Why Highly Sensitive People Should Skip the New Year’s Resolutions
As another year begins, we get flooded with messages about setting resolutions and making grand changes in our lives. As if Highly Sensitive People aren’t inundated enough with messages that we need to change in some way, adding in the pressure of starting a new year can become overwhelming! Sometimes it’s a feat just to get through the day, so transforming into a sparkly new version of yourself is surely unrealistic.
Creating change takes time for everyone, but with an HSP brain that’s wired to pause and reflect along the way, you need to be able to move even more slowly than everyone else. Instead, what if you had permission to be yourself? To move at your own pace? To focus on doing less, not more?
Anything I’ve ever accomplished has taken me so much longer to complete than I ever thought it would, but you know what? In the end, I felt more satisfied with the result because I was able to think things through and make good decisions along the way. This is why I’m ditching the pressure of New Year’s resolutions this time around and encouraging you to do the same. Let’s move through this annual transition on our own terms - slowly and with intention!
Instead of writing out New Year’s resolutions, I am doing what I love as a Highly Sensitive Introvert. I’m taking the time to deeply self-reflect on the past year through writing and visualizing what I want my next year to look like. I’m taking time to:
Appreciate the wins that I’ve had and the progress I’ve made.
Grieve the losses and disappointments.
See what intentions I would like to set for myself moving forward.
Looking at what I want to cultivate more of in the next year feels more in alignment with my quiet temperament than attempting to make wide-sweeping changes. Essentially, I’m continuing to move along the path I’m currently on with a few small tweaks.
Honor the Transition of a New Year
Remember to give yourself time to ease into the new year, as transitions are difficult for Highly Sensitive People. With a high capacity for emotional experience and the propensity to deeply reflect on everything, you’ll most likely be feeling this change much deeper than folks around you. Perhaps reflecting on:
What the past year has meant to you.
Wondering if you did enough.
Cringing over something you said that the other person doesn’t even remember.
feeling overwhelming joy for what went well.
Give yourself permission to feel whatever is coming up and process the emotions and memories by journaling, creating art, channeling through movement or talking with a trusted confidant.
Year-End Journal Prompts for Self-Reflection
Below are a few journaling prompts to help you get started on the process of self-reflection.
Name at least three wins from the past year (big or small).
What progress have you noticed within yourself?
How are you different today than you were a year ago?
What was difficult or disappointing?
What would you like to let go of or change over the next year?
What would you like to welcome in more of this year?
List a few words to summarize your intention for the next year.
Write down a few small actionable items that would bring you closer to your intention.
Starting this year on our own terms means honoring our needs as Highly Sensitive People to make changes more slowly and focusing on self-reflection over resolutions. This approach frees us from the shame of incomplete resolutions and allows us to reconnect with what’s most important in our lives.
