ARE YOU CREATING A NEW YOU OR A BETTER YOU?

It's a new year. Time for resolutions, vision boards, choosing a word of the year, and promises of change. From weight loss to savings gains, the simple movement of the minute hand on the clock prompts millions to alter routines in place for the last 300 days.

Let's do something different. Instead of seeking to remake yourself, create an assessment of where you are and where you seek to be. So what do I mean by an assessment, a review of your life over the last eleven months? What did you accomplish? What are you still working on? When you look at accomplishments, take a moment to celebrate. When we focus on overhauling our lives, we focus on what's wrong and forget the progress we've made.

When you take note of accomplishments, you begin with a win instead of focusing on the negative and bashing yourself for not hitting the mark. If we mark off our wins, the list of challenges is smaller, and you can now focus on a short list.

In this edition, the focus is given to two of the most popular resolutions: saving money or improving finances and getting in shape. At the end of the year, the goal is to increase the balance in your savings account, often, we make great strides to that end, but life comes along and takes your glory. Life is that unexpected car or house repair causing you to withdrawfunds from the savings account.

This situation resonates with me and occurred in the last calendar year. I was diligently working on saving funds for various things - vacations, emergencies, and the rainy day just to name a few and succeeding. An emergency came up, and I had to utilize my savings - boy, was I angry The initial feeling was defeat, but after a few minutes, I had to smile because my diligence paid off, and I could handle this emergency without any extreme measures.

So as you work on improvements, be sure to give yourself some grace when you have success, no matter how small.

Columnist Marsha Eastwood offers advice this month on how to be diligent in following your budget and not allowing impulse or distracted shopping to sink your progress. To personalizethe process, Eastwood used her spending as an example. I'm sure all of us can learn from her offering, so read her column to save yourself some undue hardship

As we continue to emerge from the Covid-19 pandemic, health, and fitness are at the forefront of everyone's thoughts. This is nothing new for the beginning of the new year, but the challenges and the loss of life associated with the pandemic prompted an extra layer of vigilance in many

The pandemic illuminated the many preventable circumstances impacting an individual's health status based on social factors such as income, ethnicity, education, age, and gender. They include high mortality, low life expectancy, lack of access to healthcare, and increased mental health issues. Many of these challenges result from a failed healthcare system, but even with these missteps, there are things that individuals can take to improve their health outcomes.

Journey on Yonder, or JOY, offers insight into utilizing free resources in the city, state, and national parks to improve your mental and physical health. The grassroots business also works to improve the relationship of Black and Brown communities with nature, a space many are uncomfortable enjoying. Our feature on JOY is a must-read if you need to release some stress, especially during the winter when the days are shorter, and moods tend to lean toward depressive states.

I can attest to the joy found while spending time in nature. At the height of the pandemic, I reacquainted with the Cleveland Metroparks in my neighborhood and relished in the freedom. Take time to read this feature, lace up your sneakers and go outside.

Finally, we invite you to read our cover story on Robyn Gordon, Director, Center Operations Directorate at NASA's Glenn Research Center Gordon, a native Clevelander, handles the behind-the-scenes tasks at NASA to ensure missions are executed by the best and brightest while ensuring all objectives are followed. To learn more about Gordon and NASA, read our cover story

Until we meet on this page again, be safe and blessed.