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How to Start the New Year Fresh
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How to Start the New Year Fresh

How to Start the New Year Fresh

The period between Christmas and New Year’s Day is the perfect time to refocus, to gain some perspective and to review the last year: What happened during the year? What have you achieved? Where were your difficulties? It is a great moment to look closely at whether you have managed your life well or if your life has been somehow out of control. You’ll find out that you can only answer this question in relation to the goals you have previously set yourself.

In my opinion, such a review is very important as then you can see where you stand. Similar to a captain on a ship, we use navigation to make decisions about our future. The following points will help you to determine where you are right now:

  • Avoid euphoria and sentimentality

Depending on how your year went, you will either tend to be euphoric or negatively sentimental. Neither will help you when you want to figure out where you are right now. You need to have a neutral view of your past. This is how you can avoid deceiving yourself and drawing the wrong conclusions. What you have achieved is what you have achieved. And where you have failed you have failed. This might sound harsh, but it will allow you to use your review as a motivational boost.

  • A goal is needed in order to determine success or failure

When you talk to friends or relatives, you probably have encountered the phrase “the journey is the destination”. Sadly this phrase is often used as an excuse for either not having any goals at all, or as a justification when you have not finished a task. This is something you need be aware of when you review your performance. You have planned to do something and you have set a benchmark for yourself; just doing this makes you more courageous and more successful than most of the people.

  • Concentrate on your strengths and not on your weaknesses

You cannot change what already happened. Your future is in your hands.

What I want to say with this is that you can shape your future in a more positive and more active way if you know your strengths and your weaknesses. If you come across some weaknesses in areas that you cannot avoid, you have to change them. Nonetheless, don’t aim for comprehensive change. You’ll loose energy and focus if you strive for perfection. Trust in your strengths and be proud of them. Work on the weaknesses that you can improve upon, and simply be aware of the others.

  • Draw clear conclusions and consequences

A simple determination of your ‘location’ will show you where you are – your goal and the consequences determine your direction. Put another way, your review is a requirement for planning your future. You can profit from your successes as a well as from your failures. A failure will stay a failure until you have learned something from it and have understood the consequences. You cannot change your past, but you can shape your future. Draw clear conclusions without judging yourself. Be proud of yourself and your strengths and start today on the things you want to change.

Here at Goalify, we are looking back on an exciting, successful and informative 2015. After months and months of developing and testing, we finally launched Goalify, providing you with a powerful tool for reaching your goals and changing your habits. Goalify is being used in many countries all over the world, and it is likewise being used in many different contexts. We received a lot of generous feedback from the Goalify community which helped us to tune and improve our app. Have we reached all of our goals? Definitely not. But we know that we are on our way and that we are moving in the right direction. Step by step, we’re improving and expanding the services we provide. We are grateful for having this possibility, and we would like to say thank you for a fantastic 2015!

Keep at it!

Michael & the Goalify team

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