Centering Kindness in 2023

By Lara Brinsdon The start of a new year brings a time for reflection and celebration.  

While there is often a rush to set big goals for what we can achieve with the year to come (and this can be exciting), it is also a perfect time to look back on 2022 and everything you achieved making it to 2023.

Furthermore, by reflecting on what was important to you in 2022, it allows you to see what brought the most joy, or made the biggest impact on your livelihood and your community. This is the perfect base to create New Year’s resolutions that align with your values, making them meaningful and personal.

For me – this is kindness. In 2022, my year’s highlights all had an abundance of kindness around them - such as having my friends and family support me when I needed it, or the pride I felt when my own kindness made a difference to someone else. 

Therefore, I’m choosing to intentionally centre kindness in 2023. Rather than a goal that can be ticked off one day, this resolution will help me to create smaller goals and guide my actions to positively affect my internal space and those around me, e.g. ticking it off everyday! By putting out good energy, it’s likely this energy will be shared and amplified by those around us.

Setting goals focussed on your positive values, e.g. adding kindness to your life, rather than avoiding negative habits is one way to set yourself up for a fulfilling 2023. Adding to your life is going to be more fun and achievable! 

Finally, there is no expectation to put extra pressure on yourself. It might be equally important for you to simply focus on being more compassionate with yourself in 2023. Goals that only apply pressure are usually not helpful, and will make tasks feel unachievable – so start small and celebrate your past achievements and small steps along the way. 

Some small steps I’m taking towards centering kindness, that you can try out (and that The Good Registry can help with!) include:

1. Being kinder to the planet - replacing physical gifts with good gift cards from The Good Registry, and making other conscious decisions to treat the planet with kindness ensure I’m showing respect to our forever home. 

1. Learning about local charity providers - the inspiration gathered from seeing others doing important work in the community is a huge boost to seeing what’s possible! 

1. Spreading kindness - through my words and actions I can share what’s important to me, while also learning from those around me. 

Happy New Year from The Good Registry!