6 Things to Kickstart Your New Year

As the year draws to a close, it’s time to reflect. Have you honed your skills? Boosted your energy levels? Surrounded yourself with people who inspire and motivate you? If you answered ‘yes’ to all these questions, congratulations, your year has been more productive than mine. If not, don’t worry. The new year is a perfect opportunity to ignite your inspiration, declutter your life, enhance your personal and professional growth, and embrace the happiness you deserve.

Create Your Stop List

Most people write resolutions, promises, or goal charts. However, it’s more beneficial to create a list of things you will no longer participate in. Jot down harmful habits, time-wasters, and unhealthy activities that you currently engage in. Free up time for an interesting and productive creative life.

As a first item on this list, stop making excuses for things you can’t control. Stop seeing yourself as a victim of circumstances. Don’t waste your precious mind and potential on mindless phone games. Stop complaining and thank the universe for the gifts it gives you. Stop reading the news and replace that time with reading a useful book—just half an hour a day. This will improve your memory, develop your speech, and boost your creativity—all positives.

Write Your Superhero Book

Great Hollywood screenwriters write the endings first. You can do the same. Write in your journal the life scenario you want to unfold in the coming year. Specify your intentions and aspirations. Vague plans yield vague results, but don’t overthink it to avoid harmful thoughts and concerns about others’ opinions.

Forgive Those You Haven’t Forgiven

What drains your inner fire are the people who have hurt you and whose burden you continue to carry. A precious skill for a happy life is learning to let go. It sounds simple, but it’s clearly not, and it’s important to spend some time on this in the new year.

Just weigh the value of your future days against those long gone. Move forward. And if the person who disappointed you could have done better, they would have.

Recalibrate Your Life

You can’t become a legendary person if you don’t take care of your longevity; you won’t be a great leader if you fall ill; you won’t create a masterpiece if you’re not at your best. Starting today—and especially in the new year—make sure to eat more natural ingredients, drink more water, and get enough exercise. Don’t miss opportunities to soak up the sun, breathe fresh air, and get a good night’s sleep!

Make Friends Among Colleagues

It may sound unexpected, and many might say it’s unwise to befriend colleagues, as it could compromise your objectivity and complicate some discussions. However, psychologist Annie McKee conducted a study in 500 companies and found that if you like the people you work with, you have more reasons to go to work every day. The thought of spending the day with people who share your interests is much more pleasant than thinking about paying the mortgage. No one can be successful alone. No matter how smart you are, you need other people to support each other.

Take Control of Your Finances

Stop worrying about things that hold you back. Create an action plan and don’t sweat the small stuff. Determine your expenses before you get your salary, and be sure to set aside some money to save.

Do you know how your credit history improves? If you’ve never taken out loans, banks will see you as an unreliable borrower. On the other hand, getting into endless debt is not what you should do in the new year. Instead, you can spend the year improving your credit score: take out small loans and pay them off early, avoiding interest and penalty fees. After a few iterations, you can afford much more than you can now.