Habit change plays a vital role in progress and growth of any kind, mainly because it involves turning theory into practice – turning intention into action.
Interestingly though, I’ve never been a huge fan of traditional ‘goal-setting’. I find it a bit cliched and idealistic.
What I am a huge fan of however, is optimising our mindset – how we choose to show up every day (or at least more days than not).
Because it IS a choice, and that can be one of the hardest things to wrap our heads around.
Many things are not in our control. But loads of things ARE. That’s what we do well to focus on.
Here are 5 steps to optimise your mindset for the year ahead. It’s a journaling exercise – real pen and paper stuff. Give it a go.
1. Celebrate your wins from 2022
This can be your gains, improvements, achievements, whatever you like to call them.
Take your net positives for the year, put them down in writing. Actually document your accomplishments.
Too often we focus of what we haven’t done, what we still have to do, or our ‘not enoughness’.
Time for some gratitude for what we have and a few bragging rights instead!
2. Clarify your mindset & commit to it
Get clear on exactly how you want to FEEL. The feels are where it’s at.
What mental and emotional qualities do you want to embody, and what do you want to focus your energy on?
Energy flows where attention goes.
Where are you focusing yours?
3. Identify your mental obstacles and how you’ll overcome them
Identify what stories you tell yourself and whether or not there’s truth in it. We tell ourselves stories driven by self-limiting beliefs All. The. Time.
When we can call out our own barriers and self-sabotaging thoughts/behaviours, it really disempowers them. Or at the very least they don’t rule us anymore, and we’re more aware when they resurface. No pressure, no judgement.
Identify what doesn’t serve you anymore. Ain’t nobody got time for that!
4. Brainstorm what you want to experience in 2023
Get in touch with what you want your life to be like and what you want to invite into your life this year. Don’t feel awkward. We all know what we want and why it’s important to us.
What brings you joy? How can you make time for more of that?
Note: for each food or beverage that just popped into your head, identify at least 2 other things as well!
Doing a ‘Pleasure Inventory’ of your life is a really valuable exercise! Again, no pressure, no judgement. Get honest and take stock of how often the things that truly bring you joy make an appearance in your day/week/month. Is there anything you can do to increase this? There usually is!
On the other hand, is there anything you can do to clear out the closet and reduce/remove toxic elements from your life? This could be people, behaviours, jobs, habits, possessions, thoughts.
We often need to be proactive in the process.
5. Review & update your above affirmations regularly
Daily is ideal. It can be quick. Journaling, gratitude practice, a morning routine…it sounds hectic but can honestly be a quick process - unless it evolves into a longer process that you love naturally.
Like with everything I recommend – make it sustainable. What’s sustainable for us expands and contracts over time…just like our comfort zone.
Affirmations don’t have to be in stone – they can be a ‘living thing’ that evolve with you and really help you stay committed to the optimum mindset allowing you to FEEL the way you want.
Affirming your intentions, actions and feels in the present tense can also be really helpful. It’s like programming the mind that you've already achieved them.
Then step by step, a little at a time, go live them!
“What the new year brings depends a lot on what we bring to the new year” 💙
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