Ideas for Closing Out Your Year

Before the New Year rolls around and you start trying to keep your resolutions, it’s a good idea to think back on 2019 with some reflections. Part of growth as an individual is to recognize what went well and what didn’t so you can grow from your mistakes.

Here are ideas you can use to close out your year in a positive light:

• List your accomplishments — Start off your year-end wrap-up with a list of all your accomplishments. Don’t let any of them slip by, not even the small ones. It could be something as “simple” as organizing your household paperwork or cleaning out the junk room. It can be reading at least one book a week to improve yourself mentally or spiritually. Or it can be major goals like spending more time with your family and friends each month. Whatever your goals were in the previous year, acknowledge the things you’ve accomplished.

• Celebrate what you’ve achieved — The New Year is a time to celebrate new beginnings. But also celebrate the things that you’ve done in the past year. If you’ve managed to reach your goals, treat yourself to something special. It can be a night out at your favorite restaurant or a special item that you’ve had your eye on. Regardless of what you choose, it will be able to motivate you to achieve more things in the coming year.

• Forgive your own mistakes — Acknowledge that you have made mistakes. But the important thing here is to forgive yourself for making them. A good visualization exercise would be to list out mistakes and missteps you made in the past year. Then take the list and burn it. Don’t linger on your mistakes but learn from them so you don’t repeat them.

• Find your joy — Find what makes you happy and embrace it. It can be any kind of hobby or activity. If you like sports and exercise, celebrate that and make it the focus of your coming year. If you are a fan of movies, then make it a goal to go to one a month. Whatever is your source of joy, list it and make it your centerpiece for the coming year.

• Set goals for the coming year — Now, it’s time to set goals for your new year. Don’t try to make resolutions since these are easily broken. Just set a series of goals that you want to achieve in the new year such as specific activities you want to take part in.

In the coming year, it is important to set goals for self-improvement that can guide you. This will help you cultivate a growth mindset in everything that you do.

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