Every year most of us sit down and try and hash out some New Year’s Resolutions. Mine are usually the same goals year after year. Sound familiar? This year I’m changing for good, which is why I’ve put together this ultimate guide to become a new you this year. Are you going to join me?
I’ve actually completely overhauled my life, career, and goals this year. It definitely took awhile for me to figure out that I wasn’t happy where my life was going!
Now that I’m on the verge of all that change, though, it’s time for me to change myself too. Here’s how you can make that happen too.
1. What Kind of Person Do You Want to Be?
When you hear questions like this, it’s so tempting to blow them off. “A thin person” or “a rich person” aren’t suitable answers!
Take some time and think about how you’d be described. Either how you’d do it yourself, how others might, or even how you’d appear in a novel. We’re talking adjectives here, people!
Some Ideas to Get You Started:
- Mysterious
- Creative
- Energetic
- Spontaneous
- Flexible
- Intelligent
- Well-read
- Nurturing
- Compassionate
- Generous
- Athletic
- Eco-conscious
- Passionate
The point of this is to describe some of the traits you want to see in your ideal self.
Keep in mind, too, that it’s OK for some of the characteristics you choose to contradict themselves! If you want to be mysterious, but outgoing, that probably means that you’re more selectively social.
Just like in writing, the best real life people have dynamic, multifaceted character traits.
2. Describe Your Ideal Self in More Detail
Now that you have some ideas of what kind of person your ideal self is, you need to elaborate on those. That means coming up with short phrases that describe what kind of person you want to be.
To help you get a better idea, I’m going to list what mine actually say in my personal journal:
I want to be
- Someone who’s physically fit and in good shape
- A person with a clean house
- Intelligent and well read
- Organized, the kind of person who doesn’t forget about things or lose track
- Someone who isn’t in debt, and eventually someone who has savings
- Someone who does things, and has stories to tell
You can see that many of these are reworking of standard resolutions. The thing is, they’re not necessarily achievable goals, so much as they are lifestyle and personality adjustments.
3. Now What’s the Next Step in This Guide to Becoming a New You This Year?
OK, so now you know who you want to be. What do you do next? Well, make it happen of course!
Like it’s that easy.
Next year is the first step to becoming the person you really want to be. But it’s still only 365 days long. You can’t do everything at once!
This is the part where you start setting actual, tangible, and measurable goals. You’ll have to be specific.
While you do this, get really real with yourself about what you can manage. Don’t stretch yourself too thin or set up for failure before you even get started.
As you consider your goals, think about how those relate to some of the traits you want to have. For example, if you said you want to be athletic, and you want to be the kind of person who enjoys going to the gym, a specific goal could be going to the gym 3x per week.
A Few New Years Resolution Ideas
- Come up with a new skincare routine and stick to it
- Master a dance, yoga pose, or exercise routine
- Exercise 3x a week (or a total of 156 times throughout the year)
- Read 20 books
- Drink a certain amount of water each day
- Visit specific destinations or attend special events
- Learn how to do a new hobby
- Drink or smoke less (or not at all)
- Cut out a bad habit like soda
4. Create Accountability
How do you actually achieve your goals?
You have ways of tracking them.
For every goal that you set and every change that want to make you need to stay accountable. How you do this is really going to depend on your own personality.
You might subscribe to a diet program if you want to lose weight, or use a bullet journal to track how many times you meditated. Whatever works for you!
Personally, I have a mix of app and paper trackers. I use a day planner to stay organized, Goodreads to keep track of my books, Sweepy for housework, and a regular old notebook to cross off my goals.
Another great way to be accountable is to put yourself under pressure. Like a bride who successfully loses 10lbs before her wedding, use deadlines to kick your new habits into high gear.
For example, if you want to practice the piano more this year, sign yourself up for a music festival or plan an at-home concert. Or if you’re struggling to hit the gym, hire a trainer or rope in a gym buddy so you have some support.
5. Get it Done: Tackle Things in Chunks
It takes 21 days to change a habit, at minimum. You also can’t make all the habits at exactly the same time.
Focus on a few things that are complimentary or easy to work on at the same time. Once you get into those habits, start adding in some more changes.
For me, waking up early can be really challenging. If I wanted to become an early riser, I might start by adding earlier wake up times incrementally.
But I also shouldn’t try and cram all my writing into the evenings and stay up late trying to reach those goals. The two would be counterintuitive and I would most likely fail.
Tips to Stay Motivated With New Years Resolutions
- Surround yourself with your goals. Whether that’s a specific goal or personality adjustments, make that your lifestyle, your vibe, your aesthetic, everything. The more you live something, the more it’s your truth.
- Look for support. You’re really, truly not in this world alone. Whether it’s support groups, like minded people, or your friends and family it’s always a good idea to reach out when you’re feeling down.
- Make you the priority. Too many people out there are letting other people, or life walk all over them. This is the year that you’re going to treat yourself like a valuable person, and actually nurture your soul for a change. Whether that means cutting out toxic friends or your spouse taking the kids for 20 minutes a day so you can work on goals, you deserve it.
- Reframe your thinking. Personality shifts come with changes in perspective too. If roadblocks come up, try and fight your old habits as you try and tackle them. How does the ideal you solve the problem? How do they get back on track?
- Be kind to yourself and don’t give up. Just because you aren’t doing everything you wanted to, or it’s not perfect, doesn’t mean you haven’t accomplished something. If you miss a week or two of your new routines, or go back to your old ways, don’t let it spiral out of control. Instead, forgive yourself (the same way you’d forgive anyone you love!) and move on.
Conclusion: Can you REALLY Change who you are?
I honestly believe that when you do something like this you’re not changing who you are. You’re just becoming more of the person you want to be.
Even if the changes you want to make are radical, if it wasn’t part of your existing self you wouldn’t want to change at all.
You can do this!
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