Happy 2018! WooHoo! That time for a fresh start is right now. The New Year is an ideal time for all of us to clean our lens, readjust our focus and think about what we want out of the next year of our life. We had some hits, some misses, some in-betweens in 2017 and after taking some time to reflect on all of it, it’s time to take that step, turn that page and begin again.

How do you do it? Think about it…the hard part isn’t choosing that you want to wipe the slate clean - the challenge lies in figuring out the path of least resistance, how you can accomplish, fine tune, dissect what it is you want out of the next year of your life. And, yes, given that I am a slate wiper cleaner and I have lots of great inspiration in my life, I have three ideas that can help you to see your goals and believe that you can achieve them - or at least start taking steps in that direction.

Plan It

Planners are a fabulous tool to help you recognize your goals and take steps to achieve them. Whether you use a day planner, a monthly planner, a pocket planner or even a family calendar, planning out your days does make a difference with keeping you focused on the light at the end of the tunnel. I’m also a believer in when you take the time to write things down, you further cement it in the noggin.

Write it, plan it, get it done

I was never a big believer in planners until about five years ago. My brother introduced me to the Franklin Covey system and it was life changing for me. Since that point in time, I have coerced my children to use a planner in their day to day life as students. I don’t think my boys are as big of fans as my Lex but one out of three ain’t bad. For me personally, I rely on my planner to help me not forget, to prioritize, to keep me task oriented. I have weeks here or there where things are slow work-wise, schedule wise and I don’t keep as diligent as I should but for the most part, I always fall back to planning my days and my weeks. Make a plan - stick to it.

Speak It

Whether you choose a mantra, choose a word, choose a song or maybe even an inspirational piece of writing or listening to motivational tapes, say it loud and proud. When we speak something that resonates within us, we give it life. And when we are trying to find resonation, speaking aloud our thoughts, our hopes, our dreams, our goals can go a long way to impact our dedication to making those things happen and keeping our mental focus in that direction.

Don't Stop Believin

This was a fairly new exercise for me and being me, I coerced my family into taking part. I actually got the idea from a social media post that someone had shared about a woman who chose a word for the year. The author chose the word ‘strive’ and used it as the driving force in her life for those particular 365 days. I loved the idea and I gave my goslings and my Rob a week notice to come up with a word of their own to shape the year ahead. The word I chose was ‘believe’. My Rob asked me why and I explained how for me, the word 'believe' touched every area of my life right now. I typed them out and taped them to my bathroom mirror where I can see them daily. And, yes, I do speak them to Gussy as having a conversation with him seems less weird then saying them aloud to myself in the word. But give them voice.

See It

I love this and only recently learned about it. In 2016, someone spoke to me about vision boards. Basically, a vision board is a piece of paper, a poster board, something of that nature and on said board you visualize what you want out of your life. Whether it’s something tangible, something intangible, a thought, an idea, a mantra, whatever you are visualizing in your future, put it on the board. Visualization is a powerful tool and you will find from Olympic athletes to Fortune 500 corporate execs - many of them use some sort of visualization in their professional and/or personal life.

Lexi's Vision Board

Last year I did vision boards with all three of my little gooses and, coincidentally, there were several things on my board that happened, that were realized in 2017. This year, I asked them to incorporate their word as well into their board so that it would serve as a visual reminder of the direction they wanted their year to go. Lexi and I took two different directions, Jax was a minimalist and CJ didn’t do one at all in exchange for working on his Naval Academy essay which was fine. I taped mine to the pantry door where I see it daily. There are some realistic goals, some stretches (the 2018 Dodge Challenger is probs not happening but a girl’s gotta have hope). If the only thing I accomplish is beginning and ending each day with gratitude and joy, 1/10 of my vision board - 2018 will be an incredible success!

Life is hard, peepers. Things happen, things do go as planned, it gets messy, the dog pees on the couch (legit just happened). But life is beautiful too. There are sunrises and sunsets, birthdays and anniversaries, hands that hold yours, tight hugs and warm phone calls. Titos, Trulys and tacos, hot chocolate and freshly baked cookies. Baby kisses, wagging tails, a roof over our heads. Think about what matters, find your joy, your gratitude, your passion. Plan your days to matter. Speak your personal mantra and visualize where you want to be. It really is that easy.

Give me your best 2018 - I'm ready!