“Happiness is neither virtue nor pleasure nor this thing nor that but simply growth, We are happy when we are growing.” ~ William Butler Yeats

My favorite year end ritual since the past few years has been to choose a word for the year. Which also doubles as the intention of the year as well.

I’ve found that after years of setting goals and resolutions which fizzle out in intensity and appeal after a few weeks, a word based intention creates a wonderful level of focus. It is sort of an anchor to come back to when you feel lost along the way. My word for last year was: PEACE. And, I can say with great satisfaction that, that is the first thing I wrote as a something I have achieved in 2023 in my journal. Peace of mind, was at the forefront of all that I did in the last year. I’ve never really shared my Word of the year before on the blog, but this year I feel like its something I have tried and it works beautifully on my healing journey. SO, it WILL surely help you too.

Why I chose GROWTH?

While every year there is implicit growth, I noticed that there are some months of the year that a feeling of stagnation creeps up. Where honestly, no noticible growth happens. It’s the very moments where lessons have become so basic that I choose to move on, let go of any sembelance of discipline, or get distracted by something trivial. This recently dawned on me, when I was doing my year end review.

I quickly realized the priority that certain little(unnecessary) things had taken. I got caught up in the noise of the outside world. Which is not usually me. I don’t function well with noise or clutter.

I also realized that it was the time my perimenopausal hormones were raging most. I have since then, through herbs, emotional regulation, prayer and meditation got a handle on the whole hormonal madness that is perimenopause. Since I was choosing Peace(my word for 2023) constantly, I knew I could bring myself back to that state. But it got harder and harder in those stagnant months, when I just let things go. Not a state I want to go back in, because it makes me feel like I have lost precious energy and time I could’ve spent creating something wonderful(which I want to anyway).

2024 Word and Intention of the year: GROWTH

This is why I’m choosing GROWTH as my intentional focus this year. I’m showing up, stepping out, and living open this year. It’s easy for me to grow in business and scale year to year. (I thrive on it) However, choosing to grow holistically i.e. physically, mentally, emotionally and spiritually has proven to be far more challenging, simply because of the busyness of life.

Now that it’s clear to me the areas where I need to rediscover and reassess my growth.

What does my growth look like this year? I’m all about clarity of vision. So let’s dive into the vision, shall we?

Physical Growth

For me this is the hardest as I have always struggled with my hormones from the time I was a teenager. Barring a few years after my daughter was born, when my body was beautifully calm, its always been a whirlwind of hormones I have had to tame. So entering this mid-life stage of perimenopause in full force this past year made me really look within for lasting solutions. I could not let my hormones ruin my quality of life. So, this year I’m planning to make sure to take the right herbs, sleep well, move my body more and stay peaceful more, to keep those hormones in check and my physical health in order. Which means developing better sleep schedules and meal plans for optimum health.

Mental Growth

As a therapist I see so many beautiful souls in a week, who need my undivided mind to help them to heal. I do my work with great passion and purpose. For this reason, I am prioritizing my mental growth this year as well. For me mental growth looks like reading and researching more on mental health and spirituality. It means staying on top of the ever growing Neuroscientific and Psychological Research. It also means I already have my list of books and courses I need to do in this year. Learning make me come alive and also makes me follow my purpose of helping souls heal so much more rewarding.
It also means, I will finally be publishing my book sometimes mid 2024 ❤

Emotional Growth

Confession from a recovering emotionally dysregulated person, while I was always an old soul, I was also a very imbalanced person emotionally. Ofcourse I am the sum total of my life’s experiences, and that is ok. What has taken me a lifetime to learn is to attain a level of calm within. In my teens and twenties I went through a few life altering experiences. Lost my dad and brother suddenly. Went through a divorce and had my heart broken mulitple times during that time. All that obviously left unresolved trauma in me, which has taken me till 2023 to resolve. I feel like I had a breakthrough in my healing journey in the past year and would like to continue to heal all those past traumas and wounds fully. I feel SO light emotionally and calm after that breakthrough. I wish to contunue on that healing streak.

Spiritual Growth

Welcome to my all time favorite category of growth. Also, my most neglected sometimes 🙂 Why I love spiritual growth is because it is a limitless pool of knowledge and so darn interesting to say the least. I always love the light bulb and Aha moments. However, I’ve quickly discovered where some discipline has been lacking, particularly in terms of regularity of practice. This year, I’m hoping to develop a more routined meditation practice and return to journaling. There’s a beauty in writing things down, choosing to remember, and retain previous thought. I’ve picked up a beautiful yearly journal to jump back in, inviting Divine energy within as I journal to refresh my soul, and bring me to a place of inner calm.

Soulful Self Care and Rest

It’s ironic that I put this one last, isn’t it? I’m someone who can quickly prioritize work over rest. This year, I hope to take one adventure a month and have a day off a week. Life is intended to have a flow and harmony to it and somehow in the midst of a few crazy quarters, I have found self care gets put last. I’m not just talking bubble baths and massages at the spa. (a few of those can help too)

What does self care look like then?

For me it means that I’m no longer up for 18 hours of productivity to make things happen or to reach my goals. I’m okay with establishing set boundaries with clients and am protecting work and personal hours. Since I work for myself, I need to create margin for new things to flow and have been in Mumbai working long and hard this past year. In 2024, I’m planning for the seasons of business, pleasure, and taking things at a steady pace rather than attempting to tackle it all at once.

On a Practical level, it means:

• Getting 8 hours of sleep
• An hour of my morning should be sacred(no devices)
• 30 minutes a day of activity
• Including relaxing breaks for lunch and dinner
• One(max 2) cup of coffee a day(the coffee addict in me is rebelling, but she knows what good for her)
• 10 glasses of water
• Eating clean and home cooked meals(less take away)
• Taking breaks from my desk to walk every hour
• Journal and spiritual reading

Growth happens slowly and in a pattern. It’s choosing to take small changes and steps forward. It isn’t all going to change in one day or even one month. However, I’m committed. I’m committed to pursuing growth and a plan for the next 12 months.

There will less than perfect days, and there will be days when I won’t want to follow through. I’ll probably press snooze a few too many times or find myself wasting time on the external noise. I believe that at the end of each month, there’s a time to reassess and then recentre to the intention of Growth.

I also accept that what worked last year probably won’t work this year. It’s okay to move forward and choose a different way that feel right in this moment. There’s fluidity and harmony to it all. Let’s see what growth and flourishing happens this year.

Tell me, what is your word and intention of the year for 2024? I would love to read your thoughts in the comments ❤

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