Moving the New Year

Since about 2020, I have been shifting my personal new year from the commonly celebrated January 1 to April 1. Why you may ask? Simple answer - exhaustion. As a part time baker, the Christmas holiday season is usually a pretty hectic time for me - between managing orders, baking and deliveries as well as planning for my personal holiday sessions I rarely had a spare moment to myself much less enough time to plan for the impending new year. Post holiday season left me so drained that I didn’t have the energy to put any actions towards my resolutions. I just wanted to rest. Rest is still a hard concept for my brain to grasp and so I put my energy towards planning…and slowly but surely creating the habits I believed would help me to attain my goals without being too hard on myself. I took the time to review my goals from the previous year…what I was able to accomplish and what I still wanted to do the next year….I assessed some of the challenges that I had with some of the goals…and noted my progress. I took the time to start practicing the habits I was trying to develop….heading to the gym twice per week, meeting up regularly with friends…weekly journaling…I was able to work on these habits without the pressure of the new year…I eased into my routines…and before I knew it. April 1 greeted me. My new year started with routines and systems in place and me with a small feeling of success at the progress that I had already made.

Over the years this decision has made so much more sense…winter stretches into March…and honestly…winter is no place for new decisions. It’s a time for hunkering down…Spring..however was a great time for action…a time for blooming…it was bright and hopeful and so was I.

So…I guess happy new year!