Reflecting on Your Growth and Looking Forward to More in 2024

Reflecting on your healing journey can be a profound experience, especially as we bid farewell to another year. Join me, Michelle Hall, as I share the transformative power of personal growth for survivors of childhood sexual abuse. From my own leap of faith – transitioning from full-time employment to entrepreneurship – to practical tips for tracking your progress in the upcoming year, this episode is brimming with inspiration and empowerment. Witness my story unfold, with hard-earned lessons and actionable advice that could illuminate your path to recovery and self-discovery.

Celebrate your milestones and embrace the tools that foster resilience and hope. We'll explore the contents of "Living in the Key of Joy, Volume 4," my recent literary venture that encapsulates the essence of my journey in more detail. It's a reminder that commitment to healing bears fruitful results, and as a growing community, we have stories of courage and triumph to share. So, let's raise a glass to the strides we've made and the exciting journey that lies ahead. Here's to a new chapter filled with joy, healing, and endless possibilities.

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Transcript

Michelle Hall: 0:00

Hello, esteemed ones, as 2023 is quickly coming to an end, I want to know if you've taken the time to review your healing journey over the past year. If not, now is as good a time as any to check your progress and to see how far you've come this year. You may be surprised at the progress that you've made. In this episode, I will provide some points of reflection to take you for you to take into consideration in your review of the past year, and I'll also give you some helpful tips to get started tracking your progress in 2024. I am Michelle Hall, the host of Broken to Bless, a podcast designed specifically for women survivors of childhood sexual abuse, where the goal is to empower, encourage and inspire women survivors who are on their healing journey to keep pushing. Healing is possible. I know that to be true because I've done it, and I'm here to help you do the same. Let's get started. As we approach the end of the year, oftentimes we hear people say that they're setting goals for the new year or they're making resolutions that we know they won't keep, and that they want to see change in their lives. It's a time of reflection and evaluation for the things you want it to achieve. For you as a survivor of CSA, it is a good time to review the progress that you've made on your healing journey over the past year. Perhaps you have not been writing these things down, but you can probably look back and know things that you have made improvements to, or perhaps things that you wanted to make improvements on that you were not able to accomplish. Never fear, I have some points of reflection that you can consider for 2023. And I also have some fabulous tips for some things that you can do to start moving forward in 2024 to track your healing journey. I'm excited about this because, for me personally, I've had quite a bit of change in my life, quite a bit of progress as well.

Michelle Hall: 2:25

When I started the year in January of 2023, I had no idea that I would be where I am right now. I knew that I wanted to leave my full time nine to five job. It's been something that I've wanted to do for a few years now, but, like so many of us, I never set a firm date and I did not have an exit plan in place. I knew I wanted to do this type of work full time. I want I've wanted to help women survivors for many, many years. So, around March of 2023, I made a decision to leave my full time employment and I set a date and I developed a financial plan to help me with the transition. That was huge, a huge thing for me to do and that is related to my healing journey, because I consider myself having done the inner work and I am in a very good place in my life as it relates to the CSA that I experienced.

Michelle Hall: 3:35

This is directly related to that healing, because years ago, I did not have the confidence to do something of this nature, to be in business for myself full time. It was something that I simply didn't think was possible for me, and I read about that in the latest book project that I have been a part of. It is Living in the Key of Joy, volume 4. That book was released on December 18th and my contributing story is about my journey from full-time employment into full-time entrepreneurship and becoming a CEO of my own company. If you are interested in hearing that story, you can check that out. I also have a story in Living in the Key of Joy, volume 3, where I talk about my journey to self-discovery and the hardships that I experienced as a child, including CSA and how those things affected me well into my adult life and how I came to my healing journey and took where I am now. They are both available on Amazon and I will put the link in the show notes if you want to check them out. And so that was a huge, huge step that I was initially not planning to take at the beginning of the year, but it just so happened that the Lord worked it out and where I was not only able to do it but do it well, and I'm excited about that. And also at the beginning of the year I had no idea that I would be part of two published books here. I am a published author with two of my most significant life stories revealed in written form. Those things show tremendous personal growth for myself, my confidence in my self-worth, self-esteem and the possibilities that are out there for me and you.

Michelle Hall: 5:39

I would love for you to take some time to look back over things that you have accomplished that you can attribute to healing, things that you perhaps would not have done or things you would not have achieved if you had not moved through a healing phase, such as building confidence or building your self-esteem. We often times don't realize how much of an effect that CSA has on our lives. It can have such a ripple effect. There are the possibilities of emotional, mental, spiritual and physical problems that are the result of the sexual violation that we experienced, and oftentimes we don't realize that some of the behaviors and patterns are related to one or more of those ripple effects. The violation occurred in the past, right, but the effect of the violation lingers long after the act is done and we often fall into unhealthy patterns and behaviors to cope with those effects. So take some time and think about things that you have done or things that you have accomplished that perhaps you would not have done if you hadn't worked on some of those unhealthy behaviors and patterns.

