End of Year Review and Resolutions For Your Mental Health

I get really ramped up this time of year, I love the feeling of closing out one chapter and starting a new one. Here are some things I’m doing to finish the year strong and some ideas for resolutions you can set to improve your mental health.

Debrief The Last Year

I’ve been spending a shit ton of time debriefing this last year. I think journaling about the past year is a great way to get ready to close it out and start something new. I have a whole workbook you can get for free below to reflect back on this last year and sort out what really served you and what didn’t. There are so many lessons that can be learned by reflecting back. I’ve found that when I try to ignore issues or I don’t spend time debriefing and reflecting back that the same issues will reappear until I learn the lesson. Save yourself a lot of grief and learn the lessons ASAP to get on with being the badass you’re meant to be. You can find my favorite yearend journal prompts listed below. I also included them in a workbook you can get for free by filling out the form. These are great prompts to complete before you set your goals for the upcoming year. If you’re looking for mental health resources for the holiday season check out my Holiday Mental Health Survival Guide.

I always want to remember these experiences:
My proudest accomplishments were:
My biggest lessons from this year were:
If I could change anything about this year it would be:
The biggest challenge I overcame was:
I tried these new things:
My biggest disappointment was:
The quality I appreciate most about myself is:
If the last year was a movie what kind of movie would it be?
Who would the cast be?
What would the plot be?
My happy moment theme song this year was:
My sad moment theme song this year was:
My theme song for the upcoming year will be:
This year I traveled to these places:
The people who gave me the most support were:
The relationships that taught me the most this year were:
I am thankful for these blessings I received this year:
The best books I’ve read this year were:
The best movies I saw this year were:
The best concerts I saw this year were:
I contributed to my community in these ways:
I lived in these places this year:
My favorite things about where I lived were:
I met these new people this year:
My favorite moments of this year were:
My biggest fitness accomplishment was:
My biggest career accomplishment was:
My biggest relationship accomplishment was:
My biggest mental health accomplishment was:

 

Wrap Up

Reflect back on your goals from the last year and wrap up anything that is partially finished. Make a plan for what you want to accomplish before 2018. Giving yourself a hard short deadline can be really motivating. Kick your ass in gear so you can accomplish whatever it was that you were wanting to accomplish this year.  This is a great time of the year to go hard on your goals and see how much you can get done before the end of the year.

Smash Limiting Beliefs

The only way to get the life you want is to dream freaking big. Figure out what beliefs you’re holding onto that are limiting you (I’m not organized to work for myself, if I try something new it will fail because I have failed hard in the past, etc). Once you’ve identified the limiting beliefs that are holding you back you can be aware of how they are influencing your goal setting. You only get one life so you should dream as big as you freaking want. Figure out what you need to do to tell any voice in your head that says you can’t or you’re not good enough to kick rocks.

Set Goals That Make You Pumped

Once you’ve shut out your limiting beliefs and figured out what your ultimate dream is you can start breaking it down into smaller pieces. Your goals should be moving you towards something that makes you excited AF.

If you don’t feel lit up and ready to kill it you need to ask yourself why you want to accomplish the goal.

Sometimes we set goals that would make our spouse or family happy but it’s not really true to what we want to do. Set your goals based on what your deepest desires are for your life.

When you’re done writing them you should feel like “fuck yes” and you should be pumped to get started. If you don’t feel like that go back to the drawing board and give it another shot.

Go Big or Go Home

Every “how to set goals” article you will ever read will tell you how important it is to set realistic goals. I like to take a more swing for the fences approach. Try and set goals that will totally transform your life.

So many people waste time on New Years Resolutions that only change your life in a small way and while making a lot of small changes can have a big impact it can also suck out all your energy.

If you’re doing a bunch of small resolutions that don’t have much impact on your life it’s going to leave you feeling drained.

Prepare

Once you’ve got your goals for the next year start preparing to slay them. Get any equipment that you need to be successful and create a schedule that you can implement. Get a head start and even get started ASAP.

One of my goals for the next year is to create more video content. I spent the last few weeks researching what camera to buy and learning how to use it.

Go ahead and give yourself a jump start on whatever it is that you’re wanting to do next year.

Mental Health Resolutions

If you’re looking for some ideas for resolutions you can set to improve your mental health check out the list below.

Make a list of things you could do that you know would improve your mental health and narrow it down to your top three.

Make a plan to implement them throughout the year.

  1. Meditate in the morning
  2. Journal in the evening
  3. Go for a walk every day
  4. Spend Sundays volunteering for an organization you are passionate about
  5. Donate money to charity every month
  6. Read a book a week
  7. Start a blog
  8. Write the first draft of your book
  9. Create a capsule wardrobe
  10. Declutter a room of your house each month
  11. Make a new recipe every week
  12. Drink a fuck ton of water
  13. Try a new workout every week until you find something you love
  14. Adopt a pet
  15. Send your friends birthday cards in the mail
  16. Travel to six new places
  17. Create a beautiful bedroom space
  18. Listen to a TED talk a day
  19. Find a healthy snack that you love
  20. Go on a road trip
  21. Do something that scares the shit out of you
  22. Donate all the clothes you don’t wear regularly
  23. Up your salad game and start eating tons of greens
  24. Start a gratitude practice
  25. Try stream of consciousness journaling
  26. Spend time outside every day 
  27. Try out bike commuting
  28. Try a new hobby
  29. Go to the doctor, dentist and eye doctor
  30. Keep in touch with old friends
  31. Make new friends
  32. Take a class
  33. Face a fear
  34. Go to therapy
  35. Visit a museum or amusement park
  36. Donate blood
  37. Start learning a new language
  38. Get better sleep
  39. Give up a bad habit
  40. Watch less TV
  41. Start saving money
  42. Forgive someone that hurt you
  43. Use affirmations
  44. Be on time
  45. Try online dating or take your significant other out on weekly dates
  46. Change your career
  47. Stop complaining
  48. Spend less time on social media
  49. Work on an art project
  50. Do a random act of kindness every day

 

50 resolutions for your mental health

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