How to start the New Year off right?

Around the world, everyone is wondering how they will begin 2018. They will reflect on all of their past resolutions that never happened, the 2017 elections, constant media of natural disasters, child neglect, animal abuse and much more.

For me, I try to focus new goals, look on how I can reduce my anxiety in my own mind and home along with giving back to my community even more. Here are a few things that I do to start my new year that might help you turn things around and begin this 2018 with a bang.

1. Create a vision board. I create a vision board. One side has all the things that I want to accomplish. I cut out words, pictures or ideas and place them on the goal side. Once I have completed those goals, I moved them to the other side of the board, Accomplished! Then, at the end of the year, I have something tangible to look at; something, visually, that says I did so much.
2. Purge. Purging your home of all the clutter will definitely help in feeling better and relaxed to accomplishing those goals. If you haven’t worn it or used it in six months or longer, please feel free to donate or throw it away. Also, purging doesn’t have to be exclusive to your home. You can clean out those emails, junk mail boxes, unsubscribe to all those digital subscriptions that you haven’t or don’t have time to read and unfriend, unfollow or unlike anything that might not be in tuned to your new goals.
3. Financial Goals. While I purge and clean my home, I create better systems to ensure that I pay my bills on time. I make sure that my credit report is up-to-date and doesn’t have any errors. I can request a free credit report yearly. Yes, I know that you can purchase a credit report through many online credit reporting agencies and have monthly monitoring but why pay $40 dollars for something that you can get for free! Additionally, I review my expenses. If I am paying for any subscriptions electronically that automatically renew, I update my renew dates and modify any auto renew settings to ensure that I don’t forget. Many companies look forward to you forgetting about what is being charged on your credit card. Lastly, life hiccups can hit us at any time. That is why it is so important to have some type of emergency fund, a retirement fund or long term savings plan. I save to maximize my IRA contributions, be ready for that unexpected emergency and that day that I can retire in a new home on the beach. The new trend should be being in the black not the red; Debt free is the new BMW.
4. Take care of yourself. The one thing that I have noticed about myself is that when I don’t take time for me; I become extremely distracted and unmotivated to accomplish anything. I make sure to incorporate time in my schedule for getting a haircut or my nails done, talking to life coach, scheduling those yearly checkups with my physician, going to the gym and even having a date night with my husband.  All of these little moments are what keeps me from becoming overwhelmed, so do what you need to do to take care of yourself and start your new year on the right foot!

Let me know how you start your new year. Please feel free to email or comment below.