4 Truths To Remind Ourselves Before 2022 Because It’s Not The Same World Anymore

We love December.

The hope of a better year ahead and the thought of filling out a journal with new life stories is exciting.

We tell ourselves - This year I’ll do better. I will be the fittest, smartest, financially secure person I ever know.

We envision this new person of our dreams, following the 10-20 new year resolutions we set to sort out all the problems.

With February, the excitement wears off and the bullet journals and the sharpie pens are stashed under the burden of a boring life. Walking to gym seems pointless, the new project could not taken off. This was before January 2020 of course.

For the past two years we have experienced losses beyond our imagination, struggles and more struggles and have scars we are healing from. We have to come in terms with the fact that a new year is not going to change everything like magic.

Our world has changed, no matter how much we refuse to see it. We need to have our back more than we have ever been in our lives so far.

Here are 5 things we could remind ourselves before we enter 2022:

1. I will accept my Life As it Is

When you live in complete acceptance of what is, that is the end of all drama in your life. -Eckhart Tolle

We resist accepting our present because “it’s not supposed to be this way”. We hold on to myths like these:

1. Good things happen to good people.

2. Everything happens for a reason.

Let's not waste the present by searching for a reason why life screwed us. It did. It's unfair.

Let’s remind ourselves to take things as they come. We cannot begin to heal unless we accept we are hurting.

Willing to take life with all its flaws, fears and appreciating the blessings of a boring life is the skill we need to take with us into 2022 and forward.

2. A new version of me is not the solution, but a new approach is

One of the biggest war we will keep fighting in our mind is the image of our perfect-self.

Make no mistakes, we all can improve and become the better version of ourselves. We have indeed come a long way from the person we used to be. But the problem arises when we wait for this version of us to help fulfill our dreams instead of getting started with it right away.

“ I’ll start working my business idea after I become a more organised person this year”

“l’ll ask that person out after I lose some weight and look hot” (as absurd as it sounds, I tell myself this!)

“ I‘ll wake up at 5 am and study that course before I pitch the idea to my boss”

Don’t keep your ideas waiting. Research and give life to them now. Taking care of fitness matters but it’s insecurity that’s stopping you. And your date is not waiting forever. Ask them out.

That “Elon Musk” like self is not coming anytime for a night owl like you, so block an hour daily after work and prepare for that pitch.

If we could sync our goals with the person we are today, that’s where changes happen. One day at a time.

3. I can change my definition of success - anytime

The standard definition of success like “study well, get a high paying job, marry, get a car, have a hobby, buy a home and be happy only after you are old” is dead.

We realised family time is precious, our mental health is important and the 5 years plan we wrote at 2018 makes no sense today. We learnt to slow down and prioritize self-care.

Let‘s remind ourselves to take this awareness into 2022 - To be ready to question the idea of success and write our very own.

4. I will Cut The Noise and Follow My Truth

Steve Jobs has said it (I have got the point home, haven’t I?). The thing about dogma.

Ignoring noise could be the best gift we can give ourselves. What is this noise?

For me it’s social media success stories, of how a 21-year-old is earning $20,000 a month. It’s my relatives telling how my life should look like. It’s Instagram feed proving me I have ADHD (please see a therapist, don’t let an algorithm do that for you). Everyone’s learning Machine Learning , should I take that boot camp? Wait, about the life coach courses?

You get the picture.

We don’t have to react to everything or jump every wave. We don’t have to follow every billionaire morning routine to become a person of worth - we already are.

We don’t have to let data steer every aspect of our lives. Google and Alexa are doing it already. So, why bother?

We know the truth of what we want out of life. Let’s stay true to it.

Final Thoughts

The best new year resolution for 2022 would be giving us permission to take things slow and stop setting a deadline for our healing and for every stage of our life.

To respect the grit we developed and appreciate ourselves for the life we are building from scratch. We need to accept a new us we became because the world changed.

Here is the take way - Let go of resistance and accept life, work with the person we are today to improve, to rewrite our definition of success and to follow our truth through all this by cutting the noise.