- Clean Your Home
If you want to have a fresh start in 2016, you should have a fresh home. With a clean environment, you’ll be able to focus on yourself and your intentions for the year. You don’t want any cause to distract/help you to procrastinate.
2. Reflect on the Best and Worst times of 2015
By reflecting upon last year, you can decide which practices you have already done that you should continue, which practices to not continue, and which practices to improve on. The best thing that happened to me in 2015 was that I moved to Wyoming with my boyfriend Tim. I moved for a promotion, so I am generally financially stable. The job I moved to allows me to take two months off a year, so I have time to mentally detoxify and travel / catch up with friends & family. The move away from home has helped my relationship with Tim. Not that we were ever in a bad place, but I moved to such a small town that there are no distractions, only us and nature. We continue to grow with each other each day, understanding our likes, dislikes, preferences, goals and aspirations. By moving out of my home town, I have adapted to different environments and people. Moving away from my comfort zone has helped me hone into who I am and what I want from life. I don’t believe I had a “worst” moment, but that may be because I’m stupidly optimistic. Even when life didn’t go my way, I found every experience as a learning opportunity.
3. Become a minimalist
The trend to minimize has been growing for a great reason. With the growth of technology has come an increase in obtaining materialistic things due to the ease of it all being a click away. Marketing no longer comes from just physical ads, television commercials and radio snip-its. The push to buy goes through your emails, social media sites, texts, apps, etc. – all things most people use daily. Fight the urge to buy the newest and greatest things and ask yourself if you ACTUALLY really need it or how much will it prove your life/happiness. Mindfulness is a hard skill to learn. As 2015 has come and gone, we have probably collected some clutter. Clear it out! Remember that Forever 21 dress you bought 4 years ago on sale for $10? Yeaaah, those aren’t meant to last that long. Donate excess clutter. This all goes back to starting the new year with a clear mind.
4. Set intentions
What do you want to accomplish in 2016? What short term goals do you want to perfect? What long term goals do you want to start chiseling away at? Write it down with a pen and paper! Don’t type it down in an electronic format because it is too easy to delete/alter. Writing down your intentions helps create a clear direction and gives you a sense of personal accountability.
My personal short-term intentions:
- Write a blog (this is a great start!) // Inspired by the website Bloglovin
- Sell my crocheted infinity scarves online
- Volunteer more
- Practice yoga daily – no excuses
- Have a full date day with Tim once a month
My personal long-term aspirations:
- Get a dog (lease-dependent)
- Learn Spanish
- Learn to sew my own clothes
- Guide my career towards working for a business that aids to a greater cause
The reason why I call these dreams “intentions” rather than “goals” is because I don’t want the added stress of feeling like a failure if I don’t accomplish the discussed actions. I don’t want to feel like NOT accomplishing these things would make my life less-valuable. I am already happy with my life, but these intentions should help me to continue growing and learning.
What are your intentions for 2016?
