I wanted to write a quick New Year post just to check in and say hello.

In December, I became a certified coach but I haven’t had much time to celebrate that milestone because I’m so involved in preparing for the next big milestone–exams! They begin five weeks from today and I am endlessly reading and writing and stressing. Friends also taking exams are all stressing in different ways and to different degrees; in any case, it’s an excellent reminder to take care of ourselves in little pockets of time throughout the day. I’m also trying to throw together a syllabus for a course I’ve never taught before in time for the new semester in ten days. January is sure to be a hectic month. But anyway, I am certified!

2018 is the year that things start to manifest outwardly after all the inner work I did in 2016 and 2017. I have quite a few big goals and my intention for the year is TRUST. Trust myself, trust the process. Curiosity served me well in 2017 and allowed me to slow down and look around and learn how to develop trust, so now it’s time to put trust to work.

The dictionary definition is “firm belief in the reliability, truth, ability, or strength of someone or something,” which I like because it implies faith in something you can’t necessarily see but you believe it’s there. So even in dark or difficult times, I intend to believe in reliability (my own and that of the process), my ability, and my strength, even if I can’t see what’s coming. I am also applying it retroactively to my past, rewriting disempowering narratives I used to tell about myself.

Here are a few things I learned to let go of last year that I plan on continuing to release in the new year:

1. What other people have that I don’t. What other people are doing that I’m not. (I am exactly where I am supposed to be, and I have everything I need. I am grateful.)
2. Obsession with or anxiety over what could have happened or what might happen. (Say yes to the here and now.)
3. Disempowering/negative labels or narratives. (Challenges become opportunities; narratives of unworthiness becomes narratives of worthiness.)
4. Not taking care of myself. (Take care, even for five minutes in the smallest way.)
5. Judgment. (Of others, of myself–nothing is good or bad; it just is. If I judge something/someone as bad, what quality of myself is being magnified that I’m afraid to confront?)
6. Numbing. (Lean into emotions instead of eating or shopping them away.)
7. Avoiding failure or obstacles. (Feel excited that I’m stretching beyond comfort and perceived capability.)
8. Helplessness. (I am the author of my story.)
9. Impatience. Our cultural obsession with efficiency and overnight success. (All good things unfold in time. Enjoy the journey.)
10. Believing everything I think. (As one of my favorite guided meditations says, “Label that thought ‘thinking’ and let it go.”)

Whatever you practice in the new year (intentions, resolutions, themes, goals, nothing at all because you hate arbitrary beginnings), I hope good things are in store for you and yours.