I’ve been looking back over my posts highlighting my goals from previous years and I’ve been thinking a lot about them. Much of what I’ve learned is that making a big overhaul is not the recipe for success in my goals. What does work for me is making small, incremental changes to see a longer lasting impact on my day-to-day. I also tend to spend some time working on reflecting both prior to the end of the year and throughout January. I find that this helps take stock on how to engage with some of these goals I’ve set. With that in mind, here are my top 10 things to do in the new year to make small changes to work towards goals.
Top 10 Things to Do in the New Year
1) Identify One New Thing to Try
I really enjoy trying new things, whether it’s a new restaurant, a new dish, visiting a new town, staying at hotel… well, you get the picture. This year, I’ve decided to try reading a variety of genres of books. I typically gravitate towards historical fiction and thrillers, which I will still continue reading. However, I want to branch out and try new genres, too. Thanks to my Book of the Month subscription, I have the opportunity to try those out.
2) Gratitude Journal
Each night before I go to bed, I spend a little time writing in my gratitude journal. I find this to be a helpful way to reflect on each day and identify what I’d like to focus on the next day. It’s been a new favorite routine that I added. Here’s the one I use.
3) Add Time to Stretching/Meditation
I take about 5 minutes each day to stretch and meditate before starting my day. Back in November, I switched careers and am working from home most of the time, and I am trying to make sure I continue moving the same amount. This is a great way to start my day, and I would encourage you to do the same.
4) Purge
I like to start a year off with a good purge. This year, David is updating my closet, so it was the perfect time to spend some time truly purging my closet and chest of drawers. Throughout January, I’ll be purging our office built-ins and pantries, too.
5) Decompress & Ease In to the Year
Over the last couple of years, I have really enjoyed easing into the new year by having minimal plans and time to truly relax. Taking that time to not set an alarm, to binge TV shows, watch movies, and read has been exactly what I’ve needed. This past holiday season, I saw quite a few posts about enjoying this time of being unproductive and it really resonated with me. I’ve already blocked out time for this year’s holiday seasons to ensure I am protecting this time moving forward.
6) Outline Goals/Intentions for the Year
I talked about how I have been setting my goals for the year in a post earlier this week. I find that setting “more” or “less” goals makes me more likely to stick to them. With that in mind, I do like to set small, incremental goals and one of the ways I have found success with that is by setting monthly goals. For example, this month, I’ve set a goal to close all my rings on my Apple Watch for 7 consecutive days. That feels more realistic to me than saying I’ll do it every day for a month.
7) Plan Feel-Good Days
In alignment with decompressing and easing into the year, I try to keep one day a month completely free of obligations and commitments to enjoy a feel-good day. What that includes varies on what I’m needing at that point. It could be sleeping in and reading all day. It could be indulging in a little self-care or spending time on the front porch with the boys.
8) Create a Reading List
While this is definitely more in line if you are a reader like me, the same could be true for TV series, movies, or podcasts. I very much enjoy a list that I can physically check off, so having a reading list prevents me from taking a ton of screenshots of books taking up space in my phone’s photo album, plus gives me something to use when making book recommendations.
9) Unsubscribe
This is definitely in line with the purging of physical items! I go on a huge purge of email subscriptions, social media accounts I no longer engage with, and phone contacts.
10) Create Cozy Spaces
Having a cozy space that I look forward to curling up and relaxing after a day at work has been so helpful. Whether I’m curling up for a nap, to watch a show, read a book, or just breathe, it’s been super great. I like to take some time to really spruce it up again to begin each year! Here are more tips on how we create a cozy space in our home.
Photos by GloryRoze Photography
Meghan-
This is a great list to kick off the new year! I have my reading list for 2022 and i too have been decluttering my digital space by unsubscribing to e-newsletters and deleting old emails/texts. Something on my to-do list is to devote some time every morning to stretch and write in my gratitude journal. i love that you incorporate those into your daily routine.
-Ally
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