Anytime is a good time to work on yourself, but towards the beginning of a new year can feel like a fresh start and a perfect opportunity to start making big changes – But what happens if your new year’s resolutions have fallen through?Well now’s a great time to make some bigger decisions
There are so many things you can do to improve yourself this year and here’s a checklist of things you can do to work on yourself to be better by the end of the year.
1 – Gratitude
In an average day you probably say thank you at least once, but how much gratitude do you actually feel saying it? If you don’t take the time to feel thankful, then it’s time to start. There have been so many studies done on the connections between gratitude and well-being and the findings are really amazing.
People who are grateful tend to feel fewer toxic emotions like anger, jealousy and regret. They feel healthier, have less pain, they sleep better and they have the best self-esteem. These are some of the major benefits to feeling thankful and becoming someone who feels gratitude every day.
You could start a gratitude journal - keep a notebook or download a journal app and take a few minutes once or twice a day to write down a few things that you’re grateful for.
These can be big things like family and friends or small things like having a few extra minutes to grab coffee before work. Anything you can think of is great – the key is that you don’t just say that you’re thankful for them.
You need to take a moment and really feel appreciation for them. Thoughts are fleeting but the feelings hang around. You’ll will begin to notice the feeling of gratitude is a way of overtaking negative emotions.
2 – Mindfulness
In a similar vein, being more mindful is a great goal to have. It’s another change in your perspective or thought process and it can really change your mental health for the better. Mindfulness is all about being more conscious of the present moment. Your awareness should be on what you’re doing most of the time, where you are and how you’re feeling, instead of on things that are stressing you out.
Studies on mindfulness have shown that it improves mood, reduces stress, and anxiety lessens depressive symptoms and improves general health among many other benefits. Practice focusing on the present, and controlling your breathing patterns. This exercise doesn’t have to be in any longer than a minute, but it should be done a few times throughout the day. Once you get used to taking a minute here and there to feel mindful, it will become a second nature.
3 – Organization
This is something a lot of people struggle with. If you’re already obsessed with your planner and have printed labels on every jar in your pantry, you probably don’t need organizational skills on your checklist. But chances are like most people, you could stand to organize your life more effectively.
Most people forget an appointment now and then or misplace things here and there and it’s really frustrating. Keeping track of your commitments and planning your schedule effectively is another aspect of organization and it’s so important for success.
So get yourself a calendar, a calendar app or a planner and start filling in all of your appointments, deadlines and events along with anything else that you might have to do to. Prepare for them, check your calendar every day so that you know what needs to be done and what’s coming up. This can greatly contribute to success at work, in your life, in general and make you more reliable for your friends and family.
4 – Assertiveness
Working on being more assertive should definitely be part of your checklist. Many people don’t feel comfortable standing up for themselves but it’s important to speak up so that your needs are met and not being overlooked. Being assertive can impact your life in such significant ways.
When you’re assertive in relationships, you’re more likely to have your needs met because you make a point of telling your friends, family and even romantic partners what you need and you make it clear that your needs are important. When you’re assertive at work, you don’t let your boss or coworkers take advantage of you and you make it known when you want a promotion or raise which can make it more likely to happen.
It’s amazing how your life can change when you advocate yourself in a firm but polite way. Often the primary obstacle of becoming more assertive is something called self-worth. If you don’t believe you deserve what you want, you’re going to have a hard time asking for it, so the first thing you should do is start by identifying things about yourself that you do like. Work on your self-esteem and learn to love yourself as you do start voicing your opinions more and from there share your feelings and your needs.
5 – Read Books
Books will give you ideas that you can tangibly apply to your life. You can get ideas from other people but the stories and books and the author’s experiences and perspectives will help give you that perspective to make better decisions in life.
You won’t get very far if you’re not reading a lot and without reading at all, you won’t make any major progressions, so read some books in your industry because experts agree that you can become more knowledgeable than 90% of your field. You can become in the top 10% of your field just by reading four books on the topic. So get reading!
Here is to turning your year into the best year yet!