With the beginning of a new year, comes advice from everyone about ways to improve yourself, your home, the lives of your children, and the list goes on. and on. and on.
I love new years; they are full of possibilities, desires to grow and/or change, and not to mention fun parties! What I have come to realize in recent times however, is that I don’t love all the people with all the tips on how to finally make this “new year a new you!”
With that in mind, I wanted to share some tips I’ve begun to live by in order to realign my focus at this exciting time of year:
1. It’s important to take care of yourself…physically, mentally, emotionally, and spiritually.
Yes, I’m aware I just said that I don’t need to be continually reminded how to improve myself in a new year. But what I do encourage is taking care of yourself if you need to. If you feel you have a few pounds to lose or would like to get in shape for your health, because the doctor suggests it, or for other reasons — do it. Just don’t feel pressured by impossible fitness magazines or insane “fitspo” posts on Instagram to “lose the weight NOW” or “trim that tummy.”
2. If you like setting goals for a new year, consider creating a bucket list of intentions instead of resolutions.
A bucket list is traditionally defined as a list of items you’d like to complete during your lifetime. Instead of taking on such a potentially overwhelming and somewhat morbid task, consider limiting your list to what you’d like to accomplish over the next 12 months.
Examples from my own 2018 bucket list include:
- Start each workday with a devotional email or app before I begin working.
- Learn to write HTML code.
- Commit to regularly exercising four to five days a week.
3. If 12 months’ worth of goals seems like too much, try setting smaller goals.
What’s something you could commit to doing for 30 days? Rather than feeling like you have to go all-in and stick with a set of goals for an entire year, think of tasks in smaller chunks that would help you feel accomplished. Would you like to spend time each day decluttering the main living areas in your home? Drinking your coffee while it’s still hot? Eating more intuitively? Work towards completing a smaller goal before you attempt to tackle something long-term.
4. Pick a word that will define your year.
When you’re visualizing what you’d like to see for 2018, consider picking one word that will bring clarity and focus to your desires and goals for the year. This word will be an overall summary for how you plan to go about the year. Do your best to keep it to one word. It should be easy to remember. Write it down everywhere…on your phone’s note taker, your bathroom mirror, your day planner. Anywhere you will regularly see it so that you can be reminded of the overall purpose you’ve set. What’s my word for 2018, you ask? COURAGE.
