Hello Honeybees and happy new year!

I have always loved the beginning of a new season, yet always felt a little twinge on January 2nd.  This is the day when historically I’d already begun to backtrack on my shiny new resolutions… so early in the year, and yet I consistently felt like I’d already begun to fail.  Flipping around my new year’s reflection process has turned January 2 from a day of discouragement to one of joy.  The blog post describing this flip process has proven to be one of our most popular of all time; we re-publish it now, in case you are in need of a new year’s do-over.

Here’s to a joyful 2015!

Like many people, my year end used to be shadowed by “should’ves”. I would reflect on resolutions from years past, and instead of feeling great about all of the good things, I’d end up focusing on the things leftover on the list – work un-done, trips un-taken, pounds un-lost.

“And now we welcome the new year, full of things that have never been.”
— RM Rilke

Then, a few years ago, I tried flipping this process around. I spent an hour at the end of the year reviewing my calendar from the past twelve months, noting all of the things I was glad to have done. Where had I invested my time, and where were the rewards the greatest? Some entries – family reunions, long-anticipated vacations, big professional events – naturally were already top of mind. But what surprised me were the smaller moments that jumped out – afternoon tea with a long-lost friend, a great movie, a blissful day that appeared almost empty on the calendar but was filled in my mind with vivid detail of a long autumn hike. After reviewing all of these wonderful elements, the un-done items on my to-do list suddenly seemed unimportant.

Then I looked at the calendar for the coming year, with all of its promising white space. And I started gleefully filling it up, based on my joyful list from the year before. I wanted to reinvest in all that had proven to bring great rewards, so I added placeholders for some big things, like those trips and family events… and then I stopped. Because I also wanted to be sure to protect the ability to have that tea, or see that movie, or visit that friend. I wanted to intentionally leave a bit more blank space for them.

Starting with the joys of the prior year was so much better than starting with its shortcomings! And focusing on reinvestment, on building up that joy from year to year, in whatever form it takes, has been revolutionary.

In this new year, I wish you joy.