It’s a new year. It almost feels like a new me.

Many people make new year’s resolutions. Vowing to be a better person. I don’t make resolutions specifically, but I like to review goals I’m working on and create new habits to test out.

Going through my goals invigorates me. I love looking and moving forward. It feels like a new year is a fresh start. It also offers valuable insight.

When I think about the past year, I can see the type of life I’ve been living. Then I can compare that to the type of life I want to be living. This is valuable information whether I follow through on my resolutions/goals or not.

Looking Back

Before looking forward, I take a look back. I think about last year and where I was in my life.

At that time, I was figuring out what kind of career to pursue. I was stressed and battling my own unreachable expectations.

I was furiously studying to finish my degree, which I managed to do a few months early!

After that I threw myself into packing up our house to move our family out of state. All while ignoring the many changes this move would cause.

Once we arrived in our new home, I was struggling to to create a sense of order and organization. After those first stressful months, I finally began settling in.

Compared To Now

Looking back, I can see where I was last year and compare it with where I’m at right now.

I’ve graduated and we’ve moved. I’m focusing on a general-ish career path - unless life has different ideas.

I’m immersing myself in a different field of tech - cybersecurity. A topic I never thought I’d be so fascinated with.

I’m finding new ways to handle my stress like limiting social media and news in general, exercising, that kind of stuff. I’ve added strength training to my routine. Seeing my muscles grow boosts my self-confidence and feeling stronger actually helps me deal with some of the anxiety-provoking things I’ve come across in cybersecurity.

Now I’m trying to lower expectations I have of myself. I don’t have to be the best at the anything. I could just be good enough. That sounds doable. Any of you who also suffer from perfectionism know what I’m talking about, right?

Reflecting On Adjustments

I can pinpoint where I’ve stumbled over the past year.

I’ve been “working” from home for a couple of years now. I really enjoy it and it increases my productivity.

I’ve tried to do the conventional 8 hours of work, several times now, but I just get burnt out. I focus really well for 30-60 minutes at a time (Pomodoro Technique works great for me). But doing that 8-16 times a day just drains your mental energy.

I can do it for about 4-5 hours a day total and then my brain is done with focused work. That’s not the case for everyone, but it is for me and that’s okay.

It’s tough to let that expectation go, but once I did, my productivity skyrocketed. Instead of crashing after 3 days of work, I can consistently work a 5-day schedule and get way more work done.

I’ve also had to ease up on what I consider “clean” to be. When we first moved in, I had a nice, firm cleaning schedule. That didn’t last long. I’ve had to alter it several times to make it fit my schedule and energy levels.

There’s a certain level of dirty I’ve learned to be okay with. Things will get cleaned if there’s time. If they don’t, that’s alright too. There’s always next week (or month).

Reflecting On Setbacks

I’ve also experienced some setbacks this last year.

I tried out a personal finance blog, which did not pan out. It did force me to write more regularly and I learned a lot about hosting, WordPress, marketing, scheduling, and other stuff.

But I didn’t feel I had something unique to add to the larger conversation. Over time I realized I wasn’t an expert in that field nor did I want to take the time to become one. And that’s okay. It was a great learning experience. I’ve let it go and am moving on to other things. I still learned a lot I can use in the future.

The Value of Reflection

We’ve all grown in the last year, at least a little. Our cells have divided. Many have died (cells, I mean. People have too, but I don’t want to dwell on that here.) We all change.

Reflecting on my past year illuminates what direction I can take moving forward.

I see where I struggled and I can adjust my plan to try a different way. I can see my setbacks and learn from them. I can see where I’ve grown and use that confidence to take on more challenges.

In reflecting, I learn about myself, the things I value, and how I can build a life that best suits me.

Who am I? How do I work best? What doesn’t work for me? What can I accomplish right now? How would I like to grow?

Answering these questions give me knowledge so I can refine my path. To get where I want to go, maybe I need to do things differently.

Working longer hours made me “feel” like I was more productive. But it was actually ruining my long-term productivity.

The personal finance blog felt like a way to provide value and meaning. But I didn’t have much value to offer. The experience guided me toward a topic where I do have something of value to offer.

These are just a few of the lessons I discovered in my reflections, but the knowledge I’ve found can guide me in the year to come.

Wherever I’m at right now on my journey is the best place to begin anew.