Cheers To A New Year And A New You

“New year, new me” is a phrase that has been used for many years in preparation for January 1. In preparation for a new year, the world is always busy making new resolutions in relation to fitness, finances, spirituality, relationships, travel, and so much more. Sadly, just as often as I see people posting and talking about their New Year’s resolutions and plans, I see people mocking and belittling the act of setting resolutions.

I encourage you to make grand plans for the new year.

I implore you to write down all the things you believe and share them if you desire to.

I dare you to stop worrying about naysayers that don’t believe in the power of reinvention.

I challenge you to see January 1s as a clean slate, because that is exactly what it is.

We are walking into a new year, a new decade, and you are allowed to be a new you, no matter what anyone has to say about it.

Not sure where to start with setting your goals for 2020?

1. Examine your current life.

I have spent the month of December examining my life. I have been cleaning my physical, mental, and spiritual spaces. While I am cleaning out my closets, reviewing my journals from the year, reviewing my goals that I set for 2019, and checking off prayers answered, I have been looking at areas of my life that are not going the way that I would like. I then align those areas with what my future life looks like. This is how I create my resolutions for the new year.

Example: My credit score is not where I would like it to be. My future self plans to own a home and make some profitable investments in the next five years. With this in mind, one resolution of mine for 2020 is to pay off all credit card debt.

2. Write the vision. Make it plain.

There is such power in writing things down. You are literally creating something tangible from what was once only a thought. A year is a long time, and sometimes we get caught up in the day to day of our lives and we forget the bigger picture. We forget those resolutions we made at the beginning of the year. Write those goals down. You can write them down in the form of a vision board, in your journal, on post it notes on your wall, on index cards, or in the Notes app in your phone—make those thoughts into a tangible thing that you can go back and reflect on throughout the year.

3. Give yourself some grace.

One major fault that is often found with New Years resolutions is the lack of longevity in the commitment. I have a secret for you. We are not perfect. What tends to happen is that we make a resolution and the first time we miss a workout or splurge instead of paying a credit card off, we become discouraged and decide that we may as well give it up because we’ve failed ourselves. I implore you to give yourself some grace. Go into the year knowing that you are not perfect and having an off day, week, or even month does not mean that you cannot reach your goal.

I don’t care what social media tells you, I hope you turn over a new leaf in 2020. I hope you “new year, new me” your way into more happiness and more life.

Cheers to a new year and a new you.