31 Days of Supporting Your Wellbeing
Week 1 - January 1st - 7th
It’s a new year, which usually means dreaded resolutions.
But for the month of January in Notes I’ve been sharing a daily motivational advent calendar of sorts.
Instead of New Year, New You, it’ll be: New Year, No Pressure.
With small, actionable prompts each day. Nothing too big or stressful.
Like I said, they aren’t resolutions.
Just easy things to help you be more intentional.
To get the new year off on a good foot.
To start your day with something achievable.
Little things that you can easily tick off your to-do list and feel good about for doing.
A new year can be stressful enough without lofty, near-unachievable goals hanging over your head, right?
So I’m going to share some things that all of us can do to make our new year a bit better, day by day.
Here’s the first week’s aims so far - from January 1st - 7th
January 1 – make a list of your intentions for the month
Intentions are not resolutions. Well, they kind of are, but I like to think of them as goal posts that if I don’t hit them, that’s okay, but as long as I’m moving toward them, then that’s what is important. They aren’t as hard and fast as resolutions. Resolutions mean you’re resolute on doing something. You’re GOING TO and that’s that.
Intentions are a bit…less set in stone. At least for me. And that’s how I’d like you all to think of them. They’re ‘it would be nice to’s. It would be nice to do that. But if you don’t, it’s not the end of the world. You can give yourself a bit of slack, a bit of a breather with intentions. Plus, setting them out for the month gives you little things to work towards. Like breadcrumbs helping you find your way along the path towards a better you.
January 2 – share one of your intentions with a friend
Have you ever heard the phrase sharing is caring? Well, sharing can also be inspiring and motivating – and also helpful – to others.
So look back at your list of intentions from yesterday – however big or small it is - choose one, and tell a friend about it!
If you share your goals, aims and plans of what you want to achieve with someone else, it helps motivate you to achieve it. A great psychological trick.
The friend becomes an accountabilibuddy who can help keep you on track to reaching your intention. Sometimes we need that someone that can keep prodding us, keep us moving forward.
Because sometimes we might lack that motivation and it can feel easy to give up. But if you tell someone, you’ve put it out there, others know about it, and you won’t want to disappoint them now that it’s in the open and a reality.
January 3 – take a small step or action towards one of your goals today
We usually want to get somewhere right away, right? I’m often wondering when someone will finally invent teleportation – because who can be bothered with actually wanting to move to get somewhere when you can just GET THERE instantly?
It’s the same thing with goals, am I right? We don’t want to actually have to work for them. We want them to just happen, effortlessly! Or maybe that’s just me?
But unfortunately life doesn’t work that way. There’s no magic pill to pop to become better versions of ourselves. We have to put in the work.
But the good thing is, we don’t have to make it hard or complicated. And we can do that by just taking baby steps. One little step or action at a time to reach our goals, so they don’t feel so out of reach, so impossible if we take it a step at a time.
January 4 - make a list of your top 5 values
I was intending these little advent calendar-esque daily prompts to be easy. And this one may or may not be. Because you might be wondering: what is a value?
A value is a person’s principles or standards of behaviour. It’s what someone values is important in life. It’s the things you believe are most essential in life. And everyone has a different set of values in order of importance to them. I mean, there are kind of general set values – but where people rank them in importance differs.
Some examples of personal values are: honesty, integrity, loyalty, respect, trustworthiness, compassion, patience, kindness, generosity, empathy, courage, love.
Some people might value kindness and compassion over loyalty and honesty, for example.
So it might be a bit challenging but: Take a moment to think of your top 5 values - what is most important to you – in yourself and in other people.
January 5 - write down 5 things you’re grateful for today
You might just think it’s a trendy buzzword, but gratitude is a powerful practice. Looking at life through a lens of gratitude and having a gratitude practice can really change your life.
It allows you to…well, become grateful for the good things in life – the things you have, the things you experience, rather than looking at life through a negative lens. The more you practice gratitude, the more appreciative you become. It’s not really looking at life through rose-coloured glasses, though. It’s not toxic positivity.
It’s about being grateful for everything – the ups and the downs! Having gratitude for small things and big. We automatically have a negativity bias. It’s how we’re wired. But gratitude can help rewire us to look more at the positive.
The simplest gratitude practice is writing down a few things you’re grateful for. Five, if you can. Or even three if 5 is too difficult.
January 6 – create a comfort list
This is a nice one because the start of a new year can bring new years blues, sometimes. And if you live in the Northern Hemisphere (like me) it’s winter, and that often means lots of darkness as the sun sets earlier (but thankfully that is gradually shifting again!).
Either way, the start of a new year might leave you feeling a bit unsteady or vulnerable – it’s a fresh start – a blank slate of opportunities and ups and downs stretching out ahead of you.
So it’s nice to have some comfort.
So today’s aim is to create a comfort list – a list of things that instantly bring you comfort and support and anchor you – like a song or a smell or a memory.
Keep this list whenever you need some comfort and refer to it to give you ideas of things you can do to help yourself distress and unwind.
January 7 – write down 3 positive affirmations
Like the January 5th aim for the day of gratitude, using positive affirmations or mantras can be super helpful in improving your mental health, and just give yourself a bit of a lift, a boost.
So today’s task is to think of 3 affirmations you can repeat to yourself daily when you need some positivity.
One of the mantras I came up with – when I have something stressful or something big that I need to accomplish that takes me out of my comfort zone and when I need a little pep talk to help me get through it is:
I am calm
I am confident
I can do this!
And I repeat those 3 things over and over, like a magic spell. It helps banish any negative thoughts or doubts that might be creeping in.
But come up with 3 of your own and see how they make you feel!
And that’s all for the first week. I’ll do a round up of next week’s tasks/aims/goals/steps to supporting your wellbeing in 7 days!
And don’t forget to live with a dose of wonder.
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