With just a few weeks left in the year, it’s time to really start thinking about 2019 and how you can make it your best year yet.
You know, the human mind is quite strange. We tell ourselves that the New Year will be a new beginning. We’re going to get super healthy and rich and happy. We’ll start taking action January 1st and it will be great.
Sometimes we jus throw ourselves into big goals and dreams without a plan. We think we can make changes in our habits without evaluating why we do the things we do. Why we constantly sabotage ourselves by eating unhealthy, spending too much money, and procrastinating.
Every year you say it will be different, but another year passes and you’re almost in the same exact spot as before. This only leads to disappointment and lack of confidence for years to come.
The steps below should help you determine WHAT is holding you back. WHY you are doing what you’re doing. And HOW to get off to a better start.
We can’t change ourselves overnight, but we can take tiny steps to improve ourselves and actually accomplish what we want to.
With that being said, I truly hope you have an amazing year and follow the steps below to prepare for it.
Audit your year/life
I have a WHOLE post on how to audit your year, but here is a simplified version:
Here’s how you can audit this past year:
First of all, I highly encourage you to grab a notebook and write everything down. I prefer to use notebooks because I keep all of them, which allows me to come back to them in the future and see just how far I have come.
-Write a list of your accomplishments (big AND small!)
-What goals did you make back in January? Did you reach them? If not, why not? Was something holding you back?
-Analyze your “wheel of life” – Rate your satisfaction in each area below:
-Business/Career
-Finances
-Health
-Family and Friends
-Romance
-Personal Growth
-Fun/Recreation
-Physical environment
-List negative habits you have developed and/or broken.
-List positive habits you have developed and/or broken.
-What habits would you like to stop or develop?
Personally, I think it’s best to audit your life every quarter. This helps you stay on track and re-focus.
Reassess your personal mission/dreams
I know resolutions/goal-setting isn’t everyone’s cup of tea. However, I do believe that there is something so refreshing about a New Year that it’s worth it to remind yourself of what you really want this year.
Seriously think about (WRITE DOWN) what you want in your life time. What is your purpose? Why do you wake up every morning? Are you happy?
So many of us are just on auto-pilot, life is just flying by and we just sleep, eat, drive, work, and repeat. What is it that you truly want?
Really think about it and set some goals that align with your dreams. What steps can you take to reach those goals?
Get started/start planning for success
Now that you know what you want in life or you’ve at least set some goals, start planning them out. Break down larger goals into smaller goals. Do what you can to make them more achievable over time so this year isn’t another flop.
Want to get fit? Start planning meals and workouts.
Want to start a blog? Create a website, start writing post ideas, start writing.
Want to save money? Create a budget, track your spending, determine how much you need to save each week/month.
Even better is to get started NOW! Get a head start on your New Year goals so you don’t just fall off by February.
Declutter and deep clean
Forget Spring cleaning, start before the New Year!
Go through your possessions and get rid of everything you don’t truly love or need. Sell, donate, or trash them.
Go through your e-mail inbox and delete or read the overflowing e-mails. Unsubscribe from the people/stores you don’t read anymore. Try to get your unread e-mails down to 0!
Deep clean your home. Show it some love and respect and improve your environment. Dust the walls and baseboards, scrub your showers, tubs, sinks, and toilets, change out your filters and check all of your smoke detectors. After we’ve lived somewhere awhile we start to lose the excitement/love for our space.
Having a fresh start is super inspiring and will help you start the year on the right foot.
Make a change
Use this time to make a change in something in your life. For example, I just rearranged my room and it looks so much better and more open. It inspires me to keep it tidy and I love the “vibe” of everything now. You could change up your wardrobe, your room decor, your hair color, your routine, etc.
The only thing permanent in life IS change, so it’s nothing to be afraid of! Change can be a good thing, especially when you have complete control over it. Change can be really refreshing and it can be a great way to go into the New Year.
Buy a new planner and notebook
Every year I buy a new planner and notebook. Over the years of buying MANY planners, I’ve realized I prefer my planners to have a lot of space and to be quite simple. I bought a planner from Target with a monthly and weekly layout, and each day has several lines for my to-do list which is perfect. Detailed planners make me feel guilty when I don’t use them to their full ability!
I also buy a nice, fancy, bound notebook every year. I bring my notebook with me to most places because I use it to write down ideas, brainstorm my blog posts and videos, to write down my goals, and to take notes from articles I read. My notebooks get filled with lots of lists and journaling over the year, but it’s cool to have a designated notebook per year as well.
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The New Year is always an exciting time no matter how cliche it is. You don’t need a New Year to get started, but the key to success IS getting started. Preparing yourself for a “fresh start” may just be the inspiration and motivation for you to actually take things seriously this year!
Hi Leila,
I really enjoyed reading this and I think a lot of people would benefit from this.
I have shared your blog on the page I manage on Facebook, we’d love to tag you so people would find it easier to find you 🙂 let us know how we can find you on FB 🙂
Thank you so much!! That’s awesome I really appreciate it. My Facebook page is just Living like Leila and I have a link to it in my blog sidebar! ?❤
2018 was a “roughish” year for me, although, a ton of great things happened. I landed a job after grad school, bought a house with my husband, and moved closer to family. However, I found myself becoming uninspired, discouraged, unmotivated, and had consistent recurrent thoughts of self-doubt. These feelings really came full force after starting my new job, even though this was supposed to be “it.” I got my job, we have a house, we are close to family. I “have it all.”
I woke up dreading to go to work. The snooze button became a friend- which was never the case before. My first thoughts for the day were of negativity. I came home feeling tired and found it hard to find something that was positive or got me excited beyond the fact that I finished another report. I stopped caring. I stopped trying. Is this who I am now? Someone who just wants to get done with the day? Was this growing pains of a new job or something more?
I reached out to my husband, friend, and brother. All told me that I need to notice these feelings and respond to them. They, along with some self-reflection, helped me realize that these are more than growing pains in a new job. In my gut, I know this job is not right for me. I am not 100% sure what is, but this isn’t it. I am becoming comfortable with the fact that this job is not right for me and that I need to make a change in order to be the best me – to be happy. However, fear paralyzes me. The fear of making the wrong choice – what if this is just growing pains? The fear of the wasted time and money – grad school took a lot of time and money. The fear of disappointing others. The fear of not earning the amount of money I make now. The list could go on.
I found your blog through a Pinterest search on the quarter life crisis. I think I may be having one of these ? But, now I know it. On your blog, I found that I am not alone in my battle. I found that I am not the only one that has gone through these feelings before. Beyond that, I found tips, strategies, and hope. My courage to change has grown.
Thank you. Here is to 2019. ?
Rachel,
I know exactly how you feel, so yes you’re definitely not alone. I too started a great job this year that I was dying to get, but soon found myself dreading.
A few months ago I read the book The Power of Now by Eckhart Tolle. At first I got frustrated with it because living in the moment felt so difficult. However, I’ve since practiced “living in the now.”
The biggest change was practicing gratitude.
I also started to think of my job as a means to reach my goals (becoming a full time blogger/youtuber/working for myself). My job is a great job, low stress, and I make good income. That income allows me to live comfortably AND to purchase things I need for my online work. It also provides structure/routine which forces me to work on my online work when I get home.
I realized that if I keep waiting for something to be happy I’ll never be happy. So I just try my best to appreciate each moment. Hopefully that makes sense ?
Best of luck to you! ❤
tq,,,i have come to realize..we need to change something if we r not happy