By Glenda Wise
Now that all the Christmas decorations are put away (ok, mine are still out, but, hey, we celebrate all the way to the twelfth night, January 6, The Epiphany). Anyway, back to my point, when I finally put away my Christmas decorations, it really gets me in the mood to do a good cleaning, reorganize and redecorate. You know, the whole fresh start in the New Year thing and fortunately goes with my new me of simplifying and no unnecessary purchases this year. The no new purchases thing makes it a little difficult to redecorate, but it doesn’t mean I can’t get creative and rearrange, repaint and re-whatever. Plus, I think it is kind of fun to see what I can make with what I already have.
Here are my favorite January refreshes:
1) Take a few minutes to determine what your true priorities are. Write them down. I write them in my agenda and then make mini goals each week to help me accomplish them. I guess you could say these are resolutions, but for some reason resolutions don’t always feel real or obtainable to me. I do much better with determining priorities.
2) I learned this from a Zig Ziglar podcast, to pick a theme word for the year. Last year my word was, “transformation” and this year my word is “simplify”. It’s pretty powerful to summarize your goals into a word that you can reflect on daily. You will be amazed at how many areas of your life the word applies to.
3) Reduce clutter to allow you to focus on your priorities.
4) Take care of yourself. It has taken me soooo many years to realize that I do need to do self-care. I’m not talking about going to the spa (which is a great self-care technique by the way), but rather doing things to care for your mental, physical and spiritual self. This can be anything from taking 10 minutes a day to journal, read, or sit down to watch your favorite television show. It’s up to you to decide what your best self-care method is.
5) Finish a project. Whatever your thing is, make it a priority to finish it. You will be surprised to find out how much confidence you will gain from finishing a project. I am guilty of starting a project, getting busy and justifying that I don’t have time to do it, but not only for the project’s sake, but for me I need to finish at least one of those this year. Mine is to finish the blanket I have been crocheting for Grayson. Keep in mind the project doesn’t have to be a craft. It can be a “you” project, like deciding you will run a 5K this year.
Wishing you a very Happy New Year filled with faith, hope and family.