Every year, around this time, something magical fills the world. Maybe it’s the bitter, crisp, winter air, or maybe it's the opportunity to approach the new year with a clean slate and unlimited potential. I like to think it’s the latter! I love the new year because it gives me the opportunity to focus on myself and how I want to grow in the next 365 days. One of the major ways I improve with my personal growth every year is by setting resolutions.
New Year's Resolutions get a bad wrap. Everyone makes them, but most people don't stick with them for the long haul. Therefore, a lot of people have a negative stigma towards setting New Year's Resolutions. I’m here to share with you how I take the anxiety out of setting New Year's Resolutions and more importantly how I make them last all year long. My process is all about reflecting on the past, envisioning my future, making a plan, and checking-in as I go!
Reflect On The Past
The first step in my resolution setting process is to reflect on the last year. I love going back through the year month by month and reviewing everything that happened. At the end of the year I always go through my camera roll and I am reminded of all the great memories I made, places I saw, people I met, and things I accomplished. I also know that everything Isn't always peachy and I also reflect on the negative parts of my year. It's helpful to think of the experiences I didn't enjoy, the relationships that were draining, the tasks that I hated doing, and the environments I didn't like being in.
I usually take a sheet of paper here and draw a line down the middle and then on one side I list literally every single thing, memory, or experience that brought me joy and on the other side I write down anything that brought negative energy in my life. It’s important to see those things so that I can focus on carrying the good into the new year and cutting the bad out and leaving it in the past.
Envision Your Future
The next step is to review all those things that made me happy last year and think about everything I can do to expand on that energy in the new year. I love making vision boards that help me get my goals, plans, dreams, and overall vibe down in a visual way. It helps take my thoughts from my brain and make them into something tangible. Something I can see and interact with. I have a separate board for my business and for my personal life. Both of them have a cohesive color scheme and similar imagery, but they represent different goals or themes. I save a copy as my phone wallpaper and as my laptop screensaver so I am constantly reminded of what the new year is all about.
Make A Plan
Now that I have the vibe set and I know what I want to accomplish in the new year, I spend some time focusing on exactly how I’m going to get there. I know it sounds cheesy, but I like to look at my goals like they are different plants around my house. Each plant is different and requires different levels of soil, light, and water to blossom. Each of my goals needs its own custom approach to help them really grow. So, I like to look at each of my goals individually and make a detailed plan of exactly what I have to do to accomplish them. Finding the right soil and the proper combo of water and sunlight for each goal is the only way to make sure I have flowers blooming all year long!
Check-In With Yourself
The most important part of my New Year's Resolution process is checking in on myself. I know what I want to do in the new year, I know how I'm going to do it, now I just have to make sure I stay on track. I schedule time for myself once a week to reflect on how I'm doing, realign with my vision for the future, and adjust my plan for moving forward. If you want to take it one step further you can find a buddy and help each other stay accountable with your resolutions through periodic discussions. Integrating this step in your process is the easiest way to make sure you stick with your resolutions all year long.