Gearing up for the start of a New Year is oddly enough, one of my most favorite times of the year. It’s a chance to reevaluate and reset. For me, it’s like opening all the windows of your house and letting that first day of fresh spring air flush out all the staleness from the winter months and quite literally breathe fresh life into your home. I love it.
The end of December always has me craving that fresh air – maybe it’s all those Christmas cookies or the fact that I’m still finding wrapping paper in the couches that throws me over the edge. But whatever spurs the desire for change – I’ll take it!
I love the process of thinking about what went well, what didn’t, and what needs to be addressed when mulling over the past year. Being mindful and intentional is something I am constantly working on, so the practice of making resolutions/promises/challenges whatever you want to call them to better yourself, FOR YOURSELF, and those around you, is extremely valuable.
I like to think of my “resolutions” as challenges, and like last year, they address the three main areas of our wellbeing: Mind. Body. Soul.
I don’t have anything overly extravagant, just improving upon what I put in place the year before and adding a couple of work and family related goals to aim for over the next year as well, and hey, maybe a tattoo.
Generally speaking, this is what it looks like for me:
Mind– managing stress, focusing on self-care, staying organized, not caring so much about making things “perfect”
Body – internal and external detoxes, regular physical exercise, clean recipes, getting more sleep
Soul– make time to do what makes me feel alive and fuels my soul, maintaining and developing healthy relationships, consistent prayer time, go on more adventures
While these are the areas I want to focus on, the idea is to sit down each evening or at the start of each week and think about what I can do the following day/or week to accomplish something in each of these categories. If it sounds like a lot, it shouldn’t be! The idea is to break down a larger goal into bite size chunks for you to easily accomplish and build on over the next year.
For instance, one of my focuses this year to support my MIND is to manage stress better – but how? What does “manage stress better” look like in real life? There are so many ways, and if I get overwhelmed with the options, guess what? I move on and forget for a while.
If we are constantly revisiting our resolutions/challenges/promises, etc., we become more familiar and vested in them. So for fun let’s break down “manage stress” into different tangible things you can do each day. Monday – get up 10 min early and drink coffee by yourself, Tuesday – make an essential oil rollerball that supports your emotional wellbeing and helps bust stress, Wednesday – call your out of state friend, Thursday – schedule a massage *gasp*! Friday – end the day with a hot bath (add essential oils to help you relax). You get the idea…
I’d love to hear what your resolutions are for 2019! I’ll be sharing more here and on Instagram about mine over the coming weeks/months. I’d love for you to follow along, or if you’re feeling up to it, to join me! I am including a little guide you can DOWNLOAD that will help keep things on track.
Happy New Year friends!
xo Jess
2019 New Years Resolution Printable
