New Years Reflections 2023
Reflections? From Johnny LaZebnik? Groundbreaking.
As many of you are probably aware, I made the (stunning and brave) decision a few years back to discard New Year’s resolutions. I realized that in making them, I was setting an expectation for myself, failing to meet it over the next 12 months, and then feeling terrible about it. So basically… nothing of consequence would change in my life, except that I felt guiltier about the things I still wasn’t doing.
And so, I replaced my resolutions with reflections. Each December, I write a list of what I learned over the last year. Here are the previous ones, if you haven’t seen them:
2020 | 2021 pt 1 | 2021 pt 2 | 2022
The primary intention of this process is showing off that I have cute handwriting; the secondary intention is validation from acquaintances; and the tertiary intention is hoping that my words might reach people who need them. My fourth goal was an instagram repost of said list by Emily Ratajkowski, but she did that a few years back, so I got to cross that one out.
Here is my list this year:
(EmRata, if you’re reading this…. I do it all for you.)
Anyway, I really love the “what I’ve learned” format (I don’t see myself ever going back to resolutions), but it’s not great in terms of actually logging what happened over the year. And since I don’t journal, I thought it would be nice to start marking the passage of time more concretely.
I started to brainstorm on the idea of a New Year’s Worksheet, something that could be filled out every year, culminating one day in a little compendium marking my life from 30 onward. And I am nothing if not a man of action,* so I did it!
*Legal disclaimer: I am barely a man, and rarely take action of any kind. “Queer of inertia” would be far more accurate, though I’d also accept “La-Z Boi,” which actually works on multiple levels. Wait, should I rebrand as La-Z Boi??
Like my journal entries, the questions in the worksheet emphasize reminiscing over resolving, and highlight mostly the positive. Ideally, the process of filling out the worksheet will encourage growth in the year to come, but it doesn’t demand it. It’s really just about taking a breath and cataloguing the last 525,600 minutes; sometimes we are so focused on what we want that we lose sight of what we have.
I’m sharing it with you in case you’d like to fill it out (the pdf version is printable), and I encourage you to! It’ll take 5 minutes, and you can showcase your gorgeous handwriting.
A few ground rules:
These questions can be answered in big ways or in small ways, or both. I encourage you to answer every question, even if it feels self-aggrandizing or unimportant.
These questions are intentionally vague. Interpret them to your liking!
While this document is intended for self-reflection purposes, I am curious about your answers (especially if they involve memories with me), or if any specific questions hit home for you! Additionally, I think this could also double as a yearly debrief with someone you care about (try it on a road trip!).
Happy 2024. And a reminder that if you want to respond to this newsletter (or any of them), all you have to do is reply to this email!
Measure your life in love,
Johnny
