Reflecting on 2020

Before the beginning of every year, people like to gather and celebrate with their loved ones on New Year’s Eve, counting down to welcome the start of a new year. To many people, a new year signifies new beginnings, new opportunities, new memories, and hope. Bringing new hope is especially important in 2021, since 2020 has been a challenging year for everyone. In order to start 2021 on a positive note, I think it is important to reflect on yourself and the past year. 

Self-reflection is the process of evaluating one’s behavior and thoughts in the past year, then taking these evaluations into consideration when setting future goals and resolutions. Self-reflecting allows an individual to connect with one’s self on a deeper level, gaining more understanding of strengths, weaknesses, values, and beliefs. This leads to self-improvement, from increasing one’s self-esteem to better decision-making. In addition, self-reflection can help navigate the process of setting goals and resolutions for the new year. Analyzing the ups and downs of the past year will indicate what and which goals the individual would want to establish or prioritize. After identifying what motivates one to set a certain goal or resolution, it would be easier to achieve the goals set and stick to the resolutions. Furthermore, self-reflecting benefits mental health and wellness. Learning from past experiences, it becomes easier to prioritize your emotional needs and recognize ways to take care of your mental wellbeing. Learning from past mistakes, you would know how to avoid making the same mistakes which help to ease stress and anxiety. 

With the global pandemic affecting many people, 2020 was definitely a challenging year and self-reflection is more important than ever. Using some time to self-reflect gives everyone a chance to check in with their physical and mental selves, in order to find out what you need to thrive in the new year. Self-Reflection is different for everyone and can be in different forms: you can paint or draw what you feel, read through your daily journal or meditate, and more. Through reflecting, we are able to strengthen our emotional intelligence, gain more insight about ourselves, and grow from our past selves. After doing my own reflection, I personally realized the importance of treasuring every moment while also appreciating my loved ones and all of the things that I am fortunate to have. With so much going on in the world, I hope that all of us can gain some insight after reflecting on the past year and go into the new year with hope and strength. 

• 2020
• 2021
• new years resolutions
• personal growth
• self reflection