New Year, New Me: Finding your Purpose with Confidence

As the end of 2021 draws near, many of us are contemplating how we can use the New Year as a time to reflect and find our purpose with fresh confidence. After another challenging year of uncertainty and restrictions wrought by the pandemic, most of us will be eager to leave the last 12 months behind and focus on our future. The New Year, New Me mantra doesn’t have to imply that we completely disregard our past selves and start anew; it can simply mean making adjustments, improvements and lifestyle changes that will make us happier, healthier and more fulfilled.

Resolutions this time of year typically revolve around new diets, exercise initiatives, or abstinence from vices. But there are alternative considerations for self-improvement that will help you toward finding a new sense of purpose.

Take a Life Audit

When reflecting on what’s passed, and with an inclination to move forward and strive for betterment, it may be sensible to start with a life audit. By evaluating certain areas of your life you can ascertain what you feel would be most valuable to make improvements on –– whether it’s for your health, wellbeing or general circumstances.

Blogger English Mum shares life auditing tips to point us in the right direction and help identify areas that may require adjustments. Perhaps as she suggests it’s time to assess your health and fitness, your style or how you spend quality time; you might also assess your relationships, energy levels or general happiness. But ultimately it’s about restoring balance, reinforcing what’s important to you and finding a purpose. A renewed sense of priorities will make you more confident about making the most important things in your life work.

Figure Out Your Story

In a previous article “So… What’s Your Story?” we offered guidance around figuring out your story for inclusion within a business pitch. Drawing from this, you can conduct a similar exercise and apply it to your plan for self-improvement. Figuring out who you are, how you’ve arrived in the now, and where you plan to be in the future will lend you confidence for moving forward with your goals and aspirations. If your life story is written down, you can remind yourself at a glance how much you have achieved –– and allow yourself to feel proud. Recalling obstacles you’ve faced and how you’ve navigated through so far will also be a very empowering part of the process. You can start the New Year with a renewed appreciation for your journey up to this point, and full confidence that you can continue that journey successfully.

Embrace Change

Change can be a frightening prospect in any form, but even changes that you may attach negative feelings to can represent opportunities to evolve. In a Forbes article on ‘How Women Rise’, leadership experts discuss women in business who are resistant to change. But it also notes that women who react constructively to criticism tend to create more opportunities for advancement. On a similar level, realizing that personal changes may be necessary should be viewed as a positive step towards improving yourself. Whether in business or elsewhere, progress often begins with an honest recognition of a need to change.

Find Inspiration

Leaning on others for guidance and inspiration is often beneficial when seeking motivation to make improvements. And to borrow from the well-known betterment guide “The Confidence Code”, it can specifically help to draw inspiration from women who have found great success. A summary of ‘The Confidence Code’ by Scribd discusses the importance of understanding confidence and how to achieve it. Outlining examples from the authors’ lives and those of outstanding women in politics, media and business, suggests that looking to the successes of others can stimulate your own desires to succeed. Whether it’s through reading, seminars, or anything else of the sort, seeking out examples in this vein may well give you the inspiration you need to act with confidence and find your purpose.

Create a List of Things to Look Forward to

A simple and practical suggestion for the start of the New Year is to create a list of notable events that you’re looking forward to. Having just spent months in social isolation, we’ve been deprived of much of the joy and normalcy we’re used to; even the pleasure of planning ahead has been absent! So the idea here is to formulate a planner and include anything positive that you’re anticipating, whether that’s a new product launch you’ve been waiting for, a wedding to attend, a restaurant opening or a particular exhibition, etc. Whatever it is, make a note of it.

The anticipation alone induces a feeling of happiness well before the actual event. Thus, having notes or a schedule to refer to can be an instant dopamine boost to help you maintain positivity and confidence throughout the year.

We hope these few suggestions will be useful for finding a purpose and building a happier, healthier and more positive you as we embark upon a New Year. Happy planning!

Article penned by Darla Grace

for liftwomen.com