Preparing for the new year

The beginning of the new year always comes with high motivation to aspire to do a whole bunch of things. You are ready to set your New Year Resolutions for yourself & you’re determined to make this year the best.year.yet. But, most people give up on those goals by February. 

Why? Do you ever think about why? Why do most people give up on those goals? 

Are you someone who tends to give up by February?

The easiest answer is that you don’t have a plan to reach those goals. You set unrealistic expectations for yourself, get frustrated & give up just 1 month in. So, this creates a cycle. You start back at square 1 and completely neglect the goals you set for yourself.
Related: How to finally start achieving your goals, A step-by-step guide to getting your motivation back, What 2020 taught me

Here’s the thing, there’s a reason why you set those goals for yourself. There are some things that you really, REALLY want, but the process to getting there can be frustrating & discouraging. That’s why I wanted to write this post because I believe in you & I want to help guide you to being able to reach those goals this upcoming new year!

The reason why you aren’t reaching those goals is because you don’t have a PLAN. A plan that motivates you & encourages you to keep going, rather than giving up before you barely even get started. Now, things aren’t going to be perfect on January 1st. But, I like to see the beginning of things- beginning of the week/month/year as a fresh start. It’s the symbolic nature of it that I love. 

No matter what brought you to this post, I want to provide you with the information & the tools you need to get the most out of this upcoming year. I don’t want to be this upcoming year to be like the rest. This one is different because you are going to have the information you need to really make this the best.year.yet. We’re getting rid of the pressure & unrealistic expectations you put on yourself & developing a PLAN to make those goals of yours a reality.

You ready?! Let’s do this.

PIN NOW, READ LATER!

DON’T TRY TO “REINVENT YOURSELF”

One of the most popular New Year Resolutions that I hear people say going into the new year is that they want to “reinvent themselves”. Honestly, I was one of those people. I wanted everything to be perfect & do everything perfect because I didn’t think that who I was was good enough. It sounds weird to write that out & it might even seem weird to read that- but it’s essentially what that means. 

Now, that New Year Resolution has become one of my LEAST favorite things that someone can strive for in the upcoming year. When you tell yourself that you want to “reinvent yourself”, you are putting the pressure on yourself (maybe subconsciously) that you want to reach perfection. The thing about perfection is that there is no such thing as perfection. 
Related: Simple tips to have more confidence in yourself, Gaining confidence to be your true, authentic self

What even is “perfection”?

When you say that you want to “reinvent yourself”, you are telling yourself that you don’t like who you are & you want to change. That’s the problem & why you aren’t reaching your goals because you are already perfect. 

Society puts this image in our minds that there is one way to be and every single person needs to strive to be that. What that does is makes you THINK that you need to be something- SOMEONE that you’re not. It makes you think that all the things that make you who you are is WRONG & you need to be something different. 
Related: Breaking Free From Society & Creating A Life You Love, 8 ways you are probably holding yourself back without even realizing it

Rather than “reinvent yourself”, there’s another way to look at it. It’s called personal development. If you aren’t aware of what that means, I am so happy to explain it to you!

Personal development is when you focus on understanding yourself & loving yourself no matter what. It’s about continuing your personal growth & expanding on what makes you, you. It’s an amazing & powerful thing that I think everyone should prioritize for themselves. It’s not about changing who you are, but learning, accepting & loving every single part of you.

When you hear personal development, it’s things like:

• Journaling
• Meditation 
• Reading
• Prioritizing self care
• Anything that improves your love for yourself

So, rather than “reinventing yourself”, your focus should be on creating goals around what you really want in life. NOT trying to change who you are to fit into what society wants you to be. 

That’s what I hope to provide for you in this post & what I will walk you through. This post can honestly be life changing & eye opening for you!

DO A REFLECTION ON THIS PAST YEAR

So, now you know that you shouldn’t try to reinvent yourself, what kind of goals should you set? The next step is to do a reflection on how the past year went. This will give you an understanding of where you are & where you want to be. 

