There’s always something exciting and invigorating about the start of a new year! A fresh start, a blank canvas, 365 366 (yay, Leap Year!) days ahead of limitless potential. As we embark on a new year, I wanted to spend a few moments with you and share 6 ways to make 2016 your best year ever!
1. Make Time for Yourself
We Brits are hard workers! With the average adult clocking up around 43.5 hours of work per week, it’s easy to find yourself completely consumed by your job. Be sure to make time for yourself in 2016, whether that’s by taking up a new hobby, getting back into the rhythm of running or by taking to the kitchen and exercising your baking prowess!
Set yourself a challenge in 2016: set aside some time to allow yourself to get to know who you are. Right at your core. Use your new hobby or fitness goals as a way to learn about yourself. If you’re planning a 2016 wedding, spending some time each week or month away from wedding planning is especially important!
2. Stay on Top of Your Health
Run a 5K. Or don’t run a 5K. Join a gym. Or don’t join a gym. Go vegan. Or don’t go vegan. Just find a way to make sure you stay on top of your health and wellbeing. It’s not all about appearances, but the outside is a good place to start. Our 2015 sex survey revealed that 42% of us are unstatisfied with the reflection we see in the mirror. If you’re unhappy with what you see and want to make a healthy lifestyle change, then go for it!
Maybe you’re comfortable with your appearance and confident with how you look but spend your days feeling frazzled and a bit rushed? Mental wellbeing is just as detrimental to your health as physical illnesses. Whether your health needs a check-up internally, externally or both, make 2016 the year you take control and make a positive change. Don’t feel pressure to count calories or obsess about the number on the scale. Just focus on being healthy and being your best self. The simple act of staying in control will make you feel loads better!
3. Be Active in Your Relationships
Our relationships are the most important part of our life, but they’re easily neglacted. Focus a little time this year on giving them attention. Make time to see old friends and don’t shirk family get-togethers in 2016. Whether a row has created a rift or you feel as if you don’t have anything in common, actively seek out common ground and work on your relationships with family.
You don’t have to splash out on a lavish weekend trip or expensive gift to show your loved ones you care, simply send them an unexpected text, or pick up the phone and have a good natter for a few minutes. Catch up; slow down; relive good memories and make even better ones. Take an active role in your relationships in 2016 and you’ll be pleasantly surprised by how good a year you can have.
Just as important as being active in your relationships, is the ability to identify those relationships that cease being good for you. If you have a friend or family member who constantly belittles you and makes you feel bad, evaluate their role in your life. You deserve to be surrounded by people who bring out the best in you and who encourage you to be your best. Anyone doing anything less than this might not be worth your time.
4. Set Goals and Strive to Achieve Them
Most of us feel at our best when we have a purpose or a mission. Planning your wedding will definitely give you a purpose in 2016, but don’t be afraid to step away from the all-consuming planning every now and then. Balance your life with other achievements, other activities and other events. Yes, your wedding will be one of the most important days of your life, but it won’t be the only important day!
Make a list of a few things you’d like to acheive in 2016. It can be anything you want, from something as simple as making a homecooked meal once a week to something extraordinary like running The London Marathon for charity. Write down everything you’d like to achieve or at least get underway in 2016 and strive toward them.
5. Make Time for Your Partner
With making time for yourself, reconnecting with friends, taking up a new hobby and working on your personal goals, you may find that you’re spending less time glued at the hip to your partner. This isn’t exactly a bad thing, just make sure that as your schedule fills up and you get busier, you both seek out some couple time.
Living life on the extremes is never the solution: spending all your time with your soon-to-be spouse isn’t ideal, equally, never seeing them isn’t ideal either! Work out a balance so you can have the best of all your worlds. You’ll find harmony in juggling your work commitments, friendships and hobbies with spending quality time with your future spouse. Get into the habit now, before you get married and you’ll find that the routine persists long after the ‘I do’.
6. Be Gentle with Yourself
I hate to be the bearer of bad news but, everything isn’t going to go your way in 2016. Whether it’s not getting the wedding venue of your dreams or having to compromise on your wedding date, you will find that with wedding planning, you won’t be able to have absolutely everything you want. The same goes for life. Maybe you won’t get the promotion that you want; maybe you’ll find that you’re terrible at that new hobby that you take up. No matter what it is, when you deal with disappointment in 2016, be gentle with yourself.
Don’t beat yourself up over things, especially things you can’t control! When you face setbacks in 2016, take a step back, re-evaluate and brush yourself off and get back out there. You’re brave and confident, strong and capable and you’re ready to make 2016 your best year ever. Don’t let anything stand in your way!
Here’s to you and the best year of your life!
Happy New Year!
