Photo: Hello January, from Canva
Hello friends! 🌿
Is it still acceptable to say Happy New Year to you?
I've never been one to celebrate the New Year particularly. And as I've grown older, I've become even less of an advocate for January as a time of year for resolutions and restarts. Those of us in the northern hemisphere are in the thick of the darkest, coldest, bleakest time of the year - it doesn't feel like the best time to be resetting. Instead it feels like we should be hibernating, resting and looking forward to Spring.
Whilst I prefer September (as the start of the school year) and March/April (the beginning of Spring) to be moments of pause, reflection and reset, I do like the concept of having a word of the year, an intention that we set at the beginning of the year to guide the months ahead.
For me this year, I've chosen connect. It feels fitting. 2024 is a year when I want to focus on my connections with others, whether that's my close family members, friends, or with you here as our WorryTree community.
One of the ways I'm looking forward to building more connection with you this year is through this newsletter. I truly love to start conversations with you and read your replies. And to build on this even further in 2024 I'm excited to announce that we will soon be moving this newsletter across to Substack. Nothing will essentially change, you'll still receive an email in your inbox on the first Sunday of every month, although it will look slightly different. What will change is that we'll be able to build conversations there in the comments and through chat threads. I'm looking forward to seeing you there! You don't have to do anything, we'll move everything over to Substack this month and if you want to unsubscribe you'll be able to do that at any time.
Connection for me can also be about service, and how we show up for the people in our lives. I have learnt so much over the past few years about worry and anxiety and a big part of WorryTree for me is in sharing what I have learnt with you. And so we've introduced another way for you to access the tools and techniques that I have learnt through our new interactive 30-day course which is now live. It's a work in progress. As more people work through the course (delivered gently every day to your phone through either WhatsApp or SMS) we'll fine-tune and improve it so that it delivers as much helpful encouragement to you as possible. And because it's still a work in progress, I'd like to offer you today a code to celebrate the launch of the course for 50% off - just use CONNECT at the checkout. All I ask is that in return you get in touch with your feedback so that we can make it even better. This offer is valid until Sunday 14th January so make sure you sign up before then.
It's always a little scary to try something new but I think so long as we approach it with curiosity and flexibility, and a genuine wish to connect and be helpful, then that gets us through.
So, as we head into January - do you have a word or intention for the year ahead? Share yours by replying below, I respond to everyone who gets in touch.
xx
PS, if you know someone who would find this helpful, please share this with them too, I know I'd appreciate the thought from a friend. 🙏
Behind the scenes at WorryTree
Photo: Image of our WorryTree app, January 2024
Let's talk about what's new at WorryTree and what we're working on next:
WorryTree Version 3.0.14: When you read this we'll be just a few days away from releasing version 3.0.14. We needed to do some extra testing in the end but we're really happy with the final version! Some of this release will be tidying things up again in the background and making some changes to the Spanish language version of WorryTree, but most excitingly we have created a new section especially for those of you who have WorryTree Plus!
WorryTree Plus Exclusive Content: We're really excited about a new section within WorryTree with exclusive content for our WorryTree Plus community! This will include monthly check-ins from Louise, our Founder, talking about her personal experiences with worry and anxiety and what she's working on at the moment. We're also planning to add short videos and audio talking to experts about different aspects of worry management, like sleep, and we'll be adding this extra content as we go along. If there's something in particular you'd like to see, let us know by replying to this email!
Building new partnerships: Behind the scenes we've been having some really interesting conversations with some new potential partners around how we can work together to improve our mental and physical health. Watch this space for some really interesting partnerships coming up in early 2024!
We're committed to helping you feel more calm and in control of your overthinking, by using effective tools that you can practice anywhere, because we believe that worrying gets in the way of you making the most of this one, precious life.
If you have any questions or ideas, please get in touch below!
Helpful things for January, curated just for you
Photo: Young hiker relaxing in the woods, from Canva
Here’s a few practices, podcasts, blog posts and videos that we’re finding helpful:
Join our brand new 30-day programme for gentle daily prompts delivered by SMS or Whatsapp to your phone every morning: click here.
Read this post sharing five tips for a fresh start in the New Year - it’s all about getting clear on your priorities and plans for 2024.
Listen to this podcast episode about embracing a new approach to New Year’s resolutions - what do you intend to feel in 2024?
Watch this TED Talk about how we can get better at the things we care about.
Read this new piece in The Atlantic from Arthur C Brooks discussing how we can all worry less and feel happier (clue, it’s all about writing your worries down).
Ready to download WorryTree?
If you haven’t already tried WorryTree (and the basic worry tree technique tool is free for everyone to use as many times as you need) then you’ll find the links below.
Remember…
If you're struggling at the moment, then know that asking for help is a sign of strength not of weakness. Contact someone you can trust like your Doctor, a friend or a relative, or text SHOUT to 85258 (UK) to start a conversation with a crisis support volunteer.