Christmas is about...Looking Forward

Now that the main event of this season has passed, many of us spend this final week looking forward to the new year. That is why our final theme of Christmas is Looking forward. Our other themes have been giving, connectingreflecting and feasting.

Typically, new years resolutions are formed during this week, but looking forward extends much further than goals you'd like to achieve. During our week of reflection, you may have remembered things you experienced this year that you'd like to carry on. Perhaps you tried a new hobby like gardening or cooking. This week you could think about how you can introduce that new skill more into your daily life. Or maybe the act of trying new things was the part that thrilled you! What else can you try in 2022 that will fill you with those same feelings?

A new year brings promise of new beginnings and new things to come. And, be kind to yourself when you start making plans. We often throw ourselves in the deep end and experience disappointment when we don't see results. Small steps towards your goals are a great way to allow you to reflect next year and see how far you've come. See how in Easy Ways to Live Well, Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall gives a family an experiment to help their kids eat more veg. It begins with a small step and escalates beyond what the parents would've imagined initially.

So, if you do want to do more cooking next year, start small. Maybe one meal a week? Or by chopping your own veg? To help remind yourself to take small steps, use something in your daily life as a good trigger and remmeber to reward yourself for doing it. Follow the pattern of "After I..." "I will..." and then celebrate! In our example to do more homecooking, you could try "After I turn the kettle on. I will chop the veggies I will use for dinner" and everytime you remember you could treat yourself to a cup of tea, or do a celebratory dance! You needn't do anything with the chopped veg, but slowly you might start adding them to a dish or cooking with them and that's the way a small action will help you snowball into the bigger goal. 

We've got a lot of new shows for you to look forward to and to inspire you, including Big Cooking Showdown where you can learn recipes to feed a family of four for under a tenner, a locomotive series with the witty and wonderful Julie Walters and a breath-taking documentary series of the Scottish Highlands with Ewan McGregor. Here's a little taster of what else you can look forward to on Together TV:

You can see what's on via our TV Guide or follow us on TwitterInstagramYoutube and Facebook to be the first to hear when a new show is coming your way.