As we get ready to welcome in 2016, with all of the hope and excitement that a New Year brings, I encourage you to take a few minutes to pause and reflect over the events of the past 12 months and to look back at 2015 with love and with gratitude before you send it on it’s way. Take some time to recognize all of the ways that 2015 has helped you grow and all of the opportunities that were presented to you. Maybe you are left with some amazing memories, and perhaps some that you would really prefer to leave behind, but thank them all for the lessons learned, before you package them up in the little box called 2015, and put them away in the attic.
The New Year is so exciting because it’s full of potential and opportunity and a great reminder of what a fresh start can bring. However as most of us will probably agree, in order to fully move on with anything in life, we need to get complete with the stuff that has already happened first. All of it. The good, the bad and the ugly.
One way to do this is to recognize and celebrate all that you have done and accomplished. Acknowledge some of the not so great things and take note of what you learned along the way. You won’t be able to fully move forward if there are any unresolved emotions in the way, so take some time over the next couple of weeks to do a post-mortem of the year. Write down the highlights or the things that stand out for you. And as you do, be aware of the feelings and emotions that come up with each one, and just allow yourself a minute or two to feel those emotions, before thanking them and releasing them.
After closing up 2015 in a positive light, then you can really start to explore what 2016 will look like for you and set a clear intention.
Take a moment to grab a pen and paper, and jot down your answers to the following questions;
- What do you want the theme to be for 2016? Is there a word or phrase that stands out?
- What are your top 3 goals for yourself for the year ahead?
- How do you want 2016 to be better then 2015 and what do you plan to do to make it so?
New Years Resolutions in particular are a huge part of rolling in with the new and it can be such an exciting and inspiring activity. For some people, it’s the only time of year that they really take count of the ways in which they want to expand themselves and grow.
I have been invited to a local morning show to talk about this subject in January, and as I was preparing my notes, I decided to give you a sneak peak on my ideas for 5 simple keys to help make your New Years resolution really stick this year.
- FIND YOUR WHY Focus your energy more on what your life looks like with the change than without. Remember why you want to make this change and what your life will be like once you have fulfilled it. When you are feeling less motivated, remind yourself why you want this and what it means to you. Look at the big picture that you want to create and imagine what that looks like to you in five or even ten years from now.
- HABITS Create new habits that are in line with your new choice and change old habits that aren’t. It can be hard to make or break one habit when everything else stays the same. If you are trying to give something up, take note of and make changes to, the triggers. If you are trying to pick up a new habit, look around at other habits you could make that could help support you with the bigger goal.
- SMALL STEPS Set yourself up for success by making smaller more attainable changes at first, that will help you work towards your ultimate goal. Lead yourself up to what you ultimately want to accomplish.
- CELEBRATE Celebrate your successes. What makes you happy and how can you reward yourself? Perhaps you can reward yourself with a jar that you put money into every day that you are successful to save towards that trip you’ve always wanted to go on. Or a small reward for yourself after accomplishing a week of good habits. The key is to acknowledge your accomplishments at regular intervals along the way.
- POSITIVE Don’t get down on yourself if you slip. We are all human. Stay focused and use that slip to inform you of what happened and how you can move forward and prevent that from happening again. If you have slipped in 2015, look at what happened and why and take those as lessons to help you from slipping again.
Wishing you a wonderful holiday season and may you soar into the New Year filled with health, happiness, prosperity an clarity.