Happy New Year to all! Reflecting on the past year holds immense value for me. It’s a ritual that allows me to glean insights from both personal and professional experiences, express gratitude for accomplishments, and ponder ways to improve in the upcoming year. This time, due to a three-week trip to India over the Christmas break and a busy January at work, I finally had the chance to engage in this exercise.
Over the past few years, I have been giving a theme to each year. 2022 was a year of Clarity, 2023 was a year of Habit, and 2024 is a year of Focus. For more about my 2023 reflections and 2024 goals, click here: [https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/learnings-from-12-month-habit-challenge-2023-fresh-2024-upadhyayala-qsfoc/]. In 2023, I drew inspiration from the quote “Health, love and your mission, in that order. Nothing else matters.” from the book “The Almanack of Naval Ravikant” to set my 2024 goals. I made good progress on two out of the three categories: Health and Love (family and relationships).
Under Health, I successfully shed 18 pounds. What’s more rewarding is that my husband joined me on this journey, and together we cultivated positive habits that have enriched our lives.
In terms of family and relationships, 2024 turned out to be a year of extensive travel for us. I embarked on two solo adventures, one to meet my family in India and another to the captivating landscapes of Alaska, which left me profoundly enriched. Additionally, we enjoyed five memorable family trips, making cherished memories along the way.
Regarding my Mission, I faced challenges in meeting my goal of consistent blogging about my learnings on LinkedIn. This difficulty leads me to my resolution for 2025.
2025 is a year of Surrender. Drawing inspiration from “The Untethered Soul” by Michael Singer and “The Surrender Experiment,” I aim to embrace 2025 as a year of Surrender. Surrender, in this context, is about allowing life to unfold naturally without fear or worry.
Self-doubt and a pursuit of perfection hindered my blogging in 2024. Inspired by the teachings of the Bhagavad Gita, which I have cherished since childhood, and Tony Robbins’ insightful question that I recently came across about focusing on what we have vs what we are missing, I aim to approach 2025 by leveraging my strengths, invest my time in learning and allowing life to unfold organically.
To align with the theme of Surrender in 2025, I have set three small goals for myself:
– Journaling at least one thing I am grateful for each day
– Reading a minimum of ten books
– Publishing at least two posts sharing my learnings and insights
What is your new year resolution? What are some ways you fight self-doubt? Would love to hear from you.
