We’re down to the last few days before Christmas which means the new year is coming. And we all know what that means… new year’s resolutions.
To be honest, I hesitated to choose this as the topic for this week’s blog post. Shouldn’t I wait until after the holiday? Let people enjoy their time off now and then get back to being productive in the new year?
But this is the exact time that this post is needed.
Each year it never fails. I hear story after story of failed attempts at new goals. But the holiday season can teach us some things about preparing for the new year.
Traditions
For many people, the holidays are filled with traditions. It’s one of my favorite questions to ask people this time of year, since it gives me a fun sense of their personality, how they grew up, or things that are important to them.
Growing up, my family had our own traditions. For one of them, in order to open our presents, my siblings and I would each have to answer a math problem correctly (yes, there were sometimes tears). But this was a tradition very unique to my family and that we expected whenever Christmas rolled around. You better believe I was studying hard the days leading up to the big day.
And that’s the thing about traditions.
Traditions are something we can anticipate and plan for. Something that becomes so automatic it is practiced without even being thought about.
We can use traditions as we prepare for the new year. As you set your goals and make a plan to achieve them, be thinking about very simple steps you can take on a regular basis that will help you reach your goal. For example, if you’ve decided to have more mindful mornings next year before the stressful workdays begin, then pick a habit you can practice every single day (waking up 30 minutes earlier, perhaps) that is so simple and replicable that you can count on turning it into a habit.
But that’s just the first step. The holiday season can help us out with the next step too.
Time to practice
At the date this blog is posted, you have 10 DAYS LEFT until the new year!
This means you can use these 10 days to practice your newfound habits early and adjust them if needed. Maybe not all of them will work as you had hoped. If you start them in the new year but they aren’t working as planned, it can be easy to feel disappointed or rushed to fix them. But starting early gives you a grace period where you can work out any problems ahead of time.
At the end of the day, please remember that even though we are looking ahead to the new year, that is not meant to be stressful. It’s at the end of our year that we can look back and see our growth. We can also evaluate what we’d like to change and how we want to grow in the next year. That’s an exciting thing!
And as always, if TYGES can do anything for you as you consider how you want to tackle the new year regarding your career goals, please reach out to us — we are always ready to help in any way we can!
Written by: MELINDA MARRIOTT, Executive Recruiter
Melinda Marriott is a recent graduate of William & Mary with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Psychology and in Government. She is a hard-working individual with an enthusiasm for learning and embracing opportunities, and a desire to improve the lives of others. Melinda has established herself as a knowledgeable recruiter in the ABA industry. As a recruiter for TYGES Behavioral Health, Melinda strives to connect outstanding ABA professionals with the most fitting opportunities to benefit both them and their clients.
In her free time, Melinda can be found exploring Williamsburg, reading, listening to music, or being with people in her community.
“We’re here to make good things happen for other people.“
