Happy New Year!! Hopefully this year is slightly better than the last (I mean can it get much worse…wait, don’t answer that). Making goals for the New Year is something that I try to do every year and you can check out a post on Easy New Year’s Resolutions if that is something that inspires you. This year along with my goals, I started thinking about the things that hold us back from truly achieving the things that we want to achieve.
So I created a list of things to let go of this New Year. I hope that some will find this helpful for them to have the best year yet.
=]-[0\[
][
Things to Let go of this New Year
Other people’s opinions
I can not express this enough, other people’s opinions about what you do and don’t do in your life is one thing you need to let go of immediately. Especially this new year. Sometimes we let other people’s opinions of us hold us back from going after the things that we want. So this New Year, one big thing to let go of is the weight of other people’s opinions.
Clutter
This is a huge one for me. I live in clutter daily. My clutter is mostly digital in the form of thousands of e-mails in my inbox to the 14,000 photos stored on my phone. Even this form of clutter feels overwhelming and when I feel overwhelmed about things, I tend to push aside and pretend it doesn’t exist. Since we moved I was able to get rid of some of the clutter that was in our old home but it seems that stuff just accumulates over time.
This year, aim to declutter all that extra stuff that is making you feel overwhelmed. From old clothes that you know you will never wear again or all those extra shampoo bottles that are sitting in a cupboard. Get rid of it and feel more at peace with getting out from underneath the mess. For me I am going to start with my digital clutter and delete some e-mails, well 3,000 to be exact.
Unavailable people
If people want to be in your life they will be no matter what. Simple as that. Stop chasing those that don’t reach out or attempt to make time to spend with you. This applies to marriages, relationships, friendships, even family. If people want to be in your life, they will do so without a million excuses as to why they can’t.
Unrealistic goals
Every year, many people set resolutions for the New Year that are unrealistic in nature. Saying you want to lose 20 pounds in a month is not realistic just like telling yourself that you are going to pay off all that student loan debt this year. Make sure that you are setting goals that not only you believe you will meet but you realistically can meet.
My suggestion; set small goals and celebrate when you meet them. Lose 5 pounds: Celebrate by buying a new outfit. Pay off a credit card? Go out to dinner with some friends to cheers to better financial credit. Setting realistic goals and celebrating small achievements can help you stay focused and on track.
Unhealthy habits
You know what I am talking about; consistently overindulging on junk food, alcohol or soda or living a sedentary lifestyle, smoking or not wearing your seatbelt. Whatever unhealthy habit you are going into this New Year with think about ditching it.
Grudges
I will be the first to admit that I am terrible at this. I hold grudges like no other and I hold onto them for a long time. This year I am going to try something new and let go of those grudges. When you hold onto anger or discontent all you are doing is causing yourself more resentment. Learning to let things go is something that I personally am working on myself. Hopefully it can be something you work on as well.
Fear
Letting go of the fear that is holding you back in whatever aspect of your life should be an important part of this New Year. Whether it be running that 5k, sky diving (well, maybe not skydiving for me), finish writing that book you started years ago or going back to school or making a career change.
We all let fear hold us back whether it be that we are terrified of what we are doing or afraid of failing. Make this year different and ditch that fear. One fear I overcame, my fear of heights with some pretty amazing hikes and climbs this year.
Leave a Reply