I personally love creating rituals around the new year. I know that there are a lot of people who don't feel this way which is totally fine but taking the time to reflect the past year and setting out goals for myself is seriously my jam. I mean, a new planner to me is basically the same as a bouquet of freshly sharpened pencils to Kathleen Kelly. My husband bought me a Desire Map Planner by Danielle LaPorte for Christmas and I cannot explain how excited I am about it. I do get why New Year’s is hard on a lot of people though - a lot of unrealistic goals get set, people are very vocal about their own big goals which can make your own feel small and most people only focus on what went wrong in the year before. This is not the way I want to start a fresh new year. Here are five things I do to celebrate New Year’s with gratitude and positivity:
Clean your space. I know this one is a bit clichè but honestly throwing out what you don't want in your home and wiping everything clean feels so good. I think it's important to wake up in a new year and be able to enjoy your space. If this seems really overwhelming to you I suggest using a 20-minute timer and seeing what you can get done in that time. Chances are you'll feel so productive you'll keep going.
Refect on the bad. This one can be a little emotional (or maybe you aren't overly emotional like me and don't spend NYE crying about something) because it can take you back to some dark places but I promise this step is important. Block out some time, sit in your favourite cozy spot and list out all the bad things that happened in the past year or for this year, the past decade. These can be small things or big. At the end of this list write down the emotions you want to leave behind you. Now comes the most important part - take that list, go outside and burn it. Watch all the bad things burn into ashes and feel relief to stop carrying around emotions that don't serve you anymore.
Reflect on the good. Whether you feel like the past year was good or bad, there is a lot of good to write down. When I write this list, a few of the items from my bad list end up on the good list because sometimes things have to crumble so you can rebuild your foundation. Some bad things happen so you can see the good in your life. Don't take any of this for granted. Think hard about this list. Again, these things can be tiny such as being able to have your favourite music at your fingertips at all times (thank you Spotify) or it can be big things such as being grateful for a health scare to help you take better care of yourself. Like you did with your bad list, make a list of emotions and feelings at the end of your list that you want to carry with you into the new year. Save this list so you can refer back to it throughout the year. *I don't want to dimish anyone's experiences here though, sometimes horrible things happen and there is no good in them at all. I'm sorry if one of those things has happened to you in the past year. *
Choose a mantra! This one is pretty self-explanatory but I love this part. After writing both my lists, I am able to see clearly what I want to feel or improve on in the next year. If you can't think of one you like, look up some quotes on Pinterest and find one that you really feel fits for your next year. Write it down and post it somewhere you will see every day. I write my mantra and tape it up in my closet so I see if every morning and every night.
Set realistic goals for things that you ACTUALLY want, and write down a step to help you achieve them. I don't believe in setting negative goals and by that, I mean setting goals to drastically change yourself. My heart hurts when I see a bunch of people posting their resolutions and that's all it is. I don't really like setting resolutions, but I LOVE setting goals for myself. I think a lot of people set goals they think they should set instead of ones they actually want to set, so really think about your personal goals and what they could do for your life. Under your goal, write an actionable item to make it easier to reach your goal. An example of this would be having a goal of reading more books in the new year and a small actionable item could be getting a library card and downloading the app so you can always have access to free reading materials.
I hope that doing these will help you feel lighter and ready for an incredible new year ahead.
XO,
Alyssa