New Year Resolutions

Start With The Right Mindset

I understand New Year’s resolutions have become a topic of debate over the past few years. Many have come to believe that resolutions set us up for failure. Which studies show that 80 percent of people fail their ambitious New Year Resolutions by February. The problem with people’s mindset when it comes to setting up ambitious goals is they don’t know how to start small and our commitments become wishy-washy promises that are not meant for the long term. The reality is most things that we want to change have to become gradual habits over time. And the only way we are going to overcome our failures is with patience and resilience.

My New Favorite Way to Celebrate NYE

New Year’s has become a sacred time for me to reflect and set out new resolutions for the new year. I have had my successes and I have had my “failures”. However, the failures are the goals I still work towards in the next year. Using New Year’s Eve as a time to remember what I set out to do in 2019 and how I can do better in 2020 has become a favorite tradition of mine. I have goals that I am going after every time of year but with the new year excitement in the air, I always try to focus on things that have been put on the backburner and try to adopt new habits that will simplify and amplify my lifestyle.

My Reflections: Where I Went Wrong, My Successes, and Where to Start Next Year

For the past three years, I have really been serious about changing my healthy habits for a more sustainable and happy lifestyle. In 2017 I committed to working out and being active more consistently. And I also started transitioning my diet by eliminating lots of unhealthy foods that I was frequently eating. Such as Starbucks coffee, fast food, processed food, dairy, and food with lots of processed sugar. In 2018 I decided to do a dry January and wound up cutting out alcohol except for on rare occasions that were a cause for celebrations. I also became a vegetarian. These habits that I followed the entire year led me to lose a lot of weight, going from a size 8 to a size 2. For 2019 I became vegan and started focusing on my waste habits and eliminating huge contributing factors. I started shopping at my local farmer’s markets and grew my own garden for the first time in an effort to reduce my environmental impact.

Prioritize Your Goals

I have made a lot of progress. But there is always room for growth with more new goals to go after. It is important to remember as you set out goals for your self that you will have goals that take longer than a year to accomplish. So don’t get discouraged. The only way to make progress to change your life is by visualizing your goals (and how to conquer them). And start prioritizing the goals that are most important to you. Number your goals with the first one being of greatest importance. Once you set out and conquer the first one on your list you can move on to the next goal. The key is to not burn yourself out by trying to accomplish them all at once. If you do the most important goals first you will lift the greatest weight off your mind. And build up opportunities that make your other goals fall into line more easily. Then layout the steps you need to accomplish each one.

Create A Vision Board

I highly recommend using NYE to create a vision board. I have done this for the past 3 years and it has been a game-changer. This year I was looking at the vision board I laid out last year. And I realized I hadn’t accomplished any of my big dreams on that board. But as I looked back at the year I started noticing the challenges I faced. And how they have forced me to grow and push forward in the right direction. It is not as though I forgot about these dreams. They were things I fought towards every day. Even though I did not accomplish them within a year. I still feel I am following the right journey that will allow me to check off my biggest dreams.

What I Am Working On In 2020

I was even able to cross off one of my goals before 2019 is over by booking a trip to Charleston. A trip I have been dreaming to take the past couple of years and now I am finally doing it. I have always been a big dreamer. Especially when it comes to travel. That is why I started this blog. So I could share how to accomplish the biggest travel dreams by living a simple lifestyle. I also hope that one day this blog produces more travel opportunities that allow me to live my dream as a digital nomad sharing my tips for simple living that helped me start living my life to the fullest. This is one of my biggest dreams. And I am getting serious about this dream for 2020. My manta this year is yes, let’s go.Nothing is holding me back. And nothing is holding you back. We all have to start somewhere. And if you want to start seeing your life change for the better it is going to require a lot of sacrifices, patience, and hustle. But remember you are a badass and you have the power to do anything you set your heart out to do. Now breath those dreams to life because 2020 is going to be a big year for you. I guarantee it.

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