The Questions I’m Asking Myself
I don’t know about you, but I’ve decided to give myself a grace period moving into the new year.
Between unexpected snow days and school closures, a sick kiddo at home, a lengthy boil water advisory for my neighbors, the devastating California wildfires…
…I’m just not feeling ready to declare “New Year, New Me.”
In fact I feel a bit like the liquid inside a lava lamp: sluggish, shape shifting, and easily jostled off course.
I’ve learned in times like this, free writing in my journal is my path to clarity.
The other day, as I sat down at my desk with my favorite notebook and pen, I decided to re-read a few recent journal entries (almost as if, by reading the words I wrote a few weeks ago, I’d be able to re-inhabit that clear, aligned version of myself again).
And here’s what I found: On December 18th, I wrote a list of questions that I wanted to consider in the transition from 2024 to 2025:
How do I want to close out 2024? What ritual or action can I do to mark this end?
What did I learn in 2024? What’s important about those lessons?
What am I ready to close or leave behind before I officially arrive in 2025?
In which areas of my life am I ready to think or feel differently? For the sake of what?
Who do I need or want to BE in order to show up this way? Who am I becoming?
In what ways am I already this person? How might I become 10% more of that person today?
What are my wishes, goals and intentions for 2025? What do I know deep down that I MUST do this year?
What is the most honest, most fun, most authentically ME way forward to achieve these goals?
In the frenzy of the holidays, you also might have lost track of the chance to close out 2024 with intention.
In the anticipation of the New Year, you also might have skipped over the opportunity to reflect on who you’re becoming.
In the chaos of winter weather and the turbulent news cycle, you also may have blown past a moment to set goals, or make your plan, or decide which career or life experiment you want to run.
If you’re feeling like you haven’t quite landed in 2025 yet – like a lava lamp that’s colliding and changing shape and being pulled apart and remade again – it’s not too late.
Today, take 15 minutes to consider these questions. Answer them in your journal, record a voice memo on a walk, or call a trusted friend to talk through your thoughts.
Then, notice: how does it feel (in your body, your heart, your mind) to give yourself the space to discover who you are in this moment and define your priorities? What’s different for you, after taking this time to reflect and reset?
Onward,
PS: If you enjoyed these questions and would like to go deeper, check out Volume 1: Discover and Volume 2: Define in my journal collection, “100 Days of Designing My Life.”
Both books include over 60 pages of prompts, stories and questions to guide you to deeper self understanding and greater clarity about what matters to you, and why.
And if you’re in the Richmond, VA area, I invite you to join me on January 23rd to learn how to stress less and embrace ease in 2025 (and receive your own copy of Volume 1 with your ticket purchase!).