5 Ways to Start the New Year Right
Featured on Elephant Journal
“Each morning we are born again. What we do today is what matters most.”
The rain has stopped.
The sun peers through the clouds, if only for an hour or so. I lift my head slightly from the bed where I’ve been resting ever since a strong Lebanese flu hit me hard.
Somehow, the sun nudges me and pulls me out of bed. It’s the first day of the year—always a special time for me. It’s like I’ve been born again; a new beginning awaits.
Hope is in the air, resolutions are close at hand, and optimism still abounds.
I sit down for my now-annual practice, where I reflect on the past year and think of what I want to achieve in the year ahead. I would have liked to spend this time alone on some snow-covered mountain or secluded Thai beach, but powered by Vitamin C and within sight of the sun, I do it anyway.
Here are five practices that have helped to kick-start my year:
Do a yearly review.
“Without reflection, we go blindly on our way, creating more unintended consequences, and failing to achieve anything useful.” ~ Margaret J. Wheatley
I check my journal, calendar and emails for the whole of the past year and ask myself specific questions:
What went well? What didn’t go so well? What did I accomplish? Did I improve my relationships? Did I stick to the habits I created in earlier times? Where did I let myself down?
I’ve got some good memories and some bad ones. However, my overall feeling of the year behind is overwhelm and anxiety. I set too many goals and achieved many of them, but I didn’t leave enough time to enjoy or reflect on them. I was a bit too serious, aloof and self-absorbed.
I stuck to my daily practices rather well, and they became my pillars of well-being and daily living. My writing improved tremendously, as I had committed to 1,000 words per day, which meant I showed up, put out a lot of work and felt great doing so. I let myself down in my sugar binging. I would follow a low carb diet, then mess it up with too much sugar. I also varied my exercise regimen so much that I ended up injured for the final two months of the year.
Let go of all the issues we’re still holding onto from last year.
“The truth is, unless you let go, unless you forgive yourself, unless you forgive the situation, unless you realize that the situation is over, you cannot move forward.”~ Steve Maraboli
The beauty of a new year is that we get to press the reset button.
We can let go of all the goals and tasks left unfinished and start them again—or eliminate them if they don’t come under the “big rocks” category (see number three)
This January, I let go of all the issues and baggage I’m carrying with me, whether toward myself or others. Yes, I over-analyse and self-deprecate often, but that’s in the past, not now. Yes, a few people wronged me, but I’ve forgiven them and I’m starting a new page. Yes, I’ve hurt a few, but I’ve forgiven myself, and the apology letters are in the post.
Most of all, I want to let go of my guilt—this toxic emotion I carry with me every day for the smallest failings. I can only do that in two ways: with gratitude for what I have, and by comparing myself not to my ideal self (that remains an aspiration), but to who I was last year.
Warren Buffett’s five-step process for prioritising the “big rocks.”
“Whatever we put our attention on will grow stronger in our life.” ~ Maharishi Mahesh Yogi
We now live in a world where everyone and everything is competing for our attention. Our focus is not limitless, and as such we need to guard it against distractions. We must focus on the big rocks of our life—the things that create fulfilment, excitement and growth.
All other pursuits are futile.
The late Scott Dinsmore explains the system that Warren Buffett uses to prioritise his goals:
List 25 goals you want to achieve this year.
Now prioritise them from one to twenty-five, so as to have the top five you want to focus on.
Set a plan on how you will achieve those top five goals.
Put the other 20 in another list.
This other list becomes an Avoid-At-All-Cost List. No matter what, these things get no attention from you until you’ve succeeded with your top five.
I did just that, and I’m happy to say that I’ve got my five goals that I’m working on—and nothing else will matter for me this year until I achieve them.
We must always carry a big dream within us that we pursue endlessly!
“Whatever you can do or dream you can, begin it.Boldness has genius, power and magic in it!” ~ John Anster, The First Part of Goethe’s Faust
What one thing makes us want to get up every day? What one thing we can accomplish in a lifetime that makes our death acceptable? What one thing we can do in our life that means we outdid our dream?
It’s important to carry this one dream, one hope or one love to our graves. It must remain our secret until we are strong enough to declare it and fend off the many people who want to shoot it down.
It’s like a candle of hope that burns endlessly and shines hope into our life. It is that one thing that makes the setbacks and vicissitudes of life bearable.
It could be hoping that we end up living and dying with someone we love. Or inventing a new substance that can replace oil as our principal raw material in life. Or becoming a best-selling author with multiple books under our name. Or eradicating cancer. Whatever it is, we must never lose sight of this huge dream.
Plan an exciting event that we can look forward to (bucket list).
“Don’t ask what the world needs. Ask what makes you come alive, and go do it. Because what the world needs is people who have come alive.” ~ Howard Thurman
Goals, visions and aspirations are often lofty and take a long time to materialise. We don’t feel like we are getting something in the now, and so we need other experiences that ground us and get our excitement flowing.
I’ve found that when I’m planning to visit a new country or enjoy an experience that I haven’t had before, I’m excited for months before and after. Last year, I planned to stay in Paris for a month-long writing course in the summer and to live alone for the duration (something I hadn’t done in 25 years). It excited me to find the Airbnb, book the airline tickets, and exchange thoughts with my new writing friends that I made during and after. That single trip dominated my year.
Other experiences could be: preparing for a marathon, climbing Kilimanjaro or visiting Japan and its bullet trains (all on my bucket list).
So, I’ve reviewed my year, let go of the negative energy I’m holding, prioritised my big goals, lit the flame to my one big dream, and planned a new experience I want to have this year.
I’m fired up for the year ahead. How about you?
Bring it on!