Sharing tips to help you prepare for your best year yet!
A New Year is super exciting, but it can also be a bit daunting! Sometimes all the goals, hopes, and aspirations can be overwhelming, and you don’t even know where to begin to think about it all.
It’s really easy to half-heartedly reflect on your past year, put together a list of new resolutions, then go on living life without really planning and preparing for how you want your life to look in the New Year. I admit, I’m guilty, too!
But with a little extra prep and intentionality, you’ll feel more confident for what’s to come. I’ve got you covered with some tips to help you prepare for your best year yet.
Feel free to also go through these steps with friends or family – you may feel even more inspired, and you’ll have one another to keep each other accountable.
9 TIPS TO PREPARE FOR THE NEW YEAR
- Compartmentalize Your Life
- Reflect on Your Year
- Set Those Goals
- Create a Past Year “Resumé”
- Prep Your Documentation Method(s)
- Create a Vision AND Mission Board
- Make a Bucket List
- Refresh Your Space
- Update Your Morning/Night Routine
1. COMPARTMENTALIZE YOUR LIFE FOR ORGANIZATION
This simple step is super important to organize all your thoughts going into the New Year. Life is hectic – there’s no doubt about it! So in order to begin reflecting and preparing for what’s to come, think about all the different areas of your life. Some basic spheres may be career, social life, and finances. But be more specific depending on your life! Perhaps you travel often, you have a side hustle, or you’re passionate about fitness – add these areas to your mind map of your life. Organizing your life like this will make it easier to reflect on and make goals for all the different aspects of your life, and help you to not leave anything out.
2. REFLECT ON YOUR YEAR THROUGH QUESTIONS & DOCUMENTATION
Before setting new goals for the year, you first have to reflect on the past. This is CRUCIAL so you can better understand how you’ve grown, what you’ve learned, and how this impacts what you want your life to look like moving forward. A classic way to do this is to ask yourself reflection questions. And don’t forget about your compartmentalization! Use the different areas of your life to guide your question-asking. Check out 70 Reflection Questions to Ask Yourself Before the New Year to inspire you.
In addition to asking yourself questions, reflect using various documentation methods. Look at your camera roll, flip through your journal, look at your music and podcast playlists, or even scroll through your social media feeds and saved content. There are TONS of places that have traces of your past year, even if you don’t intentionally think about it or do it.
Bullet Journal: PAPERAGE Dotted Journal Notebook
Pens: MUJI Gel Ink Ballpoint Pens
Markers: WRITECH Dual Tip Highlighter Markers
Planner: Papier Joy Planner
Disposable Camera: Fujifilm QuickSnap Flash 400 One-Time-Use Camera – 2 Pack
Film Camera: KODAK EKTAR H35 Half Frame Film Camera
3. SET THOSE GOALS – BIG & SMALL
Of course, you must set goals for the new year. Perhaps it may seem cliché, but it’s a popular practice for a reason. Plus, setting new goals can be exciting! It gives you the opportunity to feel optimistic and ambitious going into the year. So, after reflecting, look at the compartmentalized areas of your life to help guide your goal setting. Maybe you make one or a few goals in each area, along with some big overarching goals. Or maybe you pick a few areas to really focus on for the new year. Whatever the case, no goals are too big or too small! This is all about you, and if there’s something you want to accomplish –whether that’s spending 10 extra minutes outside every day or reaching a certain number of social media followers– then put it out there and work towards it!
4. CREATE A PAST YEAR “RESUME”
This is a super unique way to really round out your year, reflect on your life, and ultimately have another form documentation to look back on in the future. On a resume, you normally have sections like work experience, extracurriculars, skills, and a professional summary, depending on where you are in your career and the industry you’re in. For your past year resume, you can again use the compartmentalization technique to create sections, such as career/work experience, social life, and health and wellness. Under each category you choose, think of outstanding events and accomplishments. For instance, maybe you ran a half marathon; write the title, location, date, and a couple descriptive sentences about the experience. You can also add a “skills” section to put any skills you’ve developed or gotten better at. And don’t forget your “summary”; add a blurb about who you are, what you accomplished, and what you’re looking forward to. You’ll then have a document of the main things you did and accomplished, a little bit about them, and get a glimpse into how you’d summarize your year.
