Rebecca Kirkman
President & Founder
Hire Up Staffing

Happy 2023 to YOU! As the first blog post of the new year, let us begin with a bit of a thought experiment, shall we? Read the three bullet points below and identify the emotions/words that come to mind for you:

• Pay Day
• The Day’s First Cup of Coffee
• Freshly Changed Sheets

Now, take a deep breath.

What do you feel? What words come to mind?

Are you thinking of words like: Happiness; Warmth; Comfort; Renewed? The above list can conjure emotions that connect us to feelings of being recharged, reenergized, and refreshed. We feel good just thinking about them, right?

Ahhhhhhh. (Insert warm and fuzzy feelings here.)

Now, let’s do the same thing for these next three bullet points. You ready?

Here we go:

• New Year’s Resolutions
• Goal Setting
• To Do Lists

Take another deep breath.

Do different words and emotions come to mind with this list as opposed to the first one?

What do you feel now?

There are some readers who may find comfort and happiness in this second list. However, that is certainly not the case for all. Goal setting and New Year’s resolutions are not always thought of with the same sense of recharge as a pay day. In fact, for some, the very thought of these things can feel restrictive, doomed, and ill-fated. Why is that?

Many of us respond with a collective eye roll when it comes to resolutions because we have previously experienced the shame of our own unmet expectations. We have previously allowed our own internal critic to drive our inner motivation bus and yet are surprised when we are dropped off at the busy corner of Shame and Self-Blame. When we allow our inner critic to drive and guide our goals, by way of either making our goals or the active choice to NOT make goals, we are setting ourselves up for disappointment.

Consider the ideas our society has surrounding a new year and its resolutions; we coin popular phrases like, “New Year New Me!” And, this month kickstarts the endless targeted ads for gyms and weight loss programs. We can become inundated with the idea that who we were last year was simply not good enough. We may feel the internal and external pressures of needing to be/do something different simply because the numbers on the calendar have changed.

If we were to place our own internal critic’s judgement aside, the new year has far more of an opportunity to feel like freshly changed sheets. But how do we get there? How do we squelch the voice of our own inner critic, and allow ourselves to start the new year feeling recharged, reenergized, and refreshed?

Rather than starting the new year with a laundry list of resolutions, using shame and motivation as our guide, what if we worked on creating a healthier mindset? We could focus on a more positive and self-affirming headspace, cultivating a stronger foundation for more meaningful connections to our future goals. We could work to strengthen our mindset by first setting intentions.

Ryan Kane, founder of mindfulnessbox.com, writes, “The main difference between setting a goal and setting an intention is that intentions are a commitment towards a vision and a way of being, whereas goals are more granular and focused on a highly specific outcome.” He goes on to say that setting an intention is like making a commitment to ourselves and serves as a way to keep our focus, as well as provide us motivation for when we are challenged.

What are some examples of effective and self-affirming intentions?

• I intend to find a job I love this year
• I intend to assume a positive intent of others
• I intend to feel and express gratitude
• I intend to be more available to my team/family/friends

Meaningful intentions keep us focused on the big picture. When we hold true to our intentions daily, we improve our awareness and that allows us to take more mindful actions associated with our vision. Intentions also help with improving our internal positive thoughts, reducing limiting beliefs.

In a December 2022 Forbes article called, 3 Steps to Mitigate Your Inner Work Critic and Boost Performance in 2023, Bryan Robinson, Ph.D., shared that rather than fight our inner critic, which creates even more stress hormones in our body, we are to befriend it. He believes it is trying to help us, if even in its own counterintuitive way. He says to let the critical voice come and go, rather than fighting it or personalizing it. He shared that we are to:

1. Observe and listen with curiosity to the internal critic but at an arm’s length to provide a more distant perspective. Robinson said the critic is a part of you, not all of you. He advised not to try to argue with it or reason with it, instead allow it to “simply stream on through.”

2. Engage in kinder self-talk; internally speak to yourself as you would speak to someone else, or how someone else would speak to you. This helps to shift your perspective and gives a bird’s eye view of an outside observer, giving you a more balanced perspective.

3. Affirm yourself with positive messages and practice them on a regular basis. Give yourself pep talks as needed; ensure you are offering yourself kinder, healthier thoughts.

Robinson ends this article with, “Vincent Van Gogh once said, ‘If you hear a voice within you say, ‘You cannot paint,’ then by all means paint, and that voice will be silenced.’ I’m no Van Gogh, but I say, ‘If you hear an inner voice say, ‘You cannot achieve something or surmount an obstacle in your career,’ then by all means do it, and that voice will be silenced.”

There is a time and place for setting goals, and ideally, it is after we have set our intentions and are actively working on creating a stronger inner foundation including a healthier mindset and a kinder inner voice. In this order, we remain closer to our vision when creating our goals. This allows for more strategic goals and aligning outcomes.

Another way of strengthening outcomes is to identify all tools and resources-both personally and professionally. These resources can be people, places, or things like links, articles, books, etc. Create a list of all of the resources you consider to be your lifelines for when things get tough. Writing this out is helpful; keep it handy and then be sure to USE it when you need support in meeting your goals and objectives.

The Hire Up team knows firsthand it takes a village. That is why we strongly encourage you to have a connected staffing lifeline. If you do not have a staffing connection on your resources list yet, please add us. Our team of staffing experts maintain professional connections all over the country, and in nearly every industry. A well-connected staffing lifeline can help you in more ways than you may realize. Whether it is finding a better fit for you professionally, assisting with the hiring needs of your organization, conducting employee screenings, training, or HR consulting, we can help– and are prepared to jump in and serve at a moment’s notice.

Moving into 2023, the intention is to have a recharged, reenergized, and refreshed mindset and we at Hire Up are all about it! When you partner with us, you have a trusted partner. We can move through this year with you, serve as a valuable resource, and together create a force that helps to make every day feel more like a pay day!

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Sourced Resources:

Psychological and Physiological Effect in Plant Growth and Health by Using Positive and Negative Words

How To Set Intentions (6 Ways to Live More Intentionally) (mindfulnessbox.com)

3 Steps to Mitigate Your Inner Work Critic and Boost Performance In 2023 (forbes.com)

Can New Year’s Resolutions Create Mental Health Self-Stigma? | HealthyPlace

Rebecca Kirkman, President & Founder

Rebecca Kirkman is the President and Founder of Hire Up Staffing & Hire Up Healthcare. Rebecca’s mission is as simple today as it was when she started Hire Up over 10 years ago: Connecting great Employers with great Employees. Hire Up leads job seekers to their dream careers and employers to their dream team. The true belief in the human connection and that people hire people is a passion for every Hire Up employee. Rebecca was proudly named the #1 Woman-Owned Business by The Business Journal.