8 Ways to Start the New Year Right

With so much advice coming at you on how to live your best life, accomplish more and be better, stronger, and more successful than last year, facing the new year can leave you wondering where to start. Here’s my best advice: Ditch the resolutions, and try these 8 ways to help you start the new year right, with a clear head and a lot less pressure. Take a deep breath and enjoy a simpler, less overwhelming approach to beginning 2020…

8 Ways to Start the New Year Right (Without Resolutions)

1. Start Where You Are Today

No resolutions? No worries! It’s a lot of pressure and a bit daunting to resolve to make enormous change in the new year while in the midst of a season of merrymaking and indulgence. Give yourself permission to take the next few weeks to decide on fresh intentions and goals. For now, choose what’s most important for you TODAY. Focus on the next 24 hours. Baby steps are good, and they mean positive change and progress.

2. Have a Cuppa

A fresh new calendar is full of opportunity and promise. It’s important, then, to give yourself the chance each day to be present for all the awesomeness in store. The morning ritual of enjoying a few quiet moments with your favorite hot tea or coffee in hand allows you the calm and the brain space you need to approach your day with purpose. Find a place to sit and be still for a few minutes. Between sips, breathe deeply – inhale confidence, exhale doubt. Focus only on whatever intention you have set for today. You are readying yourself to be amazing!

3. Stop Eating All the Yummy Things

‘Twas indeed a season of indulgence, as we’ve already mentioned…and rightfully so! But your body is in shock, and it needs a break from cheese and chocolate and champagne (at least for just a little while, friends!). It’s time to nourish yourself with lighter, more wholesome options and plenty of water. No need for hard and fast rules or diets if that’s not your thing. Today, simply commit to make healthful choices for yourself. Your body will thank you.

4. Eat a Frog

You know that icky task that has been on your to-do list for the last 6 (or 7, maybe even 8) weeks…that annoying one that keeps making its way onto your back burner no matter how much you try to avoid it? Just do it. Square yourself up to it and attack it with gusto. Eat that frog! In other words, do the hardest thing first. You’ll feel proud of yourself for finally crossing it off your list, and you’ll have more freedom as the year starts to do the things that matter most and make you smile.

5. Thank Someone

Honor the people in your life who lifted you up or helped you in some way last year with a simple, heartfelt thank you. I’m partial to the sincerity of a handwritten note, but a text or phone call to let them know you appreciate them works just as well. Be specific in highlighting what they did and how their help made you feel. Acknowledging their value in your life will lift them up, too, and this simple act of gratitude will help you count your blessings as you enter into a new season of big dreams and personal growth. Of all the 8 ways to start the new year right, this is perhaps the easiest, quickest, and best one you can do.

6. Learn Something New

What skills do you need to help you thrive in the coming months? What would make doing your job or living your daily life easier or more fun? New capabilities open doors of opportunity when you least expect them. They help build your resumé and boost your confidence, and can lead you to fun hobbies or equip you with knowledge to tackle your next project more handily. Up-leveling your personal tool kit is always a valuable, and hopefully enjoyable, way to invest in yourself.

7. Plan Something Fun

With all the holiday festivities in our rearview now, January can feel long and dreary. Put something on the calendar that you can look forward to in the weeks ahead. Organize a girls’ night in (or out), invite pals over for brunch, plan a date night with your sweetie or a rendezvous with your besties at barre or yoga, or attend a class that fuels your creativity. Choose to do whatever will energize you and fill your cup so that you can share your best self with others.

8. Give Yourself a Gift

Buy yourself something that will bring you joy this year. A refresh of your most used items can give you a positive outlook on your daily routines, especially if they’ve become boring or monotonous. A new water bottle or sneakers, for example, might make recommitting to your fitness plan a bit easier. Likewise, a beautiful calendar or planner can inspire more organized habits. Give yourself something that makes you happy and nudges you toward your own definition of success.