For this reflection, ask yourself:

• What went well this year?
• What did I accomplish?
• What did I learn?
• What didn’t go well this year?
• Why didn’t I reach the goals that I set for myself?
• What could I have done better?

Usually at the end of the year, most people are very unhappy with how they did with reaching their goals. By Spring, those goals set at the beginning of the year are nothing but a distant memory.

But, why? Why did you give up on those goals?

Sometimes, it becomes a cycle. You’ve already accepted failure before you even start. You know that you have big goals for yourself. But, subconsciously, you know that you’re going to give up on them, so we’ll try again next year.

But, if you REALLY want this upcoming year to be different, you have to do this reflection. You have to think about WHY. Why do you have those goals & why you have given up on them in the past? If you are really at the point where you are ready for a change & want this upcoming year to be different, you’ll really take the time to think about this
Related: Getting Over Extreme Burnout

What I want you to do is also pay close attention to the first three questions I asked you above:

• What went well this year? 
• What did you accomplish? 
• What did you learn?

It’s important to be able to understand what actually did go well this year because it puts things in perspective & shifts your mindset. Maybe you didn’t see the results that you were hoping to see, but there is ALWAYS a learning experience in EVERYTHING! 

Before you say, “But, Jessie, this year SUCKED. I didn’t learn anything.” I want to challenge you on this because it’s really important. 

Related: Adjusting Your Mindset When Bad Things Happen, How to improve your mindset

Take a step back & REALLY think about if that is true. Maybe sit down & journal if you need to. I just want to challenge you on this because I know that no matter what, there is a learning experience is everything!

Now…what did you LEARN this year?

REVIEW YOUR GOALS

So, we’ve done a reflection on how this past year went, let’s review your goals. I think this is important because it’s going to really break down what you are really wanting & longing for in life. Why do you want them?

Reviewing your goals is going to be helpful in understanding what you really want & is going to help with creating a plan of action moving forward. At the very beginning of this post, I mentioned that the reason why you haven’t been able to stick with your New Year Resolutions before is because you didn’t have a PLAN that will help you get there!

The things about goals is there is a right & a wrong way to approach them. I don’t mean that there is anything wrong with the goals that you set for yourself, but it’s how you approach them! If you are feeling lost or overwhelmed, not really sure where to start, make sure you get your hands on my FREE guide on 5 Tips For Crushing Your Goals. In this guide, I break down the top 5 strategies that will transform how you approach your goals! You can either CLICK HERE or fill out the form below & I will send you a copy! <3

Goals are great, but I understand how frustrating it can be when you don’t reach the goals that you set for yourself. I used to get really discouraged with goal setting because I always struggled to reach them & would get really frustrated with myself. It was disocuraging & frustrating because I didn’t understand why I was struggling so much to reach them.

Once I was able to figure out & implement the strategies I talk about in the guide, it completely changed my approach to goals! I no longer feel discouraged by goal setting, which is honestly an amazing feeling! I want you to have the same experience, which is why I put together this FREE guide with the tips for you. <3

DO AN AUDIT OF WHERE YOU ARE AT & WHERE YOU WANT TO BE

Doing an audit is kind of like a reflection. But, if you are really serious about making changes & approaching this upcoming year differently, you’ll go even more in depth with an audit! 

What is an audit? It’s sitting down & really dissecting where you are at in life in comparison to where you want to be. For an audit, sit down and ask yourself these questions:

• Where are you at in life?
• Are you happy with where you are in life?
• What do you wish was different?
• What can you do to make improvements?
• Where do you want to be?

So, you look at your goals and where you’re at in life right now. You really think about this. Take time to sit down, write about it, dissect it because it’s really important in creating a plan for moving forward.

DEVELOP A PLAN & A SYSTEM FOR REACHING THOSE GOALS

At this point, you should have already done your reflections & have a clear understanding of what your goals are. Now, what’s next? It’s time to start developing a plan for actually reaching those goals!

