4 Tips To Reflect On 2023 And Improve Your Mindset In The New Year
As we finish out the year and enter into a new year, it’s important to take time to reflect on how the year went and find ways to improve yourself, your mindset, and your overall happiness in the upcoming year. Everyone has different versions of success and are in different stages of their lives, but there’s generally always some areas EVERYONE can improve on.
Some people may not be into new year’s resolutions, which is completely fine! But, I think it’s still worth it to take this time to see where you’re at currently and see how you can do better moving forward so you can smash all your new goals!
2024 (and every year for that matter) should be a year of prioritizing yourself, your self-care, and your happiness. No matter your journey, these tips can help you take care of mental wellness and keep you on track so you can hit any goals you have for yourself.
Reset and refresh your goals
Everyone’s goals are different, but chances are you probably are working toward something. Big or small, look at any goals you wanted to hit in 2023 and see if you hit them, or at least feel good about your progress. Analyze and rate that progress you made for each goal. Use these ratings to either completely reset and create new goals, or re-strategize and restructure your plan for your current goals.
Choose a way to monitor and measure your progress on those goals to make sure you’re on track during the year. If you have a tracking system throughout the year, you can look back at the end of the year and see just how far you’ve come, regardless of whether you FULLY met those goals or not. Any progress forward is something to be celebrated. Being able to measure your progress will help you continue to reach your goals, while also keeping you in a confident mindset.
2. Start a journal
It seems simple, but it can have a MASSIVE impact on your mindset. If you already have a journal, try a different type of journal to supplement your current one. It can be a gratitude journal, an affirmations journal, or just a basic journal to jot down your thoughts and feelings.
Just try to have something where you can consistently write down things that come to mind, things that bother you, things that motivate or inspire you, or whatever you feel like you need that can help your mindset and mental wellness in the new year.
Sometimes writing something out every day consistently will help you overcome anything that’s holding you back and keep your mind clear and healthy.
3. Work on mindfulness
Being more mindful can improve a variety of areas in your life and set you up for success in the new year. Try working on simply being more present and in the moment. Of course it’s important to take time to reflect on past events and experiences to improve your future - but don’t dwell on the past or the future too much.
You can try deeper techniques and strategies like meditation or grounding to help center yourself and embrace mindfulness. Or, you can incorporate simpler techniques into your everyday lifestyle like paying more attention to your surroundings and your senses. You’ll find yourself more focused on living in the moment, which will increase your happiness.
4. Revamp your self-care routine
Prioritizing your self-care will have a huge impact on your mindset and your happiness. It’s important not only to incorporate more self-care into the areas of your life that feel like they are lacking, but also to evaluate if there are any techniques or habits that you need to toss aside.
Take time to list out your self-care habits, then figure out what worked and what didn’t work out of those habits. Not every self-care strategy will be for you, and that’s okay! You need to make room for the strategies that do work best for you. Self-care will always be a work in progress and it’s beneficial to make sure you’re monitoring and tracking it!
It’s important to prioritize your happiness and keep yourself mentally and emotionally healthy every day. But, 2024 is a great excuse to level-up and really focus on a healthy mindset to surge your happiness. You don’t need to make any huge changes if that’s not something that suits you - you just need to implement a few consistent habits to reap the benefits no matter what your life looks like.
