Fresh Start Ideas 🎆
🙂Make a focus list for the year:
Goals are a good idea because they heighten your focus. Sometimes we could shy away from making goals because we fear not being able to follow through with them. However, it takes practice to become someone who follows through with goals. Envisioning your goals as a focus list is a good way to decrease the internal pressure. When I started goal setting, I was reluctant at first but I realized that it helped me have a sense of focus that I otherwise would not have had.
🙂 Declutter some part of your home:
You may decide to declutter your purse, briefcase, or your closet. Pick something around you to declutter. Having less clutter will give you some space to think. Studies have shown that decreasing clutter leads to increased focus, decreased anxiety and improved mental health.
Decluttering can be an overwhelming activity so breaking it up into manageable practical sessions is more effective than deciding that you will finish working on your whole living area in one day.
🙂Make time for a hobby that relaxes you:
🙂Make time for reflection: Prayer and reflection give us a way to think about where we currently are and invite God into our situation.
A Bible verse that brings this to light is 2nd Corinthians 13:5 "Examine and test and evaluate your own selves to see whether you are holding to your faith and showing the proper fruits of it. Test and prove yourselves [not Christ]. Do you not yourselves realize and know [thoroughly by an ever-increasing experience] that Jesus Christ is in you–unless you are [counterfeits] disapproved on trial and rejected?"
2 Corinthians 13:5 AMPC
Sometimes keeping up with where we are is a hard thing to do in a busy world so we actually have to make time for it. When I write about self-examination, I am not referring to a guilt trip or a mindset that would lead you down a road that ends with feelings of worthlessness. I am referring to honestly checking in with yourself and talking to God about it. If you feel like your self-examination shows that there is a lot of inner work to be done, prayer is the right place to start. The good thing about finding out you are on a road you hadn't planned to travel down is that you can reroute. Journaling your thoughts can help with this process.
🙂Make time for your health: At the start of the year a lot of people want to change bad habits to good ones. One of the popular new year resolutions is associated with adopting healthy lifestyle habits for improved health. We could also get distracted by making it more about aesthetics than building healthy habits. For example, if you make a decision to exercise, your weight may fluctuate but it does not mean that your new exercise habit is not beneficial. There are other benefits of exercise not necessarily associated with weight loss. You have increased blood flow, along with increased use of oxygen in the body. The cells of your body need oxygen for various processes in the body and exercise will make this oxygen more readily available.
Ify O.
360 Health Coach
RN BSN, Kinesiology, MBS
Instagram page: @ify_360healthcoaching
Facebook page:360 Health Coaching and Consulting
Reference
Gordon, S. (2022).The relationship between Mental Health and Cleaning. Verywell mind. https://www.verywellmind.com/how-mental-health-and-cleaning-are-connected-5097496
