How to Let Go of 2022
The Pick Me Up is a Monday morning newsletter filled with advice, personal stories, and tips to help you get out of bed and jumpstart your week.
Greetings, friend! It’s me, Jen Glantz. I’m writing this to you as my fingers freeze. It’s chilly here in Brooklyn.
This will be the last newsletter I send to you in 2022. I wrote 50 of these pick-me-ups in 2022. It’s what I adored doing the most and I'll never take for granted having you as a reader. It means everything to me. I'll be back in your inbox on January 9th.
Until then, you can read all the archives from this year right here.
And if you’re open to it, hit reply and tell me what’s on your mind, what’s buzzing in your heart, what’s keeping you up these days - if you’re counting how many midnights you have left in this year. Or, hit reply and just say hello. I’d love that too.
In this issue: How to let go of 2022.
How to Let Go of 2022
The first question people ask you when you’re going through a breakup is:
So, what are you going to do next?
Maybe they’ll sprinkle it with a little more love, and a little less honesty, and say something like:
You’ll be fine! There’s so much greatness that awaits you. Just think! The love of your life is out there, and you don’t even know them yet!
It’s funny because people say the same stuff when you’re about to break up with a year and head into a new one.
Starting next week, people will ask you about your resolutions, your “word” of the year, the promises you’re going to make to yourself once the countdown ends and the new year begins.
You’ll be fine! There’s so much greatness that awaits you.
But the truth is, what’s the point of thinking about any of that?
At least right now.
We don’t know ourselves unless we walk backward.
We can’t see how much we need to change until we understand how we’ve changed so far.
We won’t know what a new year can bring us unless we figure out what the old year already stocked our shelves with.
So rather than spending quality time plotting who I want to become, I use the next two weeks to take inventory on who I became in 2022.
Here’s exactly how I do it:
Step #1: The Past Year in Doses
Go through this year’s calendar week-by-week and jot down the important events, significant moments, lingering memories and anything else that stuck with you during that time frame. Write it down below.
Use your phone’s calendar, search through photographs, look at your social media feed. All of those things can help you remember what happened month-by-month.
Pick (5) highlights per month.
Write down 1-2 things that didn’t go well, as planned, or that you skipped out on that you wish you stuck with. Then, write the lesson you learned from that month.
Here’s what I wrote down for January 2022:
January: I worked too many hours that I exhausted myself and felt a sense of burn out by the end of the month. I learned that just like with running a marathon, or a 5k, you have to start off slow and pace yourself. That’s the only way to not want to toss your hands up in the air and quit.
Step #2: What’s on Your Worry List?
Now that you have the recap of 2022 fresh on your brain, write down everything that concerns you or worries you. What didn’t you do that you wanted to do? What did you forget about? What did you do halfway? What do you regret? These can be things that you’re taking with you from last year or even about the year ahead. Be honest. Be so incredibly honest.
Step #3: Fill in the Blank
Let’s sum-up the year 2022 with answers to these questions below:
The biggest lesson I learned...
The biggest risk I took...
The biggest surprise of the year...
The most important thing I did for others...
The biggest thing I completed...
What are you the most proud of?
Who are the three people who influenced you the most?
Who are the three people you influenced the most?
What were you not able to accomplish?
What is the best thing you have discovered about yourself?
What are you the most grateful for?
After you do all of this, sum up your year.
More than just labeling it a good one / a bad one / write it a breakup letter (the one you wish an ex sent you when you begged them to know why they wanted out of the relationship).
Write it down. Read it to yourself. Burry it in your nightstand. Pull it out before you decide what kind of year you want next year to be or what kind of person you hope to become.
Because remember this:
Years never go as planned because they are not supposed to.
The best things that happen to us are things we can't even imagine.
So are the worst things.
But that's why we must keep our eyes, and our hearts open, because there's always more…there's always something more to come. I promise you that, my friend.
You’ll be fine! There’s so much greatness that awaits you. Just think! 2023 might be the best year of your life, and you don’t even know it.
See you on the other side of the disco ball. It’ll shine, so will you.
Until 2023…
All my love,
Random Pick-Me-Ups
Podcast: How to recap the last 365-days of your beautiful life
Book: Next up on my reading list - I love personal finance books
Song: It makes me happy and I dance to it in the morning when I brush my teeth
Read: Dive into the archives of 2022
Share: Email someone this newsletter (thank you, dear friend).
I’ll be back January 9th with a new Monday Pick-Me-Up. Until then, I leave you with this:
My Idea of the week is: Carry a Love List With You.
Write a list of names of people you love and carry it with you in your pocket. Squeeze the paper when you’re nervous. Touch it gently when you need a reminder of the people in this world who love you back.
Until next January 9th, I'll be cheering you on! Have an epic end of the year.
Jen Glantz
I am grateful that I get to share your thoughts every Monday. You will always be an inspirational force for me. Enjoy the rest of 2022 and I'll be waiting for you on my birthday, January 9th.