AMY HANSEN

In order to achieve your goals in the new year, you usually need more time, money, or resources.  Finding ways to acquire more of that will be one of the biggest things you can do to help you make progress and actually achieve your goals this year.

Time

You have 24 hours in a day.  How you use that time is what’s important.  A third of that time is usually spent sleeping.  You need to get an adequate amount of sleep each night so that you don’t wake up groggy.  Set aside time to sleep so that you can rest and recharge.  You want to have a clear mind and enough energy to take action towards your goals.  Sleep is super important so don’t short change the amount of sleep you’re getting just to try and have extra time to work on your goals.  Instead, focus on the other remaining time you have to fill.  This time is filled with some tasks related to achieving your goals, daily routines, good or bad habits, hygiene, and other non-goal related tasks.  If you need more time to achieve ...

To start the new year, take inventory of your life by completing a life assessment.  This will help you get clear on where you are and what you want to work on this year.

Assessment

Complete an assessment of where you currently are in your life by rating 7 areas of your life on a scale of 0 unhappy, needs work to 10 happy, completely fulfilled in this area.  These 7 areas will be detailed below.  Then, choose one area that you want to work on in the new year.  There will be ideas about how you can improve each area of your life in the descriptions of each area below.  Let’s get started!

Environment

Your environment is your surroundings to include your house, car, office or workspace, etc.  You spend a lot of time here.  If you want to improve this area of your life in the new year, you might decide to redecorate, remodel, move, clean, organize, get something new that brightens your space and makes you happy.

Mental Wellbeing

Your mental wellbeing is all about your min...

It’s the first day of the new year.  This is page one of the next chapter of your life.  Think about how you want this chapter to go, what you want to do, see, feel, experience, etc.  If you could write your next chapter word for word, what would that entail?  Maybe you feel like your previous chapter isn’t quite done being written yet.  Or, perhaps you’re ready to start a fresh new page.  Either way, this is the beginning of your next chapter.

Hero

In writing stories, there is often times a hero.  You get to be the hero in your own story.  Consider how you can be brave and courageous this year.  Maybe that’s stepping outside your comfort zone more often and trying new things.  Perhaps that’s standing up for yourself, setting boundaries, and saying no when you would have otherwise said yes to adding more to your already full plate.  Think about how you can take care of your mental, physical, and emotional wellbeing this year.  This is the hero’s journey.  Get ready to write abo...

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...