Resetting for the New Year

I LOVE A NEW YEAR.

Well I love pretty much any time that allows for reflection, resetting and reenergizing. Whether it’s a Monday, the beginning of a month or the start of a new school year, I’m here for it.

I do, however, kind of hate the concept of New Years’ resolutions. I don’t find that fuels me much. I would rather take the time around the New Year to look back at the previous year — what did I want to accomplish and what did I actually accomplish? For the things I did accomplish, did I enjoy the process or did I only enjoy the final outcome? Did I find balance within the different areas of my life? Did I have the time to step back and reflect? What do I want to do differently this coming year?

This may seem like a lot, but I have found little tips and tricks to help me break this down and make the process more manageable. If this is your first year doing something like this, you may not have written down your goals at the beginning of the year so you may not have anything to look back on, but you can start this year and by this time next year we will be pulling out our old lists to do this all over again for the coming year.

A Vision Board: I used to think these were kind of silly, but the more I learned about and leaned into the power of manifestation, the more I liked them. As Oprah said, “Having a vision creates a path for the future. It focuses you and allows for clarity moving forward.” I put everything on my vision board, like everything! After we had our second girl, we knew we wanted a boy next, so that is exactly what went on my vision board. From personal family things to daily habits I want to incorporate to where I want to go with my business, it is all right there on my vision board.

Okay, now that you are your vision, it is time to think about how you are going to make those visions and dreams a reality. Not only that, but I want to try to enjoy the process as much as possible. It does no good to have “create your own clothing line” on your vision board if you are having a miserable time each day trying to make that happen!

Below is an example of my 2022 vision board:

Ideal Week and Day: Below you will find links to printables so that you can fill in your own ideal day and ideal week, if each day might look different for you (that is the case for me!). I like to get really detailed with this, that is why I have a little additional section for you to map out your morning and evening routine. If you are not used to having routines during these times, maybe this is a great time to start! It can be as simple as reading something inspiring, journaling, having quiet mindfulness time with your morning coffee, etc! Once you get started, you can easily start habit stacking.

Habit stacking involves “stacking” the new behavior you’re trying to adopt onto a current behavior in order to help you remember to do it and/or perform it with less mental effort. It utilizes the strong synaptic connections we already have and before you know it, you might have an elaborate morning and evening routine, but it will just come second nature to you! —From the book Atomic Habits.

Example: My morning routine involves mushroom coffee while reading a devotional and writing in my graduate journal. I then ice roll my face as I head upstairs to brush my teeth. As I am brushing my teeth and applying my face routine, I have a red light going in the bathroom. Afterwards, I head back downstairs to prepare breakfast and take my vitamins.

Habit Tracker: Last year was my first attempt using a habit tracker and I just loved it! I loved getting to the end of the month and seeing all of those days checked off! So again, I am adding a printable version below so you can start tracking any new habits you want to tackle.

Example: I use my tracker for workouts, pleasure reading, cold and heat therapy, and meditating.

I hope you all find something here that helps you in achieving the goals you have for the new year!

Much Love,