happy new year

There's this prompt going on out there about having a word for the year, or a vision for how you want it to be. I've been doing it for the last two years and it went pretty well for me - 2022 was about building strength, and 2023 was about being more free to experiment with new things if I feel like it. I think this year I've been able to say yes to the things that bring me immediate joy or satisfy my curiosity more easily than I have in the past. And now I'd like 2024 to be about practicing delayed gratification. 

There are so many things that I want to do in life. And they're all going to take time, need dedicated consistent effort, and a lot more emotional regulation than what I believe I have today to focus on what truly matters to me. So I'm going to give myself one thing to do each quarter which I think should help me along the way. 

The first quarter I'll just try to reduce my current source of an instant dopamine boost - Instagram - by checking it just once a day for not more than 10 minutes. Currently I use it to fill up the gaps, spending either 2 hours on the app or 2 minutes in a day depending on how interested I am in what I am doing. But just leaving those 2 hours empty I hope will push me to do something more constructive, or just allow me to be bored, which would be great. 

I think my second quarter is going to be a promise to write 5 sentences everyday. Awesome for me if I end up writing more, but I've got to learn how to start with something I know I enjoy and want even though I am not in the mood for it. 

A habit I've already introduced in my life is ensuring I drink a glass of water everyday. The third quarter, I'll target ensuring I drink 3. Should definitely help my health long term, even if I don't like believing it's affecting me. 

I don't know what I should do in the last quarter yet. I'm sure I'll come up with something along the way. But the stakes for me actually doing this for the year are high. Nothing else in my invisible list of things I want to do in a particular quarter will matter if it's coming in the way of not checking Instagram, writing 5 sentences, or drinking 3 glasses of water. And ideally, those things shouldn't come in the way of anything anyway. 

I really want this year to be one where I invest in myself and have the patience to stay invested. I'm trying to make it as easy as possible while it still being challenging for me to set myself up for success. 

I hope I leave the year having proven to myself that 1) you don't need to feel happy or engaged every moment to truly feel okay 2) your actions are capable of changing how you feel, instead of your feelings having control over your actions and 3) you care about your well being even when doing so feels hard or frustrating and the harm isn't imminent 

Do you have a word or theme for this year? If so, what is it going to be? And what's your plan to help yourself succeed in achieving it?

Love, 

Kanksha