Quick intro. Let’s close the year right and let’s get started.

Clean up your space 

Clean your place and collect the things that you never use for the year and the things that have seen better days. Sell, donate or throw it away those items. In short, let it go. Its such a breath of fresh air to be totally free from stuffs. If you need some guide clearing out, you can refer to my previous blog post. 

Clean your heart

It’s not just our house that needs cleaning but also ourselves from within. Let go of all the negative emotions that you have towards other people. Whether you have settled the matter with them or not, do yourself a favor and forgive them. Holding on negative emotions is just an unnecessary baggage. Remember, you cannot control other people, but you can control your thoughts and your thoughts can change how you feel. Tell yourself, “I forgive you because I don’t deserve to carry trash emotions in my heart. I have so many things to be grateful for and I’d rather fill my heart with all those goodness.

Clear your head

Any thoughts floating in your head, just write it down. Don’t let yourself get distracted by pending projects, unaccomplished goals, errands to run. Don’t hold it in your mind. Use a pen and paper or go digital if you prefer and start to brain dump. Write down any thoughts you have and clear your mind.

Know your habits

At this point, I want to say evaluate your success and failure this year. However, I realized that we have tendency to underestimate our success and overestimate our failure. So instead, lets take a more objective route and take inventory of our habits. What habits contributed to your success this year? Is it waking up early, doing food log, working out? It’s the small things that we do each day that shapes our life, and little did we know that these small things bring us success.

Take a look on the failing habits too. Do you still procrastinate? Do you spend money on nonessential, so your credit card bills build up? This is more like digging on the root of the problem than just looking into problem.  Write down your habits, good or bad and get to know your habits.

Count the learning

Recall all the new things you have learned this year. Did you learn new skills? Have you read a good book or attended a lifechanging seminar or training?  Take inventory of your greatest discovery this year.

Know your numbers (finances, health, relationship)

I love numbers because the saying is true, numbers never lie. It tells you exactly whether you are accomplishing something or not. Two numbers we must know before the year end is your net worth and body measurement.

Let’s face it, two common goals we set each year is related to our health and finances. Before setting goals let’s get into our status first.

Net worth is computed as asset less liabilities. Asset is anything that you own (house, savings, investment) while liabilities (mortage, credit card loan ) is anything that you owe. With this I hope you’ll have a positive result. But don’t feel bad if you get a negative result, rather see it as an opportunity for growth for next year.

For the body measurement, aside from your weight, find out your BMI and Body fat percentage too. I won’t go into details as there are tons of resources in the internet on how to compute those numbers.

Plan your organization system

Organizing might be a dreaded task, but as an adult, we all have to master this skill. As Tony Robbins says, “if your life is worth living, it is worth recording”. Plan out how you can plot your days, month, year, how you will keep track your goals and record your progress. I always prefer to go old school with pen and paper, but you can definitely use apps if that’s works for you. Just make sure you know the tolls for organization before a new year begins.

Think of your ideal 2018 (Dream time!)

Setting goals can sometimes scares people or bring them to default (losing weight, earning more). So instead, I want you to imagine your ideal year. A good start is to ask yourself this question, “Wouldn’t it be great if   _______?”. For example, wouldn’t it be great if I weighted 50 kilos in 2018? Wouldn’t it be great if I’m improving my photography skills? Let yourself dream again and believe like a child!

You might be tempted to check online for inspirations, but I would say DONT. This is your life so don’t let the world or the internet tell you what your dreams are supposed to be.  Listen to your inner thoughts and let yourself decide on what you really want.

Write down success habits to go with your ideal year

Remember the habits inventory we did in step 4? Bring it out again and pick those habits that will help you achieve your new year’s goals. Think of the habits you need to form to fulfill your ideal life. Goals are achieved by actions. You don’t need motivations, you need habits. Form habits that will make you closer to what you really want to get.

Be thankful!

Finally, as the old saying goes, count your blessings. You may not have the best year this 2017, you may have had faced huge challenges, failures or disappointment, but remember if you had eaten 365 meals this year, you still live a better life than a thousand of people. There is always, always something to be thankful for. 

I remember a short Goldie and Bear episode I watched with my son. Bear with me, this is good! Bear went fishing with Daddy Bear and Goldie, and he was so upset he can’t catch any fish. What’s the good in fishing when you can’t catch any fish? Daddy bear told Bear that fishing is not just about catching fish. It’s also about getting into the boat, fishing together with your family and friend, enjoying the scenery, enjoying the view and most of all, creating memories.

It doesn’t matter if you didn’t catch enough fish this year. Its good if you accomplished all your goals but It’s still ok if you didn’t. At the end of the day, it’s not just about the goal, its about who you become while reaching those goals.

This will be my last post for the year. I hope you found something valuable in my blog this year. Thank you for spending your time with me and I look forward to having you again next year. May you have a wonderful holiday season. 

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!