Once again our friend Katie Pierce is offering her best 7 Ways to Reset and Recharge Before the Year Ends. When the year ends, most people have full plates with many things left undone, and looming holidays increase pressure. Whether at work or school and trying to meet deadlines, managing children and home during Christmas, or preparing for exams or business events, it’s all stressful. But it’s also time to stop and take a break to come to the new year refocused and ready to work.
7 Ways to Reset and Recharge Before the Year Ends
Besides helping to clear the mind, a break also prepares efforts towards building toward one’s later goals and objectives. Here’s how you can do it and seven helpful tips for achieving a new beginning before the end of the year:
1. Reflect on the Year Gone By
Reflection is a great tool for meaning and a wonderful way of getting perspective and seeing value in the process. This is also a good chance to identify your successes and failures, so you can plan how to do better the next year.
- List Your Achievements: Review and celebrate even the most minor achievements in your private and public life. For instance, the successful completion of a comprehensive task, the acquisition of a skill, or sticking to a regular exercise regimen. You can write these down in a diary, a notepad, or even a note-taking app to help you visualize the progress.
- Identify Lessons Learned: Discuss challenges and failures. Ask yourself: *What did this teach me?* For example, if a particular business venture was not successful, then what was the experience like? Did you gain new skills or contacts? Addressing difficult situations in this manner allows you to prepare yourself for future opportunities.
2. Set Intentions for the Coming Year
A new year equates to a clean state, which mandates proper goal setting—one that is realistic and conscientious.
- Use SMART Goals: SMART goals refer to Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time-Bound goals. It is way better to make a SMART goal rather than make a general decision like ‘get fit’. For example, jogging 10 kilometers before March and doing three training sessions a week is a SMART goal.
- Create a Vision Board: Graffiti can help you increase motivation by painting a picture of your goals. Post pictures of where you want to be, places to travel, jobs to obtain, or even houses to build. If you have no desire to paste pieces of paper with images on them, there are apps to create digital vision boards, such as Canva.
3. Declutter Your Space and Mind
Clutter around a workplace leads to clutter in a person’s mind as well, which in turn leads to stress and decreased effectiveness.
- Physical Decluttering: Clean up your desk today, get rid of unneeded objects, and/or prepare for organization. For instance, it can mean removing any papers or files from your desk and leaving only the items you regularly use, while the rest should be stored in the file cabinets. This notion is familiar to anyone following famous Japanese organizer Marie Kondo’s advice: “Keep only things that speak to your heart.”
- Mental Decluttering: Record your thoughts on a piece of paper in a journal or use other methods to empty your head. Headspace or the Calm app provides essential services, including practice in the form of guided meditations.
4. Prioritize Self-Care Activities
It is as important as fueling up a car so that it can regain its energy and continue in the race.
- Relaxation Activities: Engage in relaxation activities such as yoga, spa treatment, meditation, or reading. For instance, 20 minutes of yoga decreases stress and enhances muscle flexibility. If you’re open to exploring complementary therapies, consider incorporating cannabis into your self-care routine. Options might include using cannabinoid-infused ointments during a massage for added relaxation or preparing a non-alcoholic herbal tea infused with cannabis to help you unwind.
- Digital Detox: Put your smartphone and other gadgets away for a day or two to concentrate on real-world connections to people and activities. For instance, you can take a nature walk or even paint something artistic, such as a picture.
5. Reconnect with Loved Ones
Building relationships tend to be more accessible during the holiday season:
- Spend Quality Time: Organize an event that will connect families. This could be a game night, a movie night, or a picnic at the park. Such fantastic moments leave memories and cozy and close people’s relationships.
- Share Gratitude: Invite all the participants to share something they are grateful for this year. This will not only foster positivity but also deepen connections.
6. Celebrate Small Wins
Acknowledging even minor accomplishments fosters a sense of progress and positivity.
- Treat Yourself: Give yourself a treat every time you hit a goal in an academic year. These can be a wealthy meal, a new book, or a spa day.
- Write a Thank-You Note: Giving something as simple as thanks will only increase positivity, such as a colleague who helped you in the year or a friend who was there for you.
7. Recharge Your Energy
Physical well-being is the core element of the other aspects of life.
- Prioritize Sleep: Generally, adults should sleep more than 6, up to 9 hours daily, to help the body and mind rejuvenate. Reading, drinking herbal tea before sleep, or using lavender oil are suggested bedtime habits to develop.
- Eat Nourishing Foods: Concentrate on portions that include grains, proteins, and vegetables, but avoid refined foods. Furthermore, protein shakers can benefit a healthy liver, so it is unnecessary to rush to purchase protein supplements after each workout. Choose drink options with plant-based protein, spinach, and turmeric since they help the liver flush unwanted substances from the body.
- Stay Active: To improve blood circulation and feel more upbeat, go for a walk, stretch, or even dance. If a holiday fun run is in your community, join one or host a family holiday fitness event.
Conclusion
In its strongest terms, the end of the year is not a sign that an individual gives up work; it is the beginning of a process of getting a fresh start as he or she prepares to work in the new year. This ensures that by the onset of the new year, you have one of the best setups for success to be realized as one looks back into the past, sets intentions, clears the environment, and takes good care of themselves.
Try one or two of these strategies today in your daily life. Whether it’s an occasional cleaning or a deep conversation with a family member, every movement leads you to the right way of starting the New Year. This should be the year when you succeed at the end and succeed even more at the start!
