New Year, New Goals

Let's kick off this new year with a couple of tips and tricks from yours truly. I've always liked to do some things that will benefit myself and actually have an outcome during the new year. This can be a million things depending on your own preferences, however, a few things I like to do at the beginning of each year include;

• creating a prayer jar
• making myself a "one goal per month" list
• write a letter for myself to open at the end of the year
• doing one thing I haven't done the previous year

Now, to go in depth with this for you guys.

     1.     Creating a prayer jar 

• This can be made out of a mason jar,  jelly jar, small box, or even a sandwich baggie, anything you have that can hold your prayers. It doesn't necessarily have to be prayers, this can be wishes, goals, or even a type of "diary" to hold whatever you don't want others to see.
• Start off with a jar, you can decorate this jar or keep it clear and plain. I like to leave my jar how it is with a twist off lid so its easy to access. Super simple.
• On New Years day, what I like to do is, thing about the previous year. What did you struggle with? What were the hardest moments and the happiest moments for you? What effected you the most? With these questions you are asking yourself, take these answers and write out a prayer. {Or wish, or goal} It doesn't need to be in an essay form or in sentences, if its easier for you, bullet these feelings on paper and let them out.
• Once you get your prayer on paper, fold it up and put it into your jar. This isn't something you have to do every single day, you can do this when you're feeling really sad, happy, or you just feel like you need to pray.
• At the end of the year, YOU decide what to do with this. You can read your prayers, you can burn them and start over for the next year or you can simply keep them and continue to add to them. The reason behind this, is that even for myself I find it a little hard to pray sometimes so writing my feelings or prayers down helps.
  

     2.     One goal per month 

• With this, you can make a list, little cards, or anything else you can think of. I personally am a huge OCD fan of lists, so I love to make lists for everything. The way I do it is to simply write out each month and come up with one goal you want to finish for that month. This can be; paying off your car in March, or saving up $300 for Christmas money in November, or even something as simple as going to a spa to pamper yourself during your birthday month. Whatever it is, and no matter how small it is, its a GOAL.
• However, when you do accomplish your monthly goal you have to reward yourself. Everything we do in life is either because we want to or we have to. Some of these goals are the same, for instance you HAVE to pay off your car or you WANT to go to the last game of the season. As silly as it sounds, setting goals is easy, accomplishing goals is a little tough. So rewarding yourself is like giving your dog a treat for learning a new trick. You can do this by taking yourself on a little shopping spree or laying in bed all day and watching movies you love, just because you got done what you needed to get done.

     3.     Writing a letter to yourself 

• This doesn't really need much explaining. I just love to do this at the beginning of every year just because its sometimes funny or relieving to read back on.
• It can be things you love to do at the moment, or what type of music you listen to or even what kind of style you dress. It doesn't need to be an actual letter, it can be a drawing or a bulleted list, or even pictures cut from magazines. You can ask yourself a few questions such as; Who is important to me right now? What type of clothing do I love to wear? How often do I do things I love to do? What are my mostly done hobbies?
• The objective of this "Letter to myself" is to open it at the end of the year and see if you've accomplished what you wanted to, or to simply see the difference in yourself / how you've changed. 
  

     4.     Do something you haven't done before 

• Again, this one doesn't really need to be explained. Simply think about something you've always wanted to do but never had the time or couldn't, make it a "must do", and do it.

So there you have it, just a few of my favorite things to start off every new year. I hope you've all enjoyed my little 'tips and tricks' Happy 2018 and Happy Blogging.