91 - Special New Year episode! Beyond the Resolution, Embracing a New Era of Personal Evolution

Discover the rich tapestry of history and personal evolution with our New Year's edition, where we explore the history behind new year's resolutions and look a new and improved approach.

Embracing the new and discarding the old, we explore why traditional resolutions often fail and how our genetics might be whispering secrets about what's truly achievable. In this lively discussion, we unpack the art of setting intentions through 'in and out' lists, sharing a more adaptable, forgiving way to approach personal growth as you step into 2024 with us.

Wave goodbye to the one-size-fits-all resolution and hello to a year of intention and reflection. Join the conversation by sharing your own 'in list' and 'out list'—what's on your horizon to embrace, and what are you ready to leave behind? We also tease you with a sneak peek at our upcoming two-part series, ensuring that your journey through the New Year is packed with inspiration, community, and a toast to the endless possibilities that await. Let's raise our glasses to a season of renewal, and together, we'll make 2024 a year to remember.

Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:49

Hey, welcome to 2024. We are having a special New Year's edition and I am recording this off the cuff so we'll see what we get, but I just had this on my mind so we're gonna do it. I thought it would be fun to do a little bit of a deep dive into New Year's Eve, new Year's resolutions, goals and all of that fun stuff, because it's top of mind right now and whether you're in the boat of setting goals or resolutions for 2024, or maybe you're more of a setting intentions type of person, whatever it may be, I'm here to help you kind of cipher through some of that stuff. So I just went to historycom and this is what they had to say about the history of New Year's resolutions.

Speaker 1: 1:45

The ancient Babylonians are said to have been the first people to make New Year's resolutions, some 4,000 years ago. They were also the first to hold recorded celebrations in honor of the New Year, though for them the year began not in January but in mid-March, when the crops were planted. During a massive 12-day religious festival known as a Ketou, the Babylonians crowned a new king, or reaffirmed their loyalty to the reigning king. They also made promises to the gods to pay their debts and return any objects they had borrowed. These promises could be considered the forerunners of our New Year's resolutions. If the Babylonians kept their word, their pagan gods would bestow favor on them for the coming year. If not, they would fall out of the gods favor, a place no one wanted to be. A similar practice occurred in ancient Rome after the reform-minded emperor Julius Caesar tinkered with the calendar and established January 1 as the beginning of the New Year circa 46 BC, named for Janus, the two-faced god whose spirit inhabited doorways and arches. January had special significance for the Romans, believing that Janus symbolically looked backwards into the previous year and a head into the future. The Romans offered sacrifices to the deity and made promises of good contact for the coming year.

Speaker 1: 3:11

For early Christians, the first day of the New Year became the traditional occasion for thinking about one's past mistakes and resolving to do and be better in the future. In 1970, the English clergyman John Wesley, founder of Methodism, created the Covenant Renewal Service, most commonly held on New Year's Eve or New Year's Day, also known as Watch Night Services. They included readings from scriptures and hymn singing and served as a spiritual alternative to the raucous celebrations normally held to celebrate the coming of the New Year Now popular within evangelical Protestant churches, especially African American denominations and congregations. Watch night services held on New Year's Eve are often spent praying and making resolutions for the coming year. Despite the tradition's religious roots, new Year's resolutions today are a mostly secular practice.

Speaker 1: 4:11

Instead of making promises to the gods, most people make resolutions only to themselves and focus purely on self-improvement, which may explain why such resolutions seem so hard to follow through on. According to recent research that is, while as many as 45% of Americans say they usually make New Year's resolutions, only 8% are successful in achieving their goals. Let me state that again as many as 45% of Americans make New Year's resolutions and only 8% are successful in achieving their goals. That dismal record probably won't stop people from making resolutions anytime soon. After all, we've had 4,000 years of practice. But if you are one of those 55% who don't make resolutions, bravo to you. I'm curious what do you do instead? Do you do anything instead? Do you just let it go? And if you are some of that 45%, or the majority of that 45% that set these goals and resolutions and end up not achieving them, I get it. It's hard.

