by Traci Brosman
I love January because it is the time of year that you get to hit the restart button. It is also the perfect time to switch your focus from being all about others and their well-being to focus on improving your well-being.
The previous year is over and it is a great time to reflect on what went well in your life over the past year and what didn’t. Take the time to do a little journaling. Write down all of the things that no longer serve you and that you would like to remove from your life. Then on a separate sheet of paper write down all of the ways to improve your life over the next year and how you envision acting on them.
I have been doing this at the beginning of each New Year for as long as I can remember and it is a lot of fun. It allows you to concentrate on you and what you want and do not want in your life it gives you a great opportunity to shed all of the activities that do not serve you and replace them with positive habits that will help you become the person you really want to be.
When you have completed both lists, take the first one and re-read everything you want to remove as if it is a year later and you were successful in removing these things from your life. Then have fun and burn this list. This is the final step in showing yourself and the universe that you are truly ready to hit the reset button and begin anew. Fire is very cleansing and it provides the opportunity for renewal and rebirth.
Then re-read how you want your life to be as if it is the end of 2017 and you were 100% successful in all of the ways you wanted to improve your life. You may want to even rewrite this so everything is in present tense and read it every morning upon wakening. When I added this last step to my New Year’s ritual it put everything on overdrive. This vision statement keeps you dedicated on what you want in your life and you begin to take more steps that allow you to achieve your dreams.
Be proud of the person looking back at you in the mirror by taking care of yourself this year. Make this year your year for well-being!