By Dr. Charley Ferrer
The New Year is always a wonderful time. It brings with it the joy of new beginnings and adventures just waiting to be explored. It sprinkles your mind with hope and joy, making you giddy and open to marvelous possibilities. Often, we start the year with well-thought-out resolutions we wish to accomplish only to lose interest or the desire to achieve them by Spring—like quitting smoking, losing weight, or clearing out the garage. Yet, there’s no need to feel defeated if these resolutions fall by the wayside. It merely shows that though well intended, those resolutions didn’t go to the core of your desires or perhaps you had tried in the past but didn’t achieve success and thus, you now believe that goal is unattainable. Not to worry; this year will be jam-packed with numerous opportunities for success and I want you to recall them all—the big and small, as well as the unexpected and the never dreamt of. Let’s make this year about acknowledging your successes!
Here’s how to get started. First, get yourself a mason jar and some small pieces of paper. Decorate the jar with a ribbon or merely write the words “Accomplishment Jar” on the outside. Now, every time you achieve a task or succeed at a goal, write it on a small piece of paper, fold it up, and place it in the jar. Clearing the Garage…accomplishment. Getting a new job…that deserves a star on the paper before going into the Accomplishment Jar. Quitting that activity—you know the one…yep, that one that doesn’t serve you—acknowledge it and place the note in the jar. Everything you feel you’ve achieved, whether significant or merely a joyful whisper, has its place in the jar. If in doubt, write it down and toss it in with a question mark beside it. You can consider it later. The fact that you accomplished it is reason enough to go in the Accomplishment Jar. This includes passing a test, if you’re still in school, or perhaps getting good news about a medical exam you were dreading. Maybe you got out of a relationship that no longer served you. Or you found joy in an art project or activity you performed.
Perhaps your accomplishment was starting a new self-care routine. Whatever it may be, acknowledge it.
Place your Accomplishment Jar on the kitchen table, your desk at work, or on your nightstand. Keep it visible. Move it around your home every few weeks so it doesn’t become one more tchotchke you overlook. Best of all, you can watch it grow as the months go along.
After ringing in the new year for 2025, take a moment to open every folded piece of paper and read out loud your accomplishments. You will be surprised at the successes you had, which you might not have remembered until that moment. Imagine just how many you will have achieved! We all need a little reminder of our successes, both large and small. It motivates us to accomplish even more and reminds us we are more powerful than we give ourselves credit for.
Dr. Charley Ferrer is a world-renowned Empowerment Speaker & Breast Cancer Advocate. Her award-winning play, Breast Cancer Diaries along with multiple books provides education on empowerment to those with cancer. Dr. Ferrer is the founder of Cancer Tamer Foundation and is spearheading the Cinco de Mayo Weekend Health Expo and Breast Cancer Mermaid Art Project. Visit www.CancerTamer.org to discover more.
