Hello, friends!

I’m back from my election season hiatus, just in time to talk 2023.

Last year around this time, I spoke about heading into 2022 with a new planner, some habit building, and setting up daily wins for oneself. This year, I want to talk through how to approach New Years, resolutions, intentions, and all the other buzz words that pop up this time of year.

I don’t think it’ll come as a surprise to any of you that I love this time of year. Getting to start fresh and enter a New Year, New Me mindset — and have everyone else also in that mindset — is my happy place. But this year, I’m trying to approach 2023 a bit different than normal.

I was inspired by Fatgirlrunning founder Mirna Valerio:

You can’t compare yourself to anyone else, but you also can’t compare yourself to your past self. You can only be who you are in this present moment.

You can only be who you are in this present moment.

How does that make you feel? Does repeating that to yourself make you want to shrivel up and hide? Or do you feel at peace? Maybe you feel completely neutral.

Whatever you feel, I promise you are not the only one feeling that way.

We are told again and again and again that we need to be better. We need to grow. We need to keep moving forward. There is always something to optimize, something to fix, something to start doing. We need to meticulously budget but also buy a subscription to Headspace so we can relax and learn to meditate but also we shouldn’t need to rely on our phones so much and we should, should, should.

I know I’m not immune to this. This very newsletter, which I intended to be reflective and focused on the many different dimensions of self-care, ends up offering optimizations and suggestions on how to ~ improve your life ~ half the time. It’s hard to break out of this continuous pressure to always be moving forward.

And as much as I believe in a growth-mindset, I also think it is growth to be able to slow down — or even stop altogether — and check in with yourself. See how you’re feeling right now, in this present moment.

Which is why today I’m sharing my first workbook with you all: New Year Reflections. This short workbook offers reflection questions and prompts to help check in with yourself headed into 2023.

Whether you have already set your SMART goals for the year, or you totally forgot 2023 was just days away, I hope this workbook offers you a chance to slow down and reflect.

Sending love,

Emily

P.S. If a friend forwarded you this email and you’d like to sign up, or if want to check out my previous issues, you can do so here.

I would love to hear your thoughts and feedback on this workbook — I don’t want it to be the last! Please reply to this email with any thoughts you have.

🍋 Lemon Zest 🍋

The Little Things that help make my days a bit brighter 💕

🎵 Obviously listening to the new Glee podcast, That’s What You REALLY Missed.

📝 I know I’ve mentioned this planner before, but I believe the only 2023 dated planner I have headed into January is the Popflex Fit Planner. Tbh, it could benefit from some margins and a better proofing process, but overall if you are someone who is more interested in tracking health and wellness than work tasks, this is a great planner.

👋 ICYMI: Noah and I are moving to South Minneapolis in January! If you’re in Minnesota or have recommendations for coffee shops, yoga studios, or anything you think I’d be interested in, I am all ears — just reply to this email.

💭 This Vox article on forming attainable resolutions has been everywhere, so might as well share it here for you, too!

📧 I love The Nessie, a newsletter that shares wellness recommendations and reviews the hottest items/practices in the general wellness space. If you’re interested, use my referral link and sign up here!

☕ If you’d like to support my work and Making Lemonade, consider buying me a coffee or sending a few dollars my way via Venmo: @emmyfromminny ☕