of hustle. My days may be full but I can slow the internal hum of my soul. I wasn’t sure if I would have a ‘word for the year’ this time as I couldn’t even remember what I chose for 2023! But one dropped in my mind during one of my reflection sessions- ‘apprentice’. I really want to be an expert and be the person I have in mind right now! However, that is not how learning and growth happen. So I am choosing to recognise that I am an apprentice.

• I am an apprentice of Jesus as I seek to grow spiritually in the slow and gentle rhythms he modelled.

• I am an apprentice in my workplace, with knowledge and experience to share but so much more to learn too.

• I am an apprentice at parenting an almost teenager as we transition into a new phase.

• I am an apprentice in studying as I have enrolled in a part-time course for this year.

• I am an apprentice in my caring for my health as I learn to live in the reality of my current body.

This mindset of being an apprentice has filtered into my goal setting too. I struggled to set any until I realised it was because I was fixed on the idea that they all had to be new for 2024. An apprentice ideally keeps learning and consolidating skills, only adding new things when they are ready. Several of my habit goals for last year didn’t feel complete or consistent yet. In addition, the whole year felt too long a time to make plans for as I anticipate further transitions with the start of high school for my daughter, starting study for me and some uncertainty around work days. So I re-set a few goals from last year, with a little revision, for the first six months and I only added one new goal around study. That is enough for now.

Maybe you have been carrying a weight of expectation and guilt through January. This is your permission to release that burden. Reflection and goals may be helpful but the benefits are not restricted to a particular time or schedule. Let’s walk slowly and gently together.