The new year is right around the corner — just 21 days away! It’s a time to start fresh and get motivated to achieve new goals.
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When I think of the new year, I think of having a clean slate; everything is perfect and there’s no mistakes. (Me on January 1st: “I haven’t eaten any junk food…ALL YEAR!”) So in anticipation for the new year, I like to really clean up everything I can so my new year is as fresh as possible. Here’s 7 ways to prepare for the new year:
1. Purge your closet
Take everything out of your closet and separate everything into “keep” and “give away” or “to sell” piles. Donate everything you’ve set aside to give away. For everything you plan on keeping, hang them back up in your closet with the hanger hooks faced backwards. Then as you wear an item throughout the year, hang it back up with the hanger facing the correct way – at the end of next year, you’ll be able to look and see what you haven’t worn that entire year. If you haven’t worn it in a year, it might be time to get rid of it. I went through my closet yesterday and there’s so much I haven’t worn — I’ll be donating a lot, but also selling a few things on eBay; check them out!
2. Handle any outstanding issues
You definitely don’t want to carry over any unfinished business into 2017 with you, so take care of any nagging issues — car service, dentist appointments, or home repairs. You’ll feel so much better if you just knock out those annoying little issues that you may have been putting off. Make a point to clear things up and to handle new issues as they come so that you’re on top of everything. *Scheduling my dentist appointment now*.
3. Declutter
This one is easily overlooked, but decluttering is more than just cleaning. It’s really looking at things you’ve gotten used to around the house and getting rid of things that you don’t need and that don’t bring joy to your life. When we moved, we decided that we weren’t going to buy anything that we didn’t absolutely love and that if we had things that didn’t give us energy/make us happy then we were purging it. Really look at what you have and decide if that item belongs in your house anymore. Do you really *love* all of the phone cases you have? If not, consider donating them. Do you really *need* that stack of old beauty magazines? When was the last time you looked at them? You may see these items everyday and it seems like they just belong there, but they aren’t serving a purpose if you don’t use it or love it.
4. Get a new planner + set new goals
I love getting a new planner each year. It’s so great to just start fresh on clean pages and map out your week. I will be using the Erin Condren Life Planner for 2017; I’ve already got it ready to go. I like to create some goals for the new year and just write them in the front of my planner. It is so fun for me to look back and see where I wrote down a goal and I’ve achieved it! Just writing out a plan makes it easier to reach those goals. You’ve got to visualize and actualize! See my post on Why You Need A Paper Planner.
5. Create a budget
Everyone needs a budget; it’s seriously so important. If you aren’t in charge of your money, you’re basically out of control. Living your best life and having your best year starts with a plan. So give your money a plan at the beginning of each month — assign each dollar to whatever bills you have and see what you have left over. Then decide where that remaining money goes — savings, date nights, vacation? If you have any debt — car payments, credit cards, student loans — that’s where your extra money should go. We followed the baby steps from Dave Ramsey and paid off our cars and student loans this year! Of course it takes discipline but being in control of your money will set you up for the best year and best future you can have.
6. Purge your phone
I like to go through my phone and really just clean everything up periodically. Deleting apps that I never use, deleting contacts of people I haven’t talked to in years or don’t care to keep in my life anymore, and trashing photos that I’ve already imported or that aren’t very good pictures to begin with. It frees up a little space and makes it faster to navigate to what I really want on my phone. Take a look at my Top 10 Favorite Apps of 2016!
7. Be grateful
I am making a concerted effort to focus on only the positive and awesome things going on in my life. It can be easy to take for granted the many blessings in your life, and only focus on “what needs fixing” or “what could be better”. It’s ok to want better for your life and work towards that, but don’t lose sight of what you have right now. I’m writing down one thing I’m grateful for each day in my planner. It doesn’t need to be anything huge either — today I am grateful for my family. Simple as that!
They say it takes 21 days to make a habit and that’s exactly how many days we have left this year, so if you really want that fresh start you have to prepare now. I hope these ideas were helpful for you! Let me know what you are planning to accomplish before the end of the year!
