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Happy New Year! Can you believe that it is now 2022?
I hope you had a great Christmas and took some time off to recharge. My husband and I stayed in Darwin this year and had an orphans Christmas with friends, we had a blast! It's been so lovely having a few weeks off to recharge and just catch up with friends, potter around the house and really relax.
Its interesting... the lead-up to Christmas is always manic, then the week between Christmas and New Year seems to go by in a blur, you are never really sure what day it or where you are supposed to be and then bang it’s the new year.
...and after the past 12 months I’m sure you are breathing a sigh of relief to have made it into a new phase. For many 2021 did not go as initially intended. The havoc of living through a global pandemic in 2020 carried over and continued through 2021, with lockdowns becoming the norm, countless holidays and weddings cancelled and we collectively continued to make our homes our haven as we spent more time indoors.
But regardless of whether last year was one of your best or your worst, I hope you’ll agree that the beginning of a new year brings a special kind of magic with it.
For me this means reflecting on the achievements and learnings of the past 12 months, building excitement for what’s to come, and making plans for the year ahead including holidays, anniversaries or milestones to achieve.
To help you set yourself up for optimal success in 2022 I’ve put together the following action plan to ensure you kick start the year off with a bang!
STEP ONE: TAKE TIME TO REFLECT
As the line goes - for you to know where you are going you need to know where you’ve been. It is virtually impossible to make realistic and achievable goals without first taking stock of where you are right at this very moment. This includes comparing what you’ve achieved against last year’s intentions (if you set them), writing down any key learnings, barriers or challenges that you faced and summarising what worked and what didn’t. There are really no hard or fast rules about what this should look like. What works for me is writing a list of my key achievements from the year, a few areas that I want to focus on (for example this might be my health, my home and my business), and a handful of areas of improvement specific to those areas for the year ahead.
STEP TWO: TICK OFF THOSE HALF-FINISHED TASKS
You cannot make 2022 the best year yet with unfinished tasks looming over you. Spend the next few weeks and tick off any outgoing tasks or commitments that could be holding you back. Imagine how good it will feel to be able to start the year with a clean slate.
STEP THREE: SET INTENTIONS & GOALS
Now to one of my favourite parts of a new year - setting my intentions and writing down some achievable goals for the year ahead. Nothing is more satisfying that preparing a list of goals and then being able to tick them off at the end of the year (or before – I see you goal goddess ;)). It’s even better when you are doing your reflection and you realise that you not only achieved those goals but smashed them out of the park. But it’s not as simple as setting and forgetting, there are some vital steps to making sure your goals are a success and not another failed new year resolution.
BE REALISTIC
The biggest reason goals fail is that they are based on pipe dreams and not reality. Maybe you want to get back to your best weight from when you were 18? Or run a marathon. Or turn a million dollars in profit. All great goals, but if you are three times the size you were at 18, have zero current fitness or a side hustle that you are only able to dedicate an hour to each week, then I’m sorry sis, those goals are probably not going to happen. But you could aim to go down a dress size or two, hit a 10k and turn your side hustle into a full-time or part-time job.
Whatever your goals may be, be sure to measure them against what is realistically achievable given your current life commitments and timeframes.
KNOW YOUR WHY
The best way to stick to your goals and intentions is to understand exactly why you are doing it. For example, for people looking to lose weight, research suggests that instead of focusing on the numbers on the scale that when you understand the reasons behind what losing weight will do for your life (being able to run around the kids, feeling healthier and sexier, able to compete in a sport) you are much more likely to achieve the weight loss and sustain it long term. To troubleshoot your own goals, for each one write down beside it exactly what that will do and feel like once you achieve it – then you can keep coming back to this ‘why’ whenever your motivation suffers.
OUTLINE YOUR HOW
You usually don’t start driving without using a map, in the same way that in order to achieve success you must clearly know how you are going to get there. A goal is just a vision without a plan – so to turn it into reality you need to make regular steps to inch closer to achieving that. If you are wanting to lose weight this year then you need to outline exactly how you will do that, whether it will be through cutting out certain foods, limiting alcohol or takeaway or committing to regular exercise.
FOCUS ON WHAT IS MOST IMPORTANT
It’s great to have all these goals but I find it helpful to prioritise which ones are the most important to you. A good way to do this is to ask yourself if you were to achieve just one thing in the next 12 months what would it be? Then you can focus your energy on that thing and go down the list from there.
Whatever your intentions for 2022 I hope this step-by-step action plan helps you to set some goals to help you make this year the best one yet.
Psst... If you want to start 2022 with a bang, here are some ways which can help you improve your eating habits, lose those extra kilos and improve your energy levels... all without dieting:
1. Get started with the Weight Loss without Dieting Starter Kit. Create a Personalised Plan tailored to your dietary needs and lifestyle habits and have a simple 5 step system to help with being consistent long term. Click here to find out more
2. If you struggle finding healthy and tasty recipes and lack the time to work out what to eat each day then check out the Ultimate Healthy Meal Planning Kit. Get started with a 14-Day Meal Plan with shopping list and easy tasty recipes plus a meal planning system that takes just 20 minutes a week. Click here to find out more