By Grace Muthoni
What the New Year Holds for Me
New Year comes with new resolutions. But many of us don’t fulfill these resolutions because the intention isn’t always powerful enough. Over the years I’ve learned that we have to be intentional in setting goals and creating a specific frame of mind that serves our purpose in life.
These goals address who we want to be, what we wish to contribute, and how we want to touch the lives of others. You’ll be amazed at how many resolutions you’ll successfully accomplish when you consciously base them on your intentions.
My intentions for the year 2022
I intend to invite peace and calm within myself and appreciate the goodness around me; after all, the gift of life is priceless and we should cherish it.
I intend to love unconditionally and not take things personally. I realized that keeping grudges will weigh me down. Love will open doors around me, and this will provide an opportunity to see the goodness around me.
Manifesting joy and happiness all year round brings positivity. Leading by being kind even when under pressure will make all the difference, as everyone around me will want to reciprocate this.
I am attempting to make the world a better place by being mindful of other people, freely forgiving, and putting a smile on other people’s faces. While at this, I’m aware others might take advantage; hence, I need to be firm and fair.
My intentions are attainable with determination yet adjustable should I run into hurdles along the way.
Lessons learned in 2021
When I welcomed the New Year, I reflected on the challenges and lessons of 2021. The year was one of the most challenging, but the lessons learned were tremendous.
The strategies and skills we have acquired have given us a newfound appreciation for the silver lining in the darkness.
Change is inevitable and scary
The Covid-19 pandemic brought a lot of uncertainty; we didn’t even know we would make it alive. Everyone was scared of the unknown, and the experience was so stressful. Restricted movement and being unable to meet and interact with our loved ones only further exacerbated our stress.
However, the crisis came with some hidden opportunities, key among them being skills to cope with stress and adapt to change. We have had to be resourceful and build the skills with what was at our disposal; after all, life had to continue amid the chaos and confusion.
Self-discovery and new skills
In 2021, I learned to exercise patience in dealing with family and friends. People were going through a lot during this period, and the last thing they needed was intolerance and conflicts.
Having made peace within myself to be the best version of myself I wanted to share happiness, love, and joy around me. I tried to stay positive and surround myself with people who enhanced my mental stability and overall good health.
I have changed my perspective on life and adopted a proactive mindset to handling things, unlike before, when I used to push things on the back burner and work on them later.
The pandemic pushed many people to learn new skills since we had a lot of time on our hands. I learned baking that kept me busy during the lockdown. I also learned how to home school my son during the pandemic, which greatly improved our relationship.
With schools completely closed, I learned to use tools available online to help my son stay focused on his studies. Throughout the pandemic, education has taken a new form, forcing parents to adapt while still balancing their personal, parental and professional lives.
What I expect in 2022
Mindful of my health
I am looking forward to 2022 with renewed optimism. I want to focus more on my health by embarking on the fitness journey. The covid-19 pandemic adversely affected health as it impaired people’s engagement in physical activities such as running and swimming.
I hope to engage in a sustainable fitness regimen that will help me stay on course and achieve my fitness goal. I hope to start by taking leisurely walks around my neighborhood before scaling up to going back to the gym.
I strongly believe that staying physically and mentally fit gives you a clear perspective when planning your year. This includes committing to taking the first steps to become healthier, sharing your progress, and inspiring your friends and family to do the same.
I’m also looking forward to new partnerships and having a positive outlook on life. I want to have meaningful friendships that will propel me to a positive space. I must admit the quarantine phase of the pandemic greatly undermined my connection with others. As such, I resolve to work on my relationships.
Journey to improve my business
The pandemic continues to push online businesses to greater heights as every organization looks to leverage on this. The unprecedented growth in the digital and e-commerce sector is booming.
I appreciate that the opportunities for growth are immense. In fact, my experience in online business has been good thus far.
However, my main undoing has been the lack of commitment and divided attention. As part of my New Year’s resolutions I vowed to focus on setting a clear direction for my business.
I’m now committed to focusing more on my clientele and to moving my digital business to greater heights.
What to let go of in 2022
Over the years, procrastination has been my main undoing. I found that it hinders my overall growth and causes stagnation in my life. The effects have led to poor physical and mental health, which I aim to improve this year.
A personal assessment revealed that procrastination was a leading cause of my anxiety attacks and added to low productivity in my business.
In conclusion, the New Year gives us a fresh start. It’s a new slate to undo the mistakes we made the previous year, find out ways we missed opportunities and come up with strategies to make the new year our best one yet.
Mindset of an Athlete 