Growing Reflections, Growing Happier Moms
The end of a year is a perfect time for moms to reflect on all your growth over the last twelve months. The challenges you’ve faced, the risks you’ve courageously taken, and the accomplishments you’ve celebrated (both big and small) – they are all a part of your growth as a human being, and the gifts you bring to your life and role as a mom!
As you gear up for 2024, consider taking a moment to notice your achievements and all the ways you’ve grown over this past year. Not only will this nurture more confidence and self-worth – it could also help you meet the new year with renewed hope and energy too (and what mom couldn’t use a little more of that?).
How Does Reflecting on Your Growth Make You Happier?
Reflecting on your personal growth, both as a mother and an individual has so many benefits, like building more of your self-awareness, improving decision-making, and enhancing your ability to adapt to the constant pressures and changes that come with parenting. A reflective practice also nurtures a growth mindset, from where you can begin to perceive your challenges as opportunities for learning and development, rather than feeling so discouraged.
Also, recognizing and celebrating personal achievements through reflection will inevitably boost your confidence and improve your self-esteem. When you are able to observe your most capable moments with fresh and self-affirming perspective, your overall sense of purpose, life satisfaction, and well-being is enriched too!
What Kind of Growth Can We Reflect On?
Reflecting on any kind of feat or success will help you recognize your strengths and feel happier about yourself. The key really is just to acknowledge and celebrate any victory (both large and small) that adds to your own personal fulfillment – not just what you’ve done for your family or others.
Besides your parenting and family achievements (those of course are important, but we’re focusing on you here!) – some other examples of growth to reflect on might include your personal learning and skill development, or how you’ve emotionally and mentally grown. Did you develop a new talent, complete a course, or join a new group or new activity this year? What was it like to juggle all the things that mattered to you, and can you see the resilience it required of you to do so?
Alternatively, what relationships or positive connections have you nurtured, and what self-care practices have you established, with even just a little more regularity? What has it been like to benefit from these efforts, and what challenges did you have to overcome to stay with it? How did you overcome them?
Still, more growth areas might include professional projects or career milestones you’ve completed; ways in which you’ve supported your own health and stability; or how you’ve expanded your emotional intelligence and creativity. What values have mattered most to you over this past year, and how have you prioritized them? What if any other lifestyle shifts have been meaningful to you in the last twelve months?
By reflecting and asking yourself questions like these and others, it’s easy to develop a more positive outlook of your complete self, and shift your mindset toward something that’s not only more resilient, but also more self-content.
A Few Ways to Reflect and Feel Happier —
Here are a few suggested ways you might consider reflecting on your year, to better help you in appreciating yourself and all the hard work you have invested into vital personal development.
Journal About Important Positive Moments – Take a quiet moment (or several over a few days most ideally), to jot down positive experiences, small wins, or moments that brought you joy this year. Not only will this be a powerful reminder of all the good you do, but writing thoughts like these down in this way helps you better integrate and recall them again and again later (the stuff happier-ness in motherhood is made of).
Give Away Gratitude – Consider who else has been a part of your growth in different ways over the last year. Whether it's a partner, family, friends or colleagues, make a point to acknowledge and share with them how they’ve been valuable to you. Not only does this help reinforce your own growth, it also deepens your connection with those most important to you – and that always feels happier.
Create a Reflection Board – Think about your favorite experiences throughout the year, whether they be personal, professional, social and/or family-related. Then find and cut out imagery, words, graphics or symbols from magazines or other publications that represent these memories, and affix them onto a backdrop (like simple paper, cardboard, or poster board) in your own style that best conveys what they mean to you. Not only is the activity itself a fun and imaginative way to capture your growth, but doing so may even inspire more of the creativity in you that is key to happier-ness too.
Prioritize Self-Care – While any self-reflection is self-care, sometimes our best reflections happen when we are also doing something to replenish the mind, body, and soul. Take a walk, draw a bath, call a loved one, or write yourself a series of reflective affirmations that you will see throughout your day. However you practice it, self-care is essential to expanding your resilience, discerning your strengths, and growing capacity for life (and happier-ness) as a mom.
Connect with Other Growing Moms – Make a date with other moms to reflect together on the wins of your year. Or consider joining my weekly support group for a more structured space to acknowledge your growth! Whether casual, virtual, something just for fun, or something more organized and formal – sharing experiences with other growing moms like you not only fosters a supportive sense of community, but it also creates opportunities for new perspectives that help you flourish all the more.
Conclusion –
Reflecting on the year's positive moments and accomplishments is a powerful tool for personal growth and empowerment – and foundational to growing happier in motherhood.
As the heart and soul of your family, you deserve to celebrate your journey and feel recognized for the gifts and strengths you bring to your own experience and those of others around you.
In winding down 2023 and preparing to meet the potential of the new year – see if you can invite positive reflections on all the ways you are already thriving for an even more growth-full and fulfilling 2024. And If you’re a mom hoping to grow more reflection and happier-ness in the new year, sign up for my newsletter too! 🌿
*Keely Clark is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker (LCSW) and certified Perinatal Mental Health Specialist (PMH-C) located in Asheville, North Carolina. She has over 15 years of professional experience and specializes in supporting moms in the adjustment to parenthood, healing from relational trauma, and growing confidently into your fullest potential so you can love life and motherhood more. Keely provides online mental health therapy to residents of NC, SC and FL, and relational coaching and motherhood support to women and mothers anywhere.