Farewell 2019, Hello to a New Year: Time for Reflections

January of last year,  I selected GROWTH as my one-word intention, with a focus on emotional, spiritual, and professional growth.  While I already touched on some aspects of how I grew spiritually and professionally, I haven’t addressed the part about my emotional growth.  I admit it’s the one thing I found most challenging.  However, here’s what I learned from setting this intention.

Acceptance

This year I’ve learned to acknowledge and accept my emotions.  For many years I turned to repression whenever I encountered an emotion I viewed as negative.  I refrained from expressing grief or sadness as I thought it showed weakness.  Enter Brene Brown!  Someone who introduced vulnerability as a badge of courage.  No longer should we feel shameful for the emotions we experience.  Rather we should embrace and welcome our feelings as they define us as humans. While it’s still a work in progress, I am building up the courage to be more vocal about the way I feel.

Learning as a Strength

What also helped me tremendously was the Coaching Psychology class I took as part of the graduate program I finished this past year.  With learning as one of my top 5 strengths identified from the Strengthsfinder test, I strived to learn and put into action the strategies presented in class to improve my emotional and mental well-being.  More details about it is on this previous post about the top three practices to achieve optimal emotional and mental fitness .  The training I received through Wellcoaches to become a Health and Wellness Coach was a huge benefit not only professionally, but also personally.  It satisfied my love for learning.  But more importantly, it raised my awareness with regards to the multiple dimensions of a thriving well-being.   I realized I had to work on my emotional fitness.  Hence, my intention for emotional growth in 2019.

Growth endures

I will never stop growing!  My well-being particularly my mental and emotional state will continue to evolve as the years pass.  Using mindfulness as a tool to be self-aware, I know I can build on the habit of identifying how I feel.  And then dig deeper to find out what need is or isn’t being satisfied. It’s a continual process of self-discovery and working towards a better version of me.  Along the same lines of emotional growth, I have selected my one-word intention for 2020 – RELEASE!  More about why I chose this intention on my next post 🙂

What did you learn about yourself in 2019?  What do you see yourself working on for 2020?