New Year, Old Me.

It’s that time of the year again.

When work quiets down, we block our work calendars in bold “Out of Office” and turn on our automatic replies. With our families and friends, we reflect on the past year and hope for an even better year ahead.

If you’re like me, you love goals. You also love new years because you get to write a whole new set of New Years Resolutions. But this year? I was lost.

My Instagram feed was filled with influencers telling me how to journal and how to plan.

“5 tips on writing better New Year Resolutions!”

“How to make that New Year Resolution stick!”

Usually I’d be grinding out 3-4 goals at the start of the year, using the 5 tips and making sure *they will stick*.

This year, I was staring at a blank page, unsure of what to write.

I shared this feeling of being “directionless” with my coach. I should be excited to be starting a new year and aiming to hit my new set of new year resolutions. But for the first time, I felt like the calendar was moving on faster than me and I was still stuck in August.

My coach told me to close my eyes and look inwards. What do I feel? What do I see?

I saw myself in an empty space, completely white. I felt like I was back on square one.

Not soon after, a ray of light shone through the space and I felt warmer. To my surprise, it was peaceful, and even calming.

That was when I noticed, my heart was comfortable being in square one. It’s going to be okay.

It was my brain—influenced by the new calendar year, my Instagram feed, and my habit of setting New Years Resolutions—that was uncomfortable. I should be coming up with my new goals for the year. I have to keep up with my work. I need to …

So I decided to allocate 5 minutes of my day to close my eyes and listen to my heart. Sometimes I forget, but that’s okay. It’s better than completely ignoring my heart and not being honest with myself.

Let your heart be your guide this year.

Take a deep breath and close your eyes. What do you feel? What do you see?