5. PREP YOUR DOCUMENTATION METHOD(S) FOR THE NEW YEAR
Going into the New Year, think about how you plan to document the next 365 days. Perhaps you enjoy journaling or taking pictures or scrapbooking. Whatever the case, you might consider planning it out, as you may need certain supplies or materials, especially if you’re trying something new. A planner, for instance, is a great tool to use and a suitable form a documentation; start setting it up by inputting outstanding dates, such as appointments and birthdays. If you enjoy bullet journaling, you can buy a new journal and markers, and start setting up spreads and entries. This is definitely something you’ll want to do before the new year.
RELATED: 13 Creative Ways to Document Your Life: Prepping for the New Year
6. CREATE A VISION AND MISSION BOARD
This is a classic: create a vision board. There are many ways you can go about this – find pictures online or in your camera roll, find quotes and texts, and anything else to really bring your vision for the new year to life. You can do this digitally or buy a board and use magazine cutouts and printed pictures – be creative! When making your board, really lean on your reflection and goals to guide your thinking in terms of what your vision for your life looks like.
Another thing you can add to your vision board is a mission statement for the new year. Perhaps there’s a certain attitude, perspective, set of values, or objective you’re entering the year with. Come up with a mission statement to bring this together, that you can then live by throughout the year. Doing this will help you to form a comprehensive and overarching frame of mind based on your hopes, goals, and values for the new year.
7. MAKE A BUCKET LIST
Yes, goals and resolutions are important. But don’t forget about the fun in your life and the things that bring you pure joy and excitement! Create a bucket list for the new year with both big and small things. Perhaps you’ve been really wanting to go on a trip to Asia – put it on there! Or maybe you’ve been dying to go on a sunset picnic or do a hike near your house. Put these things on your bucket list so you not only have a compiled list of the fun things you want to do, but so you’ll have them in writing and be more likely to work towards them and make time for them. And of course, you can always add to your bucket list as the year goes on!
RELATED: The Ultimate Holiday Bucket List for a Festive and Memorable Season
8. REFRESH YOUR SPACE
Refreshing your space is like a reset for the New Year. This could mean rearranging furniture, finishing a home project, painting the walls, hanging up some artwork, or updating your work-from-home office. But whatever the case, try to tidy up and do some deep cleaning. If you’re like me, you have things piled up and items from years ago that create clutter. Take the time to go through your space and clear out things you don’t need anymore – and be honest with yourself! If you haven’t touched that one item in three years, you probably won’t need it again. Alternatively, you may even come across some hidden gems that you forgot about! There are many pros to giving your space a refresh, and you’ll feel much more ready to go if you do this before the New Year.
Organization Book: The Home Edit: A Guide to Organizing and Realizing Your House Goals
Closet Hanger Organizer: Multifunctional Closet Hangers
Rotating Makeup Organizer: Masirs 360 Rotating Makeup Organizer
Dish Drying Rack: Roll Up Dish Drying Rack
Charging Cord Organizer: pzoz Cable Clips, 3 Pack Cord Organizer
9. UPDATE YOUR MORNING/NIGHT ROUTINE
Mornings and nights are generally YOU time, so what you do during this time can be really important! Depending on your goals and mission for the new year, you may want to update your morning and night routines. This includes everything from your wake-up time, what you eat for breakfast, and how you spend your time before work or school. Perhaps you’re wanting to improve your health and wellness more in the new year. For your morning routine, you might aim to wake up a little earlier, take a morning walk or do a workout class, and journal for a few minutes. For your night routine, maybe you adjust what you do in the hour before bed, update what time you aim to go to sleep, and find a hobby that brings you joy and relaxation. Whether you’re totally changing things up or just making a few tweaks, it never hurts to do a little routine update to better adjust to your current lifestyle and goals.
MAKE IT YOUR BEST YEAR YET!
Use some of these tips to help you prepare for an amazing, intentional year. Don’t be afraid to dream big and think up your ideal life! With some planning and hard work, you’ll have your best year yet.
