My New Year's Rituals and Tips.

New Year's Eve has been and gone and you have promised yourself that this year will be different...

You are going to stick to the resolutions you made and have the most amazing year yet......however maybe a week later some of those "promises" you made to yourself (late into the night after a few drinks) are looking a little shaky and you are already feeling like you have failed already.

Well lovely I feel you! I have absolutely been there. All the weight I was going to lose and the detoxes, diets, bettere job, eat better, go to the gym, drink less (guess how long that lasted!) all of those things that we beat ourselves up about (Hello Ego!) and then decide that with a new year we are just going to magically change everything. Not exactly a recipe for success is it?

In the last few years I have started to change the way I do "New Years". I now have rituals that I do at the start of each year (usually within the first week or so) that help me to really focus on what I want out of the year. It has helped me to shift my focus and to be honest, when I looked back at what I had written down last year, I was actually shocked at how much I had managed to accomplish. And then some!

Here are my Favourite New Year's Rituals at the moment:

1. Reflect

Too often we are way to eager to leave the year before behind us. Maybe it wasn't our best year or we are just excited to start the new one. Before we can move our focus forward though it's a really good idea to look over the year that has been. I usually start this process by looking at what I wrote at the start of the year. What goals did I achieve? What am I still working on? Which ones are no longer relevant? How did I want to feel?

You can Reflect on the year in as much or as little detail as you like. You might only ask yourself a few questions or you might have a deep writing session about it all. Once I've done this I like to close out the year. I do this by letting myself have a little rant on paper about anything I want about the year that's been (what sucked, didn't work, was frustrating etc) and then a little closing ritual - which is giving gratitude for the lessons that I learnt, saying good bye to the year that's been and welcoming the new.

2. Use a Goal Setting Planner

This is probably my favourite thing to do at the start of the year now. There are heaps of different goal/year planners on the market, so you can definitely find one that you love. I personally love Leonie Dawson's Shining Year Life & Biz Planners, but like I said find one that you love and is going to help you with the type of goals you want to achieve.

Writing your goals and what you want to achieve down is a really powerful thing to do. You can do this without a planner if you prefer and just write down your intentions for the year. However, a planner is a really fun way to do this and can really help you to start figuring out the next steps to take.

3. Find a Word For the Year

Now this is big trend lately but for good reason. Finding a Power Word or word for the year helps you to focus on how you want to FEEL. Which is a much better way to approach things. Yeah yeah yeah, we all want to lose weight, be fitter etc and these aren't bad goals, but if we go a little deeper and look at what we want to feel when we hit these things, then it becomes more powerful and actually, easier to achieve. It is much easier to anchor into and keep.

“You can’t ‘break’ a word like you can break a resolution. The word (or words!) you choose is there to inspire you whenever you need it. Your word is your ally. It might infuse its wisdom through every single day of 2017. It’s also likely you’ll forget all about your word until that day in May when - BAM! - you remember exactly why you chose that word.”

— Susannah Conway

I had two words last year - Strength and Joy. Strength to remind myself that I was capable and could face challenges. Joy to remind myself to enjoy the little moments and approach things more positively. Not sweat the small stuff basically. Everytime I looked at or reminded myself of those words, it helped to remember what was important to me and what I wanted to feel. When I look back on last year, I did some serious out side of comfort zone stepping and lots of little moments that could have been lost in the 'busyness' of the year.

Of course your word can be anything that feels meaningful to you. It could be an action type word or something a little gentler. What ever feels right for you and is going to help keep you motivated throughout the year. Don't forget to put it somewhere you will see it. Whether that's on your Vision Board if you have one or just a post it note stuck in your diary.

Remember, it's never too late.

It's not too late either. Whether you are reading this in January or July, you can always re-focus and start again. In fact this year I'm setting things in 6 month blocks, so I don't feel to overwhelmed!

The main thing with New Years Rituals is to make it something fun and that you look forward to.If you would like some help with your New Year's rituals or just want to have a bit of a brains storm, then check out the In Tune package here. I'd love to help you get started on having an amazing year.
Cheers to an incredible 2017!