AMY HANSEN

The new year is approaching quickly and if you want to change your life, you can start with just one small gift to yourself.  Give it some careful consideration as to what will help you most in the new year.  Whether it’s an item you are in desperate need of, a splurge purchase you’ve been eyeing for a while, or something a lot more realistic.  Think about what you are in need of the most that would go the furthest for you in the new year.  Here are few main areas of focus to help you choose a gift to change your life.

Self Care

Taking time to rest allows you rejuvenate your energy so that you can go after your goals.  Sometimes you feel so depleted, worn out, tired, and exhausted that you just need to recharge your batteries.  Doing something just for you, that makes you feel good and takes care of yourself will help you feel more motivated to go after your goals in the new year.  Maybe this is using an infrared sauna, red light therapy, getting a massage, using a mediation ap...

It is the last month of the year which is a perfect time to reflect on the progress you’ve made towards your goals.  Maybe you’ve achieved your goal this year or perhaps you’re not quite where you want to be.  Perhaps you had an action plan to achieve your goals this year or maybe you didn’t.  You may have hit a few small milestones or even experienced some major setbacks along the way.  In any case, determining what worked and what didn’t work this year is going to help set you up for success in the new year.  Learn how to create a new year action plan driven by the things that will actually help you make progress towards your goals.

What Worked

First, determine what worked this year.  Maybe that was making a to do list, using your planner to keep track of tasks, getting up earlier, meal planning, limiting time on social media, etc.  Figure out what actually moved the needle towards helping you achieve your goals this year.  Perhaps that was taking a break or time out for self...

 This will give you a clear picture of what you want your life to look and feel like in the new year.  Visualization is almost like having a crystal ball and getting a glimpse into the future.  The future version of you is awaiting.  It’s time to see what exactly that looks like for you. 

Visualize

One of the best ways to visualize the future version of you is through a deep meditation.  Find a quiet place to relax.  Sit down in a chair or cross legged on the floor.  Place one hand on your heart and the other on your stomach.  Close your eyes and take a few deep breaths to center yourself.  Then, imagine yourself in your favorite place in nature.  Look around, take in what you see, smell, hear, and ground your feet.  Off in the distance, you see someone walking towards you, illuminated by a bright light.  You realize this you, but only in the future.  Gather information about your future self.  See the expression on your face, your body stance, and feel the overall energy emitt...

As the year comes to an end, it’s important to reflect on where you were, where you are, and where you want to be in the new year.  Take a year end assessment to celebrate your success this year and figure out where you currently are.  Then, you can dream big on where you want to be in the new year and determine what it’s going to take in order to get there.  This year end assessment will give you so much clarity for the new year.

Where You Were

Think back to the start of this year.  Maybe you need to go back to your camera roll, check your planner, or calendar to jog your memory.  Remember where you were, what you were doing, who you were with, what goals you had on your mind, and plans you wanted to achieve.  Try and recall your headspace.  How your mindset was, what you were thinking, and feeling at the beginning of this year.  Perhaps you were struggling or it could be you started the year off with a high.  Rewind the tape to the first quarter of this year and consider wher...

This time of year, it’s easy to get swept up in the busyness of the holidays.  But, that’s why this week is an important reminder to reflect on what you’re most thankful for.  Taking time to acknowledge what you’re thankful for reminds you of the good things in your life.  In fact, you can even have gratitude and appreciation for the challenges you’ve experienced.

Challenges

Often, the challenges in life provide the most lessons to learn.  If life were always easy, you wouldn’t have much to think about, contemplate, be scared of, or even worry about.  But, challenges are opportunities to try a new perspective.  Challenging who you are, what you think, and believe.  Reflect over your challenges this past year and what lessons you’ve learned.  These challenges are something to be thankful for because without a challenge, life would be rather boring.  Challenges have helped you become who you are today and that is definitely something to be thankful for.

Memorable Moments

Nex...

