When New Year’s Traditions Aren’t Enough: How to Truly Transform Your Year

February is already here! Does anyone else feel like time is speeding up? Every December, I usually sit down to write my goals for the new year. But this past December was different—my brother and his family came to spend Christmas with us, and with all the planning and celebrations, I decided to leave this important task for later.

In the midst of my “new year planning,” a good friend called. As we shared our holiday experiences, I mentioned I was in the middle of writing down my goals for this new year, and when I asked her about hers, she said she didn’t have a list. She told me, “The last couple of years I have done it all... Every tradition ever invented, (ate the grapes, ran with an empty suitcase, wore the colored underwear, made the 12 wishes etc.), and with all that… my last years have been a disaster.”

If you’re like my friend, who follows every New Year’s Eve tradition and the new year hasn’t turned out the way you wanted, maybe it’s time to try something different. Sometimes, it’s not just about the rituals we perform, but about the mindset we carry into the new year. We need to prepare ourselves to receive the good things we want in our lives. And most importantly, we need open our hearts to new possibilities and truly believe we deserve all the wonderful things life has to offer.

To ensure we are ready to make this year a great one, here are three things that will help you gain clarity and focus:

1. Reflect on Last Year’s Big Wins???: Take a moment to look back at your past year. Celebrate your achievements, everything you accomplished, big or small.
2. Close Out Last Year by Gaining Big Learnings???: What were the learnings you obtained from everything that happened to you last year? What positive outcomes came from the big challenges and obstacles you experienced?
3. Set Big Goals???: Define your goals with clarity and purpose in all areas of your life (life, career, family, spirituality, health & fitness, relationships, personal development). Write them down and create a plan of action. Clear goals give direction and motivation.

Reflecting on and closing out last year is as important as setting your new goals for the year. Everything that happened in our lives happend for a reason, and being able to extract the positive learnings and lessons from those experiences will give us tools and important information about ourselves that will help us in the future. We also need closure and direction to move forward. If you don’t give your mind a guide to where to go, it will decide on its own and follow paths from the past.

Regularly review your goals. Make it a habit! This will help you keep track of your progress and remind you of the things you need to do or have forgotten to do.

I hope this helps you have an amazing 2025!????If you have any specific goals in mind that you’d like to share, I’d love to hear them.