How to Actually Start Your New Year Well

Want to start your new year off well? Here are six practical ways to set yourself up for success in the year ahead:

1. Clean out your inbox

It’s amazing how much more productive and organized you can be when your inbox isn’t bulging with way. too. many emails! Take some time to clean out your inbox and set up a great plan for incoming messages.

Need some help? Here’s my 4-step plan to achieve zero inbox every day.

2. Get caught up on laundry

There are few things as frustrating as piles of dirty laundry or trying to get ready to go somewhere and discovering you have nothing clean to wear! Start your year well by getting all caught up on the laundry. Maybe consider hosting a Laundry Party with your family to get it under control.

3. Create a morning routine

A successful morning sets you up for a great day. And a series of successful mornings equals a successful year!

Sit down and come up with a simple morning routine for the upcoming year and see if it makes a big difference for you.

If you’d like some step-by-step encouragement, I’ll walk you step-by-step through everything you need to set up a great morning routine in my 14-day course, Make Over Your Mornings.

4. Set one goal for January

I know it’s so easy to want to come up with these grandiose plans and resolutions for the entire year. But what if you were to dial back those big dreams and just set one small goal for January? Something that you can actually do and realistically accomplish in 31 days?

Need some more encouragement and inspiration to actually set and finish goals? Read Jon Acuff’s great book, Finish. I promise there’s a good chance his ideas and advice will fly in the face of most advice you’ve heard over the years. But I’m here to tell you that it’s solid and that it works. 🙂

5. Choose a habit to develop.

We all want to overhaul our life overnight, but true, lasting change begins with small habits that we develop and stick with consistently.

Come up with a simple habit that you want to make a priority in January. Write this habit down, decide when you are going to incorporate it into your life, tell someone that you’re doing it, and then download a daily habit tracker to help you stay accountable.

6. Count your blessings from last year.

Gratitude can completely transform our perspective! If you had a rough year, you might be feeling stressed or discouraged going into a new year. And you might feel like it just seems like nothing is going right in your life.

If that’s the case, I challenge you to take some time today to come up with a list of at least 10 blessings from last year.

If you need help getting started, what about having a roof over your head, food to eat, the ability to walk and talk, the people in your life who love you… The more you start paying attention to the blessings in your life, the more you’ll begin to notice them.