Being happy every single moment of each day is not realistic.  Your mood ebbs and flows.  There are things that make you smile, giggle, mad, sad, cry, or frustrate you.  But, focusing on the good things in life, where the light is brightest, makes you feel good.  Focusing on the negative moments, the ones with the dark cloud, the anxiety and stress riddled times are only accumulating more unhappiness in your life.  Of course, you will go through difficult times.  But, looking for the light, the little moments of joy, is where you can feel lighter and happier.  You can’t rely on anyone else to make you happy.  You have to find happiness in life on your own.

Unhappy Things

Think about what’s making you unhappy right now.  Maybe there is something stressful going on in your life that you’re unsure or uncertain of.  Perhaps it’s someone or something that’s causing you undue stress and anxiety.  It could be putting a certain amount of pressure on yourself to excel or exceed an excep...

Sometimes you feel uninspired and unmotivated to work towards your goals.  It’s easier to just do nothing and let time pass by.  You opt to do anything else, procrastinating, rather than doing the difficult work to achieve your goals.  But, this isn’t helping you make progress or move the needle towards achieving your goals.  You’re just coasting through life with a lack of inspiration.  It’s time to find your inspiration again.

Life Stories

One way to find inspiration is through someone else’s inspiring story.  You can watch a documentary, read an autobiography, or follow someone on social media who inspires you.  Discover an inspiring story of someone who overcame struggles and challenges to achieve something great.  Learn what it took to get them to where they are today.  Seeing what other people have achieved and gone through in order to get there is inspiring.  It’s also proof that you’re not alone in this journey.

Mentor

It’s not always easy to achieve your goals.  B...

Sometimes you get stuck on autopilot.  Doing what you’ve always done for so long.  It’s routine and second nature.  You don’t have to give it much thought.  But, you’re essentially just floating through life.  You’re not present to what’s going on around you.  Nor are you dreaming about what amazing future possibilities your life could have.  You’re just content where you currently are.  However, this mindset is keeping you stuck.  It’s holding you back from living life to the fullest.  It's time to get yourself unstuck and get out of autopilot.

Acknowledge

The first step in getting out of autopilot is to recognize when you’ve been operating in that gear.  Take a good hard look at your life and ask yourself if you’ve just been coasting or if you’re learning, growing, and progressing each day.  If you’ve been living in the fog or with your head up in the clouds then it’s time to check back in.  Take an inventory of what you’ve been doing.  If you’re seeing more of the same habit...

You might be feeling stuck in your life where life is just passing you by.  You’re floating through the days, just going through the motions of your daily mundane routine.  You’ve lost that spark of excitement for life.  Maybe you’ve had a goal that you’ve been working towards and you’re lacking progress so it’s been unintentionally moved to the back burner.  You’re just not quite sure what to do at this point.  You know you’re meant for more and hate feeling a bit lost in life.  It’s time to reignite your passion for life again.

Learning & Growth

Life is all about learning, growing, and progressing.  If you’re not making progress and seeing results then you’re simply just stuck.  Choose a new book to read that will inspire you or teach you something.  Take a class, whether online or in person to increase your knowledge.  Discover a new mentor, learn a skill, start a hobby, etc.  Perhaps it’s being artistic, creative, or in nature.  Find ways you can learn and grow in order to ...

There are only so many things you can control in life.  One of those things is how you respond.  You can’t control the future, outcomes, or even how other people react.  You are in control of you.  You get to choose how you respond and live your life.  It’s not up to anyone else but you.  It’s what you do on a daily basis with your actions that makes the difference in living the life of your dreams.  Take a look at how you are controlling the game of life.

The Game

Sometimes you find yourself on the sidelines of life.  You’re just watching everyone else play the game.  You see others get hurt, stumble, fall down, win, lose, cry, scream, yell, shout, smile, and laugh.  But, they are in the game.  They are going after their goals and dreams no matter.  Sure, they may be afraid but they are facing their fear and doing it anyway.  They are playing the game and you need to get out there on the field too!

Facing Fear

One of the biggest things that keeps you on the sidelines of l...