HOW TO: Resolutions

I honestly love New Years. It is one of my favorite holidays. It has all my favorite things- fireworks, kissing, staying up late, eating tasty appetizers, starting the year off fresh. What's not to love?

This year, under the direction of my SUPER friend Brook I was a bit more thoughtful about my resolutions. For me it has now become a 5 step process & I'm here to share it with you friends (please note: this is more touchy-feely/spiritual/conceptual than I tend to get here on the blog but go with it I promise you won't regret it):

Step 1: PUT YOUR PAST YEAR TO REST
I had, at a conscious and unconscious level, wanted to and sorta had been doing this but I didn't really know how to do it in any pragmatic way until Brook sent a link to me (here) of a work sheet you can fill out that helps you kind of look at your past year- the good stuff, the sucky stuff, disappointments, and triumphs. And, oh boy, did it help.

Then at our solstice celebration we wrote down a word from this past year that encapsulates perhaps the hard parts of the past year (that's when I picked the word SURVIVAL to describe 2012 because while I love it, the first year of a babies life if survival-mode for the mama) and then we burned the little pieces of paper in essence eliminating that hard time and having a clean slate for new times to come.

It was fantastic to put 2012 to a close. Something I have never done it in such an organized way, but I plan on doing from now on.

Step 2: PICK ONE LITTLE WORD
This is also a concept Brook taught me (I told you she's SUPER) & she did it much more justice on this post from her blog (go read it now). But I'll tell you in my lack luster words- it's the idea of picking ONE WORD to encapsulate your goals for this year. Maybe the word just comes to you, but for me, I looked at the goals I had for this year, the things I wanted to get done, changes that needed to be made, meditated on it, prayed about it, & then came to my word. Which, my friends is REVOLUTION. There are a lot of things that need to be revolutionized in my life. A complete upheaval in some parts, but there are quiet revolutions need to happen everyday also.
This is also something we celebrated at our Winter Solstice party too. Other words that people picked were: Light, Whisper, & Today. So, what I'm saying is you can pick ANYTHING. If you decide on one & wouldn't mind sharing post here- I'd love to hear it.

Step 3: PICK A PHRASE
In my case I picked a scripture that happens to completely encompass the things that I want to work on this year (seriously you guys, I take the fact that I found this, as a sign that I'm focusing on the right things, right now). It is "Establish a house. Even a house of prayer, a house of fasting, a house of faith, a house of learning, a house of glory, a house of order, a house of God." Now your phrase can be anything- long, short whatever but, for me, already, 7 days into the New Year, it's become a mantra.

Step 4: MAKE AN INSPIRATION BOARD*
I've had an inspiration board above my computer for a long time. When I was a teenager it was more like an inspiration wall (like complicated, angsty wallpaper). But I love the idea of doing something a little smaller this time (mine is a 16x23 inch pin board) that focuses solely on what I want to accomplish/how I want to feel during this LUCKY 2013.

I'm sure we've all done this before, so you all don't need instructions but take a look here at my friend Meagan's board (her's is huge & blocked into sections) and here's Brooks board (her's is on 12x12 scrapbook pages & covered with lovely pictures from magazines). They can be as full as you want, sectioned off, colorful- whatever you need. For me, I needed it to be clear, focused, straight lined because, as you all know I'm not that way AT ALL.

* NOTE: I actually have a Pinterest board too & I love having both. Mostly because I need my physical board to be REALLY clean and clear & I like being able to add to my Pinterest board as I go along. I have things on my Pinterest board that are more practical too. Things like: dying my hair a funky color, seeing the Red Woods, camping, having adult dinner parties, taking a great family picture- things like that. You can check mine out here.


Step 5: GET YOUR BUTT IN GEAR!
'Nough Said.

There we go. I guess the point I want to make here also is that you don't need a New Year to do this (though it's an excellent starting point) but you can do this any time in any way that works for you. I'm sure there will be be updates here on the blog & I want to hear about your New Years Resoltuions.

Do you love New Years? 
Do you have traditions when it comes to your resolutions? 
What are some of the things you want to accomplish in the nest year? 
Has anyone picked their word/phrase yet?