(Transcribed by TurboScribe.ai. Go Unlimited to remove this message.) Hi everybody, welcome back to Rainbows are Circles. So happy that you're here joining me today for this end of the year reflection process. So as the year comes to a close, it's the perfect time to pause, reflect on the past year. Remember what we enjoyed, what we experienced, what we learned, what challenges we faced, and what we want to be different in the new year.
So we're gonna be going through a set of five questions, and I invite you to grab a pen and paper, a comfortable seat, and if you like, a warm beverage, and just create about 10 to 20 minutes for this process. So I'm just gonna start off by reading the five reflection questions, and then we'll dive a little bit deeper into each one. Number one, what brought you joy this year? Number two, what were your biggest challenges? Number three, what lessons did you learn?
Number four, what are you ready to let go of? And number five, what do you want to experience in the new year? So I hope you enjoy this process. Go ahead and grab whatever you need for this reflection, and let's get started. So let's begin just by taking a deep breath in through your nose and out through your mouth. And let's do that two more times. Deep breath in and out, and deep breath in and out, feeling your face and your body relax.
And the first question to reflect on today is what brought you joy this year? What made you happy? What did you love? What was really fun? This is a really nice way to start the reflection off because it just brings us to a sense of gratitude. Reflecting on all of the ways our life is so abundant, all of the things that went really well, all of the things that we're grateful for, what we had fun doing.
And this question really helps us to bring to mind the things that are important to us and fulfilling for us. So that next year, we can make sure that we are filling our lives up with more of these things.
So when I answer this question for myself, I noticed that what brought me the most joy was really simple things like making time to spend with my friends, visiting my brother, playing with my niece, a trip that I took with my sister, her partner, and my cousin, where we went to Santa, where did we go? Santa Barbara. And we just spent like a long weekend there. We went wine tasting. We played games in the Airbnb.
Like it wasn't anything spectacular and we didn't go very far or do anything crazy, but it was just, we scheduled the time and put the effort in to make that trip happen. Another thing that was really fun for me was just going hiking, going on my walks every morning. Like baking was really fun for me. Like these are the things I noticed that really brought me the most happiness.
And so in the new year, I want to make sure that I'm prioritizing scheduling time with my friends and family, scheduling time for my walks in the morning, even if I have a really busy day, scheduling time to cook more and to put time and effort into buying good ingredients and making dinner without rushing. And then I actually was a little surprised that baking brought me so much happiness.
And I've been making a lot of granola this year and like little things like that, doing things with my hands that take me away from being on the computer a lot because I do spend a lot of time like on my computer. It is so important for me.
I've realized that I balance that time out with doing things with my hands, whether it's baking, whether it's crafting something, anything physical with my body, something that connects me back to my body, makes me feel more grounded, that really helps me to balance out the time that I spend looking at a screen. So that was a pretty good realization for me as I went through this reflection. Okay, so for your question number two, what are your biggest challenges?
And number three, what lessons did I learn? Those two questions kind of go hand in hand. Every time that we experience a challenge, it can be very, very difficult, obviously, but it's always an opportunity for growth. And so if we can shift that perspective in our minds instead of thinking like, oh my gosh, this is like so annoying that I'm going through this, why is this happening to me? Why do I have to deal with this?
Instead of thinking that way, we can be like, okay, life has brought me this because I am ready to grow in a way that I have never grown before. Life has brought me this because I am ready to take it on and I do not come across anything in my life that I am not ready to handle. So bring it on and let's do this. Let's move forward, let's grow, let's figure it out. And those moments when we can choose to learn and grow instead of be defeated by something, like those are huge shifts.
So keep that in mind as you go through those questions number two and three, okay? And really like celebrate what lessons did I learn? Isn't it amazing that I went through this so that I could learn X, Y, and Z and now I'm a more wise and sophisticated and strong person because of that. Number four, what are you ready to let go of? What is no longer serving you? What are you just ready to say goodbye to? For me, it was people pleasing.
Like I'm really, I've been working on that a lot this past year and I've been seeing positive shifts in my life because of it and I'm gonna continue doing it. I'm just done, like I'm done with the people pleasing, I'm done putting other people's needs in front of mine. Obviously I still want to be like an altruistic person and be of service, but I know now that I can be of better service to people when I am just really taking very good care of myself and I'm helping myself first.
So what are you ready to let go of? And number five, what do you want to experience in the new year? And this can kind of be based on the previous four questions like based on what brought you joy, based on what you learned, how you grew and what you're ready to let go of, what do you want for this new year? What are you looking forward to? What do you want to create? What would be fulfilling to you? What do you want more of? How can you fill your life with even more joy?
And what challenges do you want to face? In what ways do you want to grow? You can choose the challenges that you face, what is worth it to you? Okay, so for myself, like I'm committing to a weekly podcast episode in 2025. And that is a challenge. It is a challenge. I enjoy doing it, but it is a challenge for me to remain disciplined. It's a challenge for me to continue to make each episode better. But it's worth it to me because it's meaningful to me.
And it's a challenge that I choose and I'm willing to take on because it matters to me and I believe in what I'm doing and I believe in what I'm sharing. So what challenges are you wanting to take on? And what do you want to fill your life up with in the new year? So I hope that these questions were helpful to you. Take as much time as you want to reflect and journal. And if you enjoy this, please share it with a friend. Please leave a rating and review for the podcast.
It really does help more people to find it and benefit from it. And also, I invite you to join our newsletter. I'll be sharing podcast updates, meditations, and just little inspirational tidbits about twice a month. So if you'd like to receive that, there is a link down below in the show notes and I'd love for you to join our newsletter and our community. So thank you all so much for tuning in. It's been a pleasure and a joy for me to create these episodes.
I look forward to more in the new year and I wish you all an amazing and safe holiday season and new year.