5 Ways To Start Over

The New Year brings new opportunities to set new goals, strive for new things, and to start fresh with a clean slate. Starting over can be difficult, old habits are hard to break. So, to help you get started, here are five things you can do.

1. Let go

Let go of everything negative that affected you in 2016. Let go of past relationships with food, family, significant others, friends, jobs and plans that went awry. Try your best to leave behind any guilt and resentment that you held with you this past year. It’s a new year, don’t let those negatives feelings tarnish your clean slate. Write them down, tear up the list – it’s very liberating.

2. Surround yourself with positivity

Are the people you’re surrounding yourself with not aligning with the goals you’ve set for your fresh start this year? As hard as it may be, letting go of negative relationships, even those closest to you, can help make this fresh start a truly positive experience. If people around you are bringing you down, or prompting negative thoughts and actions in your life, try distancing yourself a little here and there and observe how you feel. Explain to your loved ones what you’re doing to ensure respect from both ends.

3. Create a new mindset

Whether your mindset last year was mostly positive or negative leave it behind. Start fresh by recreating your mindset into the most positive it can be. Rid your mind of those negative thoughts. If ridding them isn’t possible right off the bat, that’s fine. Instead, be aware of them and when they begin to overtake your positive mindset, crush them and squeeze them out by replacing them with positive thoughts. It will take some practice, but soon it will become second nature.

4. Set goals

A fresh start is easier when there are goals to work towards. Try creating three short term goals (example: drinking less during the week, packing a healthy lunch a few times a week, waking up 10 minutes earlier to meditate everyday) and then creating one or two long term goals that you can assess at the end of the year (example: getting more sleep, training and completing a in half-marathon, volunteering.)

5. Put yourself first

As hard as it may be, putting yourself first can be the most important part of your fresh start. Spend a few minutes each day observing how you’re feeling. Whether you take some time journaling each day, or just checking in with your feelings and emotions in the shower each morning, it’s important in your fresh start .jorney

Fresh starts can be intimidating or empowering, it’s all about how you look at it. Create a space where you can work hard to reach the goals you’ve set in the most positive light possible.

You’ve got this!