Michelle Hall: 7:05

I have five points of reflection for you to consider as you take the time and look back over what you have achieved or how far you have come in your healing journey during this year. The first thing you can look at is your personal growth, and that's similar to what I was talking about for myself. As I have grown in my healing. I was able to make a major life decision to leave a full time, comfy, nice salary, full time, nine to five job and step out on faith and take on entrepreneurship full time. I shifted from impossibility to not only possible, but done. So look at things that you've done and what you have experienced throughout the year and what new insights you have gained about yourself. What positive changes have you noticed in your mindset and your behaviors? Reflection point number two what challenges have you overcome? Take the time to think about and acknowledge the challenges that you've overcome in your healing journey. Consider small victories and significant milestones. It doesn't matter how big or how small. Any progress is worth acknowledging. Consider how you navigated difficulties and what you learned from those experiences. Reflection point number five and number three Self-compassion.

Michelle Hall: 8:43

Reflect on your relationship with yourself. Oh, self love y'all. Have you been practicing self-compassion and kindness? How has your self-talk evolved? Are you speaking life into yourself? Are you thinking positive things and moving forward in positive ways? What strategies have you used to cultivate a more loving relationship with yourself? Self-love is so important. You're not going to love anyone else beyond the love you have for yourself. So cultivate self-love so you can love those around you better. Reflection point number four Consider the support system that has been instrumental in your healing process. Do you have people around you that knows your journey, knows your story that you can rely on if you need to talk about something in the moment, or do you have a coach or a counselor that you can talk to when you need to work through something, or perhaps a significant other that you can talk to and be that strong support system that you need as you're moving forward in your healing? Reflect on your relationships, the communities and the professionals that you have in your support system. How have these connections contributed to your sense of belonging and your resilience?

Michelle Hall: 10:25

Reflection Point Number 5. Set your intentions for the new year. After doing the reflection exercises, set your intentions for 2024. Perhaps you didn't make a lot of progress in 2023, that's okay. You could recalibrate for the new year. What is it that you want to prioritize in your healing journey in 2024? What new practices or approaches are you willing to explore to further enhance your well-being?

Michelle Hall: 10:58

There are so many things that you can do, and I'm going to give you three in just a few minutes, but our healing journey is like anything else in life it takes intention. If there are particular things that you want to work on or to enhance in your life, you must have an intention for it and you will need to have some sort of plan of implementation in order to achieve what you want. So be sure that you take into consideration and think about these things and what it is you want to improve and enhance in your life in the upcoming year. So, now that you've taken time and looked back over 2023 and the progress that you've made or perhaps progress that you didn't make you want to prepare to start 2024 strong. Now, of course, you can take into 2024 the five reflection points that I've already talked about and monitor and track those into the new year, and perhaps you can do that by getting a journal and you can write down any milestones or things that you feel are significant and relevant to your healing journey as they occur. That way, you have a history of your accomplishments and your achievements.

Michelle Hall: 12:25

In addition to the reflection points that you can use as a starting point for the new year, a few other things that you can consider for starting strong in 2024 are commit to consistent self-care. Consistent self-care I firmly believe that the best form of self-love is self-care. Try specific self-care practices that resonate with you and commit to incorporating them consistently into your routine. This can include any activities that bring you joy, perhaps mindfulness practices or improving or nurturing your physical health. Find something and just start.

Michelle Hall: 13:16

The next thing that you can consider to start in 2024 is to establish healthy boundaries. I've talked about boundaries many, many, many times before in previous podcast episodes and I talk about it constantly because it is something that is so crucial and important to your overall well-being. Protect all your current boundaries and identify areas where you can strengthen or establish new and healthier boundaries, and this might include setting clear limits in relationships, both personal and professional, to protect your well-being. I cannot express enough the importance of having healthy boundaries for what is acceptable for you. And the next thing you can consider is to explore new healing modalities. Open yourself up to exploring new modalities or therapeutic approaches, whether it's trying a new form of therapy, engaging in expressive art or participating in support groups, whatever it is that works for you. Be open to diversifying your healing toolkit.

Michelle Hall: 14:37

And speaking of trying different modalities, I want to share with you what I have coming up in January of 2024. I am so excited to bring to you a new transformational program Starting in January of 2024, this program is designed specifically for women survivors of childhood sexual abuse and it is based on my own healing journey. I have harnessed the process that I went through and put it into a program to help women just like you. More information is forthcoming. If you are interested in learning more about the program, sign up on the waitlist so you will receive emails when the program is open for enrollment. The link is in the show notes, or you can go to my website, michelle Hallco, and click on the programs tab and join the waitlist there.

Michelle Hall: 15:41

It is a phenomenal program. It is brand new and I am ready to stand alongside you through this healing process so that you can get free. It's an opportunity for you to find your voice, reclaim your power and transform your life. I'm excited about that, y'all. Well, that's it. 2023 is a wrap and I wish you all a happy new year and I'll see you in 2024. We are doing more in 2024. Until next time. Thank you for joining me on this episode of Broken to Blessed. Subscribe to the podcast and share it with all of your sister girlfriends. This podcast may be the catalyst to their healing journey. And remember life can get better. You just have to do the work. God bless.