This is the exciting part but it is also where most people struggle when it comes to setting goals for the upcoming new year. Having a PLAN helps you get organized & have a clear vision of exactly what you are going to do. When I talk about making a plan, I mean one that doesn’t put pressure on you, but will motivate you to keep going & keep moving forward. 

What DOESN’T work:

Saying that on Jan. 1st, you are going to start doing things perfectly. That puts unnecessary pressure on yourself & you are more likely to give up.

What DOES work:

Starting NOW. Rather than waiting & going all in on Jan. 1st, you should be slowly making those changes so that by Jan. 1st, you are already working towards those goals. Having a plan breaks down the big vision that comes with the goal into smaller, actionable steps that you can start implementing TODAY. It’s not an “ALL IN” on Jan. 1st framework. It’s reasonable & more attainable.

If you don’t have a planner, or in the market for a planner that you LOVE, I have found the perfect one that I am absolutely OBSESSED with!

I also have an Ultimate Goal Setting & Planning guide to help you gain clarity of your goals and what you want to accomplish this year. Make sure you get your hands on this guide and use the Day Designer Planner to help you take your organization to the next level! You want to make sure you stay on top of your goals this year, right?! Take advantage of these AMAZING resources!

Throughout this guide, I have systematically broken down the process into easy-to-follow steps. We break down your long term goals- where you see your life long term- then we break it down to approaching it yearly/monthly/weekly/daily.

Breaking down your goals/vision for yourself & your life is going to make reaching the goal so much easier & more likely that you will stick when trying to reach the goal!

When you set a realistic & easy-to-follow plan for yourself, you are more likely to stick with approaching your goals! <3

IMPROVE YOUR RELATIONSHIP WITH YOURSELF

Here’s the thing- I can give you all the information you need to get the most out of life & this year, but you have to have a good relationship with yourself. 

What do I mean by that?

You have to believe in yourself & commit to doing the inner work you need to get to where you really want to be. You have the power within yourself to get to where you really want to be- trust me, you do. You absolutely have the capability to get there. But, you have to do the inner work & believe in yourself for any of this to work. 

The very first thing that needs to happen for things to fall into place for you, is you have to take care of yourself.  Taking care of yourself doesn’t just mean physically- but mentally. You have to commit to doing the work to dig deep within yourself to understand yourself better & believe in yourself. 

If you are reading that and saying- “but I don’t have time to do that!” Think about that for a second. If you’ve gone maybe YEARS without being able to get to where you want to be, how is that not wasting time? 

Seriously.

You can let the time pass or you can take action. The choice is up to you. No matter how busy you are- you have time. You can find time. It’s about being able to love yourself no matter what. If you aren’t ready to commit to the inner work necessary, things aren’t going to fall into place for you. You’ll stay exactly where you are.

Time is going to pass no matter what. You really have to think about where you could be a year from now if you started taking action today. Your life could be completely different & in a good way! But, it starts with YOU. It starts with choosing to do the work- getting up earlier/staying up later so that you can focus on getting in the work to love yourself. 

The choice is yours. 

You can stay where you are- where you really don’t want to be because you think you don’t have the time (when you really do, you’re just choosing not to) or you can choose to find the time to do what you need to do to improve the relationship with yourself so you can get to where you really want to be.
Related: 8 ways you are probably holding yourself back without even realizing it, How you can completely transform your life in just ONE YEAR

Make sure you choose wisely.

I’ll be here to support you when you’re ready. <3

I do offer 1:1 coaching and invite you to check out my opportunities if that is something that you would be interested in. Click here for more information on my 1:1 coaching opportunities! <3

>> click here to learn more about my secret life changing check in system
>> click here to download my Step-by-Step Guide to Handling Stress & Overwhelm
>> click here to download my Self Care Planning Worksheet
>> click here to download my 50 journal prompts for self reflection & self discovery

Xx,
Jess