New year, new me, right? After the year we’ve just had, I’m sure many of you don’t know where to start with the new year. What’s in store for us? Why bother planning anything? It’s all unknown! So today I want to talk about how to live your best life. Not just for this year, but any year!
Plan
The best way to achieve any of your goals is to write them down. To ramp it up a little more, you write down how you plan on achieving them. I like to break my goals up into four different categories: Yearly, monthly, weekly, and daily. Then I start planning them out on calendars and planner. I love to use a desk calendar for broad-spectrum planning, and my Happiness Planner for daily and weekly planning.
Be present
How many times have you been in the middle of a conversation with a friend and they start checking their phone? I’m going to assume most of you have. How did it make you feel? Now, how many times have you been the one on your phone? We’re all guilty of it! We live in an age where we’re accessible 24/7. To make the most out of this year, you need to put your phone down! Here are some examples of when you should put it away.
- When you’re out to dinner with friends. Especially if it’s a one on one thing.
- At concerts. Listen, I know that you want to keep those memories and share how much fun you’re having, but you’ve just wasted so much money if all you’re going to do is stand there watching the show through the screen of your phone. Also, no one wants to see the footage of you scream singing over the artist hahaha.
- When you’re working. The days where I don’t pick up my phone are the days I get an incredible amount of stuff done.
Stop sabotaging yourself
We all do it. I’ll be the first to admit that I still do it sometimes. We all have those moments where we think “I shouldn’t” but you do it anyway! Self sabotage can manifest in many ways:
- Staying up late
- Having “one more drink”
- Saying “let’s see how long this lasts” when starting a new good habit
- Limiting beliefs
- “One more episode”
- “Five more minutes of sleep”
This year, start thinking about the bigger picture. When these thoughts creep in, ask yourself if it aligns with your goals. How will it affect your goals? Would those extra five minutes in the morning help you get to work on time? Could you use that time to get closer to your goal? This is the year you stop getting in the way of your own progress!
Take responsibility for yourself
Responsibility is a great thing to own up to, but many of us don’t take ownership of our own emotions and actions. How many times have you said, “This person did XYZ to me and now I don’t trust anyone”? Here’s what I’ve learned in therapy: You are not accountable for other people’s actions, however, you ARE accountable for how you deal and heal.
This also applies to achieving your goals. How many of you tried something once, failed, and gave up? Many of us fail at things and then play the “poor me” card.
To make the most out of this year, you need to stop blaming others and put your energy into healing from traumas, pushing past your limiting beliefs, and stopping toxic behaviours.
Practice self-care
This year we practice self-care. We live in a society where, for some reason, burnout is celebrated. It signifies “hard work”. I think it’s wrong. A person cannot be healthy and happy while also being burnt out. This year we focus on a healthy balance of work and life. Self-care doesn’t always look like overindulging or face masks, it’s anything that sparks joy. Whether that’s reading, watching your favourite show, putting on a face mask, taking a walk, cooking dinner, crafting, phone calls with loved ones. Whatever fills your cup, make time for it. You work hard, you are worthy of time for yourself!
Find the positivity
A lot of us struggle with finding the positive out of situations, especially since we’ve just made it through 2020! What a shit show, right? But I’ve found that since I started finding positives out of negatives, my mentality changed. I started looking for lessons, I wasn’t dwelling on the crappy things I can’t change. I wasn’t as defeated. It’s not to say that you’re never allowed to feel upset, you totally can. It’s just that you don’t stay in that feeling. You don’t let it jade you or ruin your perspective on things. For more help with staying positive, click here to read my post on the positivity!
Support others
Too often you see others tear each other down, and for what? To make yourself feel better? It actually has the opposite effect. Have you ever heard the saying “The energy you put out into the world is the energy you get back”? If you put energy into building others up, that comes back to you! Supporting other creates community. Communities help each other grow and are a great support system. Having a great support system helps you pursue your own goals.
Stop the comparison game
This is the year we stop comparing ourselves to others. They are not us and we are not them. We all have things that make us different and wonderful in our own ways. There’s isn’t one way to look, there isn’t one way to act, there isn’t one life path we all need to follow. That’s the beautiful thing about life! We’re all meant to go through our own journey. Can you imagine how boring life would be if we all did things on the same timeline? Yuck! This year we learn to stay in our own lanes. Do we support others? Of course! But does that mean their path is our path? Absolutely not! Keep your head down, write down your goals, keep them quiet, and work towards them!
Be comfortable with yourself
This might be the most important one. You cannot be anyone but yourself. You can try, but let’s face it, it’s not sustainable. This year is when you learn to love yourself for who you are, for what makes you stand out. Like what you like, be confident in your beliefs and thoughts, wear whatever you want to wear! So many people live with regret because they didn’t do the things they wanted to just because they were worried about what other people would think. I’m here to tell you that NO ONE is thinking about you as much as you think about you. It might sound harsh, but it’s true. We’re all just wandering this earth trying to figure out what is meant for us. We’re all too focused on ourselves. So go follow that dream, love that person, wear that outfit! Do it with confidence and pride!
I hope you found this post helpful and you learned how to live your best life, no matter what life throws at you! If you’re looking to get more organized and set your goals, use the signup box below to receive your free New Year, Better Me planner! What’s one thing from this list that you’re going to adopt this year? Let me know in the comments!
xo Little J
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