Hello 2024

 
 
 

You are worthy of abundance

My theme for 2024 is all about healing my relationship with generosity and abundance.

When I was doing my money reset, many memories surfaced about my dad fighting to pay the bill at restaurants and putting up a fuss when someone else wanted to pay. I grew up thinking it was proper etiquette to treat people and refuse to be treated. So I started emulating this behaviour in my 20s as soon as I had enough income.

During my money reset, I realized how difficult it is for me to receive generosity graciously. I’d often decline nice gestures or receive them awkwardly. If someone treated me to something, I made a mental note that I’d have to treat them next time or find a way to pay them back. A part of me wonders if this behaviour is because I don’t feel worthy of their generosity.

This year, I’d like to change the way I think about generosity and abundance. I want to give generously when I truly want to — without feeling obligated to and without expecting anything in return. I also want to receive graciously without feeling beholden.

One additional nuance: Since leaving my full-time job, I’ve experienced many forms of abundance that don’t involve financial wealth. But I often default to money or gifts to express my care, and I want to take a more expansive approach.

2024 review

I still struggle internally with receiving abundance and generosity but I don’t think it manifests as awkwardness anymore! While I still have some stuff to work through in terms of asking for help, I can now say a heartfelt “thank you” graciously without being over the top about it — in the past, this has looked like being excessive in my gratitude and repeatedly promising to return the favour. But after trying on this theme for a year, I don’t think worthiness is the issue. I think my reluctance to receive help has more to do with stupid pride — a feeling that I need to be independent and self-sustaining and a deep fear of people perceiving me as weak or feeling sorry for me. This is something I’d like to continue to work on in 2025 and beyond.

One aspect of this theme that was less of an issue but that I did very well with in 2024 was giving generously without expecting anything in return. This didn’t just involve gifts or money but also time and attention. While I still believe in reciprocity in relationships, I’m letting go of the idea that I need to keep score. Instead, I’m trying to tune in to how the relationship feels as a whole.

— GOALS —

I’ve set five goals for the things I want to accomplish in 2024. These goals don’t need to be directly be related to my annual theme, but they still contribute to my personal growth or overall well-being.

It’s been five years since I left my full-time job. I love my current lifestyle of working part-time and living more simply. But I still hold a lot of mental models from my two decades in the corporate world — things like scarcity, fear, urgency, competition, and perfection. I want to let these go. My main goal this year is to complete an authenblissity reset so I can fully step into a new way of being.

Aside from this main goal, it was hard for me to think of what I wanted to accomplish this year. Quite frankly, I don’t want to do any BIG projects in 2024. Instead, I want to lean into ordinary life and see what it’s like to not strive for anything. What happens if I leave the door wide open for expansiveness, creativity, and abundance? What wants to arrive?

So, for goals 2–5, I’ve picked one thing that I really want to do in a few areas of ordinary life that are holding some interest for me right now.

#1: Finish my AUTHENBLISSITY RESET

I started my authenblissity reset in November 2023 and I’ve worked through two chapters so far — food and money. I plan to complete the remaining ten chapters in 2024. This is my third time through this reset, but my first time documenting my progress in a bullet journal.

Ever since I completed The Artist’s Way in a bullet journal (click here for my video series), I’ve been wanting to do another self-reflection program in a bullet journal. So this is incredibly fun for me! I’ve had some huge aha moments already, one of which led me to my 2024 theme.

I did this!! While it was challenging, it was also a lot easier than I expected. I had fully expected moments when I’d want to quit (and also a lot of self-criticism as I went through my book), but I’m happy to report that wasn’t my experience at all. There were a few chapters that were more difficult but I never wanted to quit and I never regretted my decision to do an ABR. And instead of being self-critical, for the parts I didn’t want to do or found confusing, I simply gave the exercises my own spin — just as the book intended.

#2: nix my caffeine dependency

I currently drink 16 ounces of tea every morning. While I enjoy this routine, I also continue this practice because I’m afraid to get a caffeine withdrawal headache. I’m rather sensitive to caffeine so it’s easy for me to overdo it, which leads to jitters and heart palpitations. And if I drink caffeine too late in the day (past noon-ish), it affects my quality of sleep.

In 2024, I’m going to experiment with drinking herbal infusions instead of tea. By the end of the year, I’d like to moderate my caffeine consumption so I am only drinking tea or coffee 2–3 times a week at the most (and not on consecutive days).

I’m so glad I decided to do this in 2024! I only had caffeine in the form of tea or coffee for 19 days in 2024. This doesn’t include decaf coffee (which I had several times during brunch) or sips of hubby’s coffee (one tiny sip on several occasions). I’ll still have caffeine every once in a while moving forward but I’m so glad I nixed my dependency. No more caffeine withdrawal headaches!

Overall, this was a pretty easy goal to accomplish. I didn’t experience many caffeine withdrawal symptoms and I don’t recall any intense cravings. Now that I only drink caffeine intermittently, I notice how much it affects me — mainly in the form of jitteriness and heart palpitations. I feel weird when I’m caffeinated. I think reducing my caffeine intake has helped with my overall mood and energy levels.

#3: COMPLETE MY 5000-PIECE PUZZLE

My current bucket list only contains two items: (1) complete my 5000-piece puzzle and (2) complete my 9000-piece puzzle. This is admittedly a very tame bucket list but I truly want to do these puzzles in this lifetime. I’ve had them for over 20 years and I haven’t even opened them.

