Turn your year around

As we are enjoying the run up to the end of the year and our attention turns to the summer sun, long nights and spending time with friends and family over the festive period, many are wishing the rest of 2020 away. While there can be no doubt that this has been an exceptional year, there is much to be appreciated and recognising that could make a big difference to our wellbeing.

There is certainly a school of thought that 2020 has been a dud year, and for good reason. Starting with the Australian Bushfires, which were followed by flooding in Indonesia, civil unrest across many countries and not forgetting Covid-19. But the issue for most isn’t just that these things have happened, it is the impact that we have all felt as a result of them. The measures which we put in place to protect us have undoubtedly stopped us from achieving what we wanted this year. All the while, some of our ancestors may challenge our thinking, that it hasn’t been the worst year on record. Regardless, it has been challenging in so many different ways that despair has been rife and the calls for twenty twenty one to hurry up heard regularly.

If we always judge the past on only the highlights or low points, and compare it to the present with all that is going on, we often fall on the same conclusion - it was better back then. But this will nearly always place the here and now in the negative, when it simply doesn’t have to be. Have you taken more time for yourself this year? How was your time away from the office during lockdown? Have you connected with family and friends in a way you are happy with during it all? Did you get round to the home decor or boxset you’d been eyeing up? Small things can be great things and should be recognised alongside the challenges, and sometimes in their own right for being a win for you. When it is possible, it will pay to change perspective on this year by looking at it differently. 

We very rarely pause in our day-to-day lives; we’re constantly rushing from one thing to the next and aren’t always giving our full attention to what we’re doing. So why not pause and take stock of who you are and what you’ve already achieved to give yourself a confidence boost.

So, what about next year? Or how about right now? We still have two, potentially fantastic, months ahead of us and with a little self-care, we can end 2020 on a high. Shifting our frame of view away from the control measures by Governments and coronavirus, and on to that which we had control over can help our wellbeing and rid us of that sense of despair.

Reflect on what you were hoping to achieve this year, and what you actually managed. Did you meet those goals, or did you make other things happen? Sometimes we don’t quite get there, even in a straight forward year, so being forgiving of ourselves is important. But it also lays the foundation for the next step.

What do you want to do before New Years day? Are you still clinging to that bucket list for twenty twenty? Change your perspective and consider if they are achievable, particularly in a Covid-climate. Set yourself up for success by aiming for things which you are in control of and keep you motivated. Working hard in the fruit orchards this season to save up for the thrill of freefalling out of a plane, skydiving and taking in New Zealand from above is just one example of how to make the end of your year as fun as possible.

It is true that those who are not feeling the strain and challenges can make light of difficult situations. This is also true for how your year has been. But, if you are determined to define a year like no other on your own terms, then you have the drive and ability to turn it all around and write your own narrative for 2020.

Want more tips and ideas to turn things around for yourself? Georgia Burgess article has put together some tips to improve your day.