End of the Year Episode: Reflections, Purpose, Resolutions and a Little Stoic Wisdom

It's our last post and episode of the year, and with these sort of time markers, no matter how present I always try to be, there's no way to not catch the end of year bug and look back or look forward.

Growing up I had a huge new year's resolution tradition with my mother. We'd sit in our living room, put on some music and write down a list of all the goals we wanted tor each the following year. We'd cut up the list into little strips of paper and stick them in a box or in our Christmas stockings to find the following year and see how we did. There was a big flaw in our tradition, in that if a goal is set and put away with Christmas ornaments in a box in the basement, never to be checked back into again until it's time for the final test, most plans dwindle. You've heard me talk about focusing on systems rather than goals before, and I believe this is the secret sauce to getting anything done, not to mention the full practice of presence and mindfulness in action, not to look ahead at what the dreamy end will look like, but to be in the here and now taking action on the tools and practices that will get us there. We have a full episode on goals and systems in our post and episode titled 4 Key Habits of Habit Formation and Maintenance for more on this topic and lots of examples, but one thing that is key when talking about those systems and the goals they'll guide you to, is that you need reminders. You need to keep them where you can see them, touch them, play with them, so that they stay in your surroundings as guiding lights and reminders of what's important to you.

In today's episode I look back and forward, sharing the lessons this year brought and turning them into resolutions for next year. Each of them, perfectly aligned if your goal is going vegan in the new year, or taking more steps in that direction.

To end the episode I share three pieces of wisdom from Stoic philosophy to help with the three biggest sticking points when going vegan.

For all the links mentioned in today's episode, click here or visit brownble.com/blog