My Resolutions for Coping with Anxiety in the New Year

It's the start of a new year, and it's a good time to reflect on the previous year and the things I learned about my anxiety. It's also a good time to reflect on strategies that I used for coping with anxiety, what worked well, and what didn't. Here's how I handle anxiety in the new year.

An aspect of coping with anxiety that I like to think about at the start of the new year is what I can do differently and new strategies I can use. Sometimes, I find that the beginning of a new year is a good time to develop a plan since it tends to be a time of renewal and a fresh start.

Strategies to Cope with Anxiety in the New Year in 2023

In reviewing my anxiety management plan for 2023, I found that the strategies I planned to use were journaling, using self-affirmations, and working on self-forgiveness.

Something I talk about often in my work is the importance of taking the time to self-reflect, but also about being honest and realistic with yourself. So, it's important that I now take an honest look at what my plan was this past year to cope with anxiety, whether or not I used those strategies, and how well they worked for me.

I did increase my use of both journaling and self-affirmations. I found that journaling was a helpful way to self-soothe, especially during times when I was extremely anxious.

I also found that using self-affirmations was helpful during times when I experienced quite a bit of self-doubt and uncertainty about the actions that I was taking and the decisions that I was making. Using self-affirmations helped me to feel more confident and sure of myself.

I also worked on self-forgiveness, but I think this is something I still need to work on. I often talk about the importance of exercising self-compassion, but I continue to feel as though I tend to be hard on myself for things that have happened in the past.

Strategies to Cope with Anxiety in the New Year in 2024

Increasing my use of mindfulness with the specific intent of practicing self-compassion will hopefully help me to lessen the anxiety I feel about things that have happened in the past. Additionally, I feel that I need to use mindfulness even during times when I am not anxious. This includes engaging more often in my use of mindfulness meditation.

I also plan to set more boundaries for myself to ease my anxiety in the new year. This includes setting boundaries in multiple areas of life, with different people in my life, and also with my responsibilities. I must decide where those boundaries are and commit to holding firm to them to protect myself. This is likely to be, by far, the hardest strategy for me to work on, but it will also be the most impactful.

So, this is my new anxiety management plan for 2024. If you have a new plan for yourself for this year, share some of your strategies in the comments below.