Speaker 1: 5:45

There is sometimes, like this article said, a lack of accountability. Sometimes we make it goals and resolutions that we think are aligned with our thoughts and values and, upon further reflection, turn out not to be, or they're just things that are non-attainable. If we think of the, you know, one of the major New Year's resolutions that I always hear about is weight loss, or I'm in some caveat exercising more or eating less or eating healthier. We know that a significant portion of our weight is tied to genetics, so all of those attempts to lose weight and not could be because your body is not designed to be that size that you're trying to get to, so let's take that off the table. As I was scrolling Instagram this morning in bed because I didn't want to get out and I was trying to let our guests who are over for the celebration of the New Year sleep a little longer, because not everybody is an early bird like I am I was laying in bed scrolling Instagram and I came across a post from Tess Holiday and if you don't already know who she is or follow her, she is a plus size model who is really big into body neutrality, and one of the things that she was posting on her Instagram is this idea of ins and outs. I really liked that idea.

Speaker 1: 7:25

Rather than setting goals or resolutions for 2024, let's do an ins and outs list. So when you're thinking about this and you can grab a paper, you can pause me. Grab your paper and pencil pen, jot this down on your phone, whatever works for you, but make two lists Things that you're going to let go of, things that are out in 2024. These could be things such as weighing yourself, counting calories, looking in the mirror and being self critical. Any of those self deprecating thoughts can go on that out list Because these are out. We're not going to do that anymore because they don't make us feel good. Why are we continuing to do things that don't make us feel good? Then you're gonna have your in list. These are the things that you want more of in 2024. These are the things that are like in fashion for you.

Speaker 1: 8:31

Personally, I started on my own in and out lists for 2024, and I say started on them because these are just some preliminary thoughts and I'm sure I will be adding to both lists as the day goes on, as the week and as the year goes on. But here's a starting point and I thought I would share with you just to help you get some ideas on what you might want on your in and out list. I'm gonna start with my out list Things that are out in 2024. And myself to others, looking at where I am and comparing it to where others might be that never helps. Spending time with people who don't share my values and aren't bringing joy to my life in some way. Self criticism All of those thoughts that tell me that I'm not good enough, that I'm not smart enough, who am I to be doing this? Any thoughts that I still have lingering about my body, my abilities to do things, anything like that. That is self critical out in 2024. Explaining and over explaining, not finishing projects. Another one that isn't quite necessarily me personally that out in 2024 is going to be allowing my son to be an electronic as much as he is. The kid is glued to YouTube and I'm done with it, so is he.

Speaker 1: 10:22

Okay, let's talk about what's in 2024 for Sabrina. I think I mentioned this in a different episode and if I haven't or you haven't heard, hey, I joined Jazzercise back in November. I went to Jazzercise with my mom growing up and then I went to Jazzercise when we lived in Wisconsin back in 20, 2005, 2006. Somewhere along those lines and then I stopped going and then, after I had Anthony, I went back and he pretty much grew up, from the time he was about eight months old till he was three and a half when we moved to Iowa going to Jazzercise with me. So now that I have an office in Cedar Rapids, there is a center 10 minutes away. I joined and I absolutely love it.

Speaker 1: 11:11

So in for 2024 is a ton of Jazzercise and dancing, also in other joyful movement, whatever that might be along those lines, stretching yoga. Also in for 2024 is compassion for myself, intentional time with friends and family Camping, kayaking, massages, learning new skills and teaching others. With that teaching others also comes empowering others, and I also have a really cool craft bar downstairs that sometimes gets neglected. So in is doing more crafting for myself, for others, and we'll just see where it takes us. So that's my list as it stands right now for my ins and outs of 2024.

Speaker 1: 12:13

If you want to do this, great. Just a different way for looking at this, rather than spending time setting goals and setting resolutions, and let's just look at what we want to do more of and what we want to do less of. Easy peasy, simple like that If you decide to do this and you want to share, shoot us a message info at healthhopeharmoniecom and let us know what you are doing, what is on your in list, what is on your out list. If you're not into the email thing, you can also message us on Instagram or Facebook or TikTok and just let us know what's going on. Alright, so I hope you enjoyed this little impromptu New Year's special edition of the podcast, and I do have a fun and exciting two part series coming up that will be released on Thursday and then the follow up episode, for that will be next Thursday. I hope you had a safe and enjoyable holiday and a safe and enjoyable New Year and I look forward to spending 2024 with you in some capacity. See you all, friend.