The start of new year always holds such promise. It’s a time for feeling optimistic, for setting goals, for dreaming big and making plans. What it isn’t a time for is to lug around last year’s mental or emotional baggage. That will be both exhausting and detrimental to any progress that you hope to make in 2025.
Holding on to something only makes the pain and emotions harder to deal with. It stops you from appreciating what you have as you feel caught in an endless cycle of reflection and sadness. Letting go of the past is not always easy, particularly if you’ve experienced emotional or physical pain. However, making a commitment to move on is important and like many things, time can prove to be a great healer.
Your past doesn’t define your future
As many of you know, 2024 was not a great year for me, I’ve detailed my own struggles on many an occasion, but that stops now. I’m officially drawing a line under it and making the decision to move on. That’s because I want 2025 to be a fresh, untainted new year, full of promise and expectation.
Moving on from a bad moment in your life is important for your personal growth and development. It’s worth remembering that your past doesn’t define your future and that you can overcome any circumstances and situations that you want if you’re willing to put in hard work and determination.
Leave it behind, or be left behind
Living in the past is not healthy or helpful. But you can use it as education and inspiration to make improvements so that you can become the best version of yourself in the future. So, my advice to you to not wait around for things to magically get better, but to take the initiative today.
Moving on is about choice. You need to actively, consciously and intentionally commit to doing something different. In addition, you may need some perspective. By practising gratitude should help you to remember that “it could have been worse,” and “at least you’re still alive.”
Sometimes, we don’t always know where we are going but by concentrating on the areas of your life that give you joy, energy and a feeling of accomplishment and success, will help give you a clearer idea of the experiences you want in 2025. Essentially, it’s about retraining your mind in order to create a future that will be packed full of new, positive memories and adventures that will be make you happier and more content.
Here are 7 ways in which you let go of a bad year and start to live a happier life:
- List what went well and congratulate yourself
- Learn from the past and try not to repeat it
- Set boundaries and goals
- Practice self-care and compassion (forgive yourself and others)
- Let go of negativity
- Make time for things that you enjoy
- Focus on the future
Find meaning and purpose
We’re all different and our responses to any past traumas will vary. But when we learn to move on from unpleasant situations, we start to adopt a growth mindset. This will help you to become more adaptable, resilient, and confident. It can also help you learn from your mistakes and improve your problem-solving skills.
Learning how to forget about the past means you’re allowing yourself to live in the present enabling you to have a greater appreciation of life, more self-esteem, increased happiness, improved wellbeing, an ability to experience more connections to other and a renewed sense of meaning and purpose.
If you need additional support so you can arrive at a new destination with new luggage, please get in touch – debby@total-spectrum.com. I can help you to live your best life, giving you control to choose which path to take.