The encouraging news is that I did complete my 3000-piece puzzle a few years ago. So my bucket list originally contained a trio of puzzles, and now it’s only a duo.

I did my 5000-piece puzzle early in 2024 and I had an unexpected reaction — I didn’t enjoy it! It was too big and too time consuming. It became more of a drag than a fun pastime. When I finished the puzzle, I decided I didn’t want to do the 9000-piece puzzle anymore and I eventually sold it.

This experience soured me on puzzles for a long time. I didn’t pick them back up again until hubby mentioned a puzzle competition happening near us. We joined and I had so much fun doing smaller puzzles! I rediscovered my love for puzzling but I mainly do puzzles with 500 pieces now (1000 pieces max).

#4: make monthly STICKER COLLAGEs

I have been LOVING my monthly sticker collages and I plan to continue with them. The reason I’ve kept this as a goal is because I haven’t found my groove with these yet.

In 2024, I’d like to work on developing my own unique style for these collages, incorporating mostly stickers but also bits of ephemera and calligraphy. While I’m fine with buying a few stickers here and there, my main intention is use the things I have.

I did a sticker collage every month in 2024! While I didn’t really land on my own style, I’m definitely in a groove. I enjoy the process of using stickers and I’ve let go of making my collages look nice. There’s something very freeing about not caring what something looks like. I find that this helps me let go of perfection in my other artsy experiments.

#5: Track my alcohol consumption

I’ve been sober curious for a few years now. When I left my full-time job, I went from drinking every evening to “take the edge off” to drinking mostly on weekends. I became more of a social drinker again and I still overdid it on some occasions.

When the pandemic arrived, I found myself drinking less because we weren’t going out. I also started noticing that I didn’t feel great when I did consume alcohol, especially if I had more than two or three drinks.

In 2024, I plan to track my alcohol consumption in terms of how many days I drink in a year. This is part of my journey into the world of sobriety, although I’m not sure I’ll have the desire to fully dive in. At this time, I simply want to learn more about it, get some perspective about how much I actually drink, and practice setting some additional boundaries around alcohol.

This tracking exercise was very illuminating. I had alcohol 45 days in 2024, which included a stint of drinking beer every day when I was in Cuba. On average, I drink 3-4 days in a month. But that doesn’t tell the whole story. I used to have 2-3 drinks in an evening, sometimes more. Now, I usually have 1 drink, sometimes half a drink when I’m sharing with hubby. I’ve noticed that I don’t feel good at all when I drink. Plus it affects my sleep so I don’t feel good the next day either — even if I just have one drink.

That being said, I don’t really want to quit drinking altogether. Similar to caffeine, if I want to have alcohol (even knowing that it doesn’t make me feel good), I will. But I find that I often don’t want to. I’ve been ordering mocktails or sparkling water at restaurants. And hubby and I have been very slowly making our way through the rest of our alcohol, choosing not to drink most days.

— PRACTICES —

I’ll be experimenting with three practices in 2024. At the end of the year, I’ll decide whether I want to continue with the practice, tweak it, or let it go.

#1: COMPLETE MY DAILY REFLECTION

My daily reflection practice isn’t new but I like to change up the question every year to align with my annual theme. In 2024, I’m going to ask myself this two-part question at the end of each day: “How did you express your generosity today and how did you receive abundance graciously today?”

This is such a good practice but my 2024 question was hard. I usually find my rhythm partway through the year but not this time. Perhaps it’s the topic (I still have so much to work through in terms of generosity and abundance), perhaps it’s the wording (a bit clunky and cumbersome) — but the answers didn’t come easily. I still did the daily reflection though and I think it helped me see generosity differently.

#2: LISTEN TO MUSIC EVERY DAY

Music improved my mood so much in 2023! In 2024, I plan to listen to music every day, without exception. I’d also like to dance to at least one song but I’m not making this a formal part of the practice. Just the music is enough. If I feel like dancing (or singing), I will.

This was so so so so so good for my mental and emotional health! Physical health too as music can be an incentive for me to move around — going on my daily walks or doing household chores. I’m going to continue this practice in 2025.

#3: BE FULLY INTENTIONAL IN MY EVERYDAY DECISIONS

As I mentioned earlier, I don’t want to start any big projects this year. Instead, I want to embrace the more ordinary aspects of life but also be fully intentional while doing so. I’m not entirely sure how this practice is going to show up in my life this year but here are a few of my initial ideas:

I think I am more intentional now, even with small, everyday decisions. I try to tune in to myself to see what I would truly want. Even though some things are out of my control or not fully my decision to make, I will speak up when something is bothering me — and that’s usually enough for me to be at peace with things. Up to this point in my life, I think 2024 is the year I’ve been most aligned with my inner compass. I hope to be able to say that every year moving forward.

This month’s reflective questions

Where does the pendulum come to rest for you when it comes to abundance? Do you receive abundance graciously or reluctantly? Do you welcome abundance into your life or do you turn away from it?

Next, ask yourself the above questions again, replacing abundance with these words:

  • Gifts

  • Money

  • Compliments

  • Affection

  • Love

What changes do you notice in your thoughts and emotions?

Wishing you abundance,

 
 
 
 

P.S. I’m experimenting with turning these blog posts into cozy solocasts. If you’d like some more context around this month’s blog post and hear my thoughts on the reflective questions, click here for the companion podcast episode.

 
Lesley Wong