Do you get irritated with New Year’s resolutions?
I know big resolutions often feel difficult, guilt-inducing, stressful or just plain boring.
So this New Year, why not do something light-hearted and fun instead of a heavy resolution?
Why not get to know yourself better? You are a really interesting person, after all (even if you haven’t discovered that yet)!
The problem is that we Americans are busy all the time. We must work, do chores, other obligations…go, go, go. Often, our busyness wears us out and we can begin to feel like unappreciated cogs in a big machine.
Then, when we feel tired, drained or discouraged, someone will probably say, “Don’t forget to take care of yourself. Take some time for you!”
But what if it has been so long you don’t remember what you like to do? What if you don’t remember the things that make you…you?
It’s hard to take some time for yourself, if you don’t remember what makes you you. SO, let’s go back to square one and do some re-discovery.
Let’s take a tiny bit of time and:
Re-discover your personality
Re-notice what you feel
Remember some things that make you feel gratitude
Step 1: Have Some Personality Fun Stuff (for free):
Let’s take a minute and do some personality tests. Remember: you are a really interesting person! These quizzes can help you rediscover lots of interesting facets of your personality.
These are freebie personality tests (not serious, scientific tests like IQ tests). You can’t fail them. Every personality is different and awesome!
Take one or two… or all of these quizzes. Write a list of the things you LIKE about what you discover in your personality style, individual style, brand, and interests.
If you get tempted to use these to criticize yourself, remind yourself that this exercise if for FUN…so no criticism allowed 😉
Choose one, two or more of these quizzes:
Which personality style are you? Jung Typology Test
Here’s another personality test: Big 5
Are you left-brained or right-brained?
What is your love language?
What are your tendencies?
What is your personal “brand”?
What are your interests? My Next Move
Another interest survey: Holland Code Interests
Step 2: Re-notice how you feel
When we are busy all the time, sometimes we don’t have time to notice how we are feeling (physically or emotionally). However, what you are feeling matters!
For your own investment in you, give yourself a moment to respect how you are feeling.
Ask yourself the 3Ws:
What am I feeling right now?
We are always feeling something! It is good to take a little notice.
Why am I feeling that way?
There are reasons we feel what we are feeling. It is good to notice these reasons.
What am I going to do about it?
There is always something we can do about what we are feeling. If we are feeling happy we can choose to enjoy the happy moment. If we are feeling irritated, we can take a deep breath, take control of our thoughts, then make a decision on action (if any) needs to be taken.
If you like journaling, this is a great journaling activity. Here’s a free self-awareness journaling page you can download to practice the 3Ws:
Step 3: Remember some things that make you feel gratitude
If you take just a moment each day and notice something that made you feel grateful, over time you will feel more energy for the rest of life.
In fact, practicing a little bit of gratitude daily can change you and your brain! try it here!
If you’d like free gratitude journaling pages, here’s a download for you: Gratitude journaling page
Gratitude is a simple way to feel a little better that doesn’t take much time or effort.
When you put it all together, you will notice some nice things:
Knowing your interesting personality helps build your confidence and appreciation. Knowing how you are feeling helps build your awareness and self-control.
Knowing what you are grateful for helps you feel more energy.
I invite you to choose one or all of these steps for an inspiring, fun start to the New Year.
