How to Confidently Hit Reset on Your Life with Cancer

by Kathryn White

As you turn the page in the story of your life, it’s an opportunity to honour your story, recognize your strength, and look ahead with hope. Whether you're starting or continuing treatment, recovering from cancer, or supporting someone you love, there is always the opportunity for a reset. And, you can feel confident doing it.

Often the new seasons in your life or certain times of the year are approached from the perspective of change and having to make resolutions or promises to yourself.

What if instead you could approach this time in your life where you feel you need a reset or reboot, from a place of self-love and confidence instead of resolute determination? This doesn't mean you don't try. It doesn't mean you aren't determined. It means you can bring in change and do it with confidence knowing you are doing this for your own best interest. When you have cancer there are a lot of factors at play that keep you on alert, that are overwhelming, and that feel like you 'should' do them. So if you are feeling that there are certain practices or routines that you would like to bring in to support your healing, why not do it in a way that will help you to feel successful and with confidence?

Here are five ways to approach your time of change with self-love and confidence:

Reflect on Past You

Acknowledge the challenges you’ve faced and the resilience you've shown. Seeing where you were and how far you have already come can be a definite motivator to keep moving forward. Celebrate the victories such as completing treatments, personal growth, or moments of joy. This serves as a reminder that you can do and be more than you ever imagined possible. Seeing yourself for who you are now and that it is the result of the work you have been doing is a great boost of confidence and a reminder that you can this.

Set Gentle Intentions for the New You

Instead of resolutions, focus on intentions that bring you peace and healing. You may want to prioritize self-care and rest. Moving through cancer is hard work and can wear you down. Instead of go, go, go maybe consider allowing healing to move through you as you slow down and experience calm. This can include nurturing your emotional and mental well-being. Set the intention to practice self-care, which in turn will support self-love. Your physical and emotional self will appreciate this.

Build a Supportive Routine

This can also be one of your intentions for yourself. Support yourself and create a routine that honours your desire to take care of yourself. How do you want to spend your days? Do you want to incorporate health building practices into your day? Routines can feel productive and satisfying for some, while they can be overwhelming for others. If you need structure in your life decide what supports your personal goals and introduce them with ease. Sometimes trying to doing everything right away can be too much and can actually stop you from moving forward.

Find balance between moments of activity and rest. Being active, whether it is running errands, going to the gym, or visiting with friends and family, is good for your spirit. Enjoy rest as you need it. Rest can be a nap, sitting down to read, enjoying a cup of tea, or doing something that feels peaceful in your body and mind. 

Support can also be in the form of gentle activities. Things like meditation, walking, or creative hobbies can support your mental and emotional health and wellness. It can also be in the form of support groups, therapists, a cancer coach, or loved ones who understand your journey. 

To get started you may want to make a list of your interests, prioritize them, and get started one supportive choice at a time.

Celebrate Life’s Little Moments

Find joy in small, daily pleasures: a sunrise, a favourite book, or a comforting meal. Celebrate these pleasures and all of the good things that happen in your life. When you can see the good in your life it reinforces that what you are doing is working. When it feels like things are working it makes you want to do more to care for yourself. All of the little things add up to create a bigger picture of you being a cancer thriver. Celebrate the wins, feel gratitude for them, and embrace today and the changes you are bringing into your life as gifts that you are giving yourself.

Look Ahead with Hope

Remember that healing is not just physical—it’s emotional, spiritual, and personal. There’s always space for new possibilities, no matter where you are in your journey. Hope is you believing that every choice you make matters and gives you the confidence to move from survivor to thriver.

There is a lot to navigate when you are living with cancer. When you have a clear laid out plan in your life you start to reclaim your life and choose to learn how to live with cancer. Cancer does not get to control your life, you do. 

To learn more about reclaiming your life and choosing to learn how to live with cancer join me in my 7 Day Get Thriving Mini-Course. This mini-course runs January 1 to 7, but you get full access to the content for a full 14 days. Get daily email reminders to access this mini-course that shows you some of the key fundamentals to becoming a cancer thriver. There is still time to join! 

Ready to become a cancer thriver? To step out of overwhelm and confusion? Want a self-directed program that takes you step by step towards thriving? Become a member of the Living to Thrive Monthly Membership. For just $37 a month you get a monthly group coaching call, access to the 6 month Thriver Success Path, and support from lessons, downloadable PDFs and more. Learn more here.

If you would like to know more about the concept of living with cancer, I have written a book all about my personal experience with moving from survivor to thriver. In my book I offer anecdotes and strategies that will encourage you to learn how to thrive with cancer. You can get a copy of Living to Thrive: a holistic guide to living with cancer here.

Kathryn White is a Certified Holistic Cancer Coach who supports women to turn their cancer diagnosis into a thriving story one woman at a time.