The holidays are right around the corner and with the festive season comes New Year’s Eve. Every year, billions of people worldwide create new year’s resolutions, declaring different ways that they plan to better themselves in the next year. A lot of these resolutions involve losing weight, adhering to strict gym regimens or learning how to do a new hobby. The sad reality with so many of these resolutions is that it is unlikely most people will stick to them for more than a week or two. I know I’ve been one of these people before and know what it’s like to not stick to that resolution. I am still a firm believer, though, in trying to better yourself in the new year. Upgrading yourself and finding better ways to live your best life are essential parts of self-growth and New Year’s is still one of the best times to work on this. While making a strict goal and dedicating yourself to fulfilling it is one way to go, there are a lot of other things you can do to work on improving yourself in the new year. Some of my favourites are:
Making mood /vision boards
I’m a firm believer in the “if you can dream it, you can do it” saying and that is what this is all about. I love making boards that show how I imagine my life to be and what I want it to become. By seeing my goals in front of me, I feel more motivated to work toward them. When I make mood boards of what I want to accomplish I find that I am far more likely to accomplish these goals as I’m inspired by my vision.
Developing new routines
A great method for working on improving yourself is to look at your routines. Where might you be developing bad habits or depending on a routine that really doesn’t work for you? Forcing yourself to do things that don’t make you happy or make your day harder should not be part of your routine. If you wake up every morning and make yourself work out early in the morning and then drink a kale smoothie, but all that does is make you miserable, that shouldn’t be part of your routine, and it isn’t bettering you. It is far more beneficial to figure out at what point in the day you will be most motivated to do that workout and develop a routine that actually allows you to enjoy what you are doing.
Creating a bucket list for the year
Last year, I created a list of things I wanted to try throughout the year. Some were activities I knew I would enjoy and others were ideas that would help bring me out of my comfort zone and try something new. This gave me the opportunity to work on myself as a challenge I needed to work through. For me, having this bucket list of what I wanted to achieve before the end of the year was a huge motivator and I found it to be really beneficial to me.
Creating a goal jar
This is actually an idea I saw on TikTok and I think it’s genius. Basically, at the beginning of the year, you write down a whole bunch of goals you have for the new year on paper, rip them all apart and put them in a jar. Throughout the year, you draw out pieces of paper and do whatever goal is written on your paper. This helps you complete your goals and hold yourself accountable, but it also is a fun challenge to have throughout the year.
Writing down your goals
When you write down everything you want to accomplish, you are more like to reach your goals. When people can see what they want to accomplish written out in front of them, it gives them something to focus on and achieve. Picturing what you want in your head is one thing, but it is significantly more beneficial to write them on a piece of paper in order to actually achieve everything you want.
It can be really stressful trying to create goals for the new year and while some of these ideas may help you work toward creating a better version of yourself without committing to some insane resolution, it is important to remember that just because it’s the new year, that doesn’t mean you have to change anything about yourself. Your happiness and confidence is the most important thing and if you are living the life you want to be, don’t change a thing. Creating goals and growing as a person is all about you and you don’t have to change a thing about yourself if you don’t want to!