Taking A Year-End Inventory

Every year when the holidays wind down, I hear confessions from my patients about their holiday foibles:  falling off their exercise routines, eating too much See’s candy, drinking more alcohol than usual, etc. Some of this regret will often fuel the usual New’s Year’s resolutions – which are then tossed onto the pile of regret by January 15th.

To circumvent that whole downward spiral, I encourage my clinic community to follow my end-of-year practice: instead of making promises to yourself that are rooted in self-loathing, consider looking back over your year and celebrating your wins.

I always take a quiet morning in the last week of December to make my list of wins.* “Wins” are not necessarily accomplishments, although they can be. I page through my past year’s daily planner, scroll through my online calendar, and even look through my bank statements for evidence that I’ve done some wonderful things throughout the year. Wins can be small and sweet (“I joined a weekly walking group” or “I started a daily yoga routine”), or monumental and life-changing ( “I quit smoking” or “I got my knee joint replaced – finally!”). Some wins seem like just good luck (“My backache went away on its own!”)  Of course, my examples here are health-related, but you can add anything to your list that you feel good about.

Once you’ve got a nice list written out, read it over every day for a week or two. See if you can call up some deep emotion or even tears of joy when you read the list.  Feel gratitude for the opportunities you had to do good in the world, or even just doing good for yourself.  Our brains are wired to mostly remember negative or dangerous events, in an effort to keep us safe from repeating them. We may need to work more consciously to focus on these positive memories,  but the extra effort can create a lovely upward spiral, where we’re more likely to attract yet further wins. 

Also, the smaller habits we’ve started throughout the year may not seem like much until they’ve had a chance to build. One morning of yoga will not keep us limber, but practicing every morning for many months can have a profound effect on how our bodies feel. That’s why it’s important to equate the “big” wins with the smaller ones on your list — some big changes can only happen with modest but consistent effort.

With this inventory in our back pockets, we can head into a new year knowing that we’re capable of progress — we don’t have to change.  We can add a healthy habit or mind-set into our routines without feeling that we have to alter who we ARE.  We are wonderful, as our lists prove.  We are more than enough.

Check out next month’s blog to learn healthy ways to step into your Brave New Year, without the resolutions.

*Now some of you will understand why I close the clinic to take a “staycation” that last week of the year!

This blog was written by a human being (which is perhaps obvious).