Happy New Year to you! 2013 was a great one for Create Hype, and we’re looking forward to launching our best year yet. We have new and exciting ideas to share with you in the coming weeks, and a whole line-up of expert guest posts to help you organize your goals into success.
Here are some tips on making the most of your New Year review in order to set your intentions and/or resolutions:
Carve out some alone time.
If you’ve never done a self-reflection exercise before, you’ll probably be surprised at how intense it can get. Unresolved thoughts, ideas, and feelings are often waiting to spill out of you!
I choose to do my annual review and resolution-setting over a period of about four days. If that’s not possible for you, carve out a block of quiet time in one day (allow yourself at least three hours).
It’s essential that you make this quiet, alone time happen. I’m a married mother of four with my own multi-faceted creative business, and I manage it just fine. Send out a “do not disturb” message to your household, turn off your phone, and quiet the area around you before you begin. You are not to be interrupted.
Self-reflection is critical to your wellbeing, and it’s perfectly acceptable to ask the people who love you to honor your much-needed quiet time. Make sure you honor the time, too!
Get a pen and paper.
For best results, I recommend using a fresh journal or notebook to collect your thoughts and feelings during your annual review. When you follow the ruminations of the mind without pen and paper, you chase thoughts that are too scattered to truly connect.
With a journal, your thoughts escape to the page where they can then be reworked and shaped into successful ideas. After a few minutes of writing, a sense of clarity will begin to fall from pen to paper. Many-a-journal session has left me with new solutions, insight, and understanding. I always walk away with a more peaceful perspective and a refreshed sense of self.
Use prompts.
Here are few New Year planners that I highly recommend:
Leonie Dawson’s Create Your Amazing Year in Biz + Life workbooks
Laura Simms’ Roadmap to Action
My own Your Best Year: 2014 Productivity Workbook and Creative Business Planner
And here are a list of FREE resources to help you along:
7-Day Series: New Year for a New You | Annual Review by Marketing Creativity :: This is a yearly tradition I lead on my blog, and it’s full of prompts and exercises to help you organize your intentions to create your best year.
Free Desktop Wallpaper and Inspiring Links by Handmade Success. I especially enjoyed the post she offered, A New Year’s Gift for You by Launch Sessions :: A free worksheet and 5 basic steps to get you started.
10 Areas to Reevaluate in Your Business to Attract Your Dream Clients in 2014 by Flourish and Thrive Academy :: They write for jewelry designers, but I think this advice applies to all small business owners.
Your New Year Resolution: Instead of Goals Focus on Practices by Forbes :: If you’re anti-New Year resolutions, you’ll enjoy this article that offers five new practices to adopt in 2014.
Here’s wishing you an amazing start to a wonderful year! Until next time and all the best~
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