Letting Go of Judgement

Three years ago, as the year was coming to an end, I was sitting in a beauty salon during a pedicure session when my beauty therapist casually shared a simple idea with me.

She suggested writing down one good thing that happened each month and placing it in a jar. At the end of the year, you open the jar and read them all. Her reasoning was simple: we tend to forget the good moments once something difficult happens. A few bad experiences can easily overshadow many good ones and suddenly we label the entire year as “a bad year.”

When the new year arrived, I decided to try it.

As the months passed, the jar slowly filled — and not with just one good moment per month, but many. When the year finally came to an end and I opened the jar, I was genuinely surprised. Reading through those notes reminded me how full the year had actually been. I felt grateful, grounded and deeply joyful.

That small practice stayed with me.

Reflecting on how hectic the past year had been, I felt the need to take that lesson a step further. 

Every year, we wish for a better one. This time, I didn’t want to simply wish — I wanted to act. So I decided to dedicate this year to intentional living, one month at a time. Not in a rigid or demanding way, but gently.

One theme.

One habit.

One focus per month.

January felt like the right place to begin with letting go of judgement. 

Judgement often appears quietly and almost automatically. It surfaces in the way we speak to ourselves when things do not go as planned, in the quick conclusions drawn about situations and others and in the resistance felt when life unfolds differently than expected. Noticing and releasing judgement has implications not just for everyday life, but also for how we engage with our work and professional responsibilities.

Self-judgement, in particular, tends to go unnoticed. At first, it can present itself as practical or even motivating. Over time, however, it becomes burdensome. It reinforces the sense of being behind, not enough or somehow approaching life incorrectly. Eventually, it settles into the background as a constant presence — familiar, persistent and rarely questioned.

This month, I’m choosing to soften that voice.

Letting go of judgement doesn’t mean pretending everything is fine or avoiding difficult truths. It means noticing reactions without immediately condemning them. It means allowing moments, emotions and situations to exist before labelling them as good or bad.

To be and to let be.

This month centres on using reflection as a tool for personal development — setting aside judgement, even temporarily, to create greater clarity and space. The intention is to respond rather than react and to approach experiences with curiosity instead of criticism. Allowing, over time, this shift to support a calmer and more deliberate way of moving through daily life.

There is no goal to perfect this. No pressure to get it right. Just a willingness to notice, again and again.

If you’re reading this, you’re welcome to walk this year alongside me. At your own pace. In your own way. This isn’t about becoming someone else — it’s about coming back to oneself.

January is about releasing what no longer needs to be carried.

And that feels like the right place to begin.