Julie Boyer, The Grateful Entrepreneur, is a popular speaker, lifestyle coach, and leadership development expert. She is the author of 30 Days of Gratitude
For some of us, last year was year filled with success, joy, and gratitude. For others, it was a difficult year filled with loss and heartache. It’s true that we are given the gift to start over each and every morning, yet there is something infinitely more special about waking up to the dawn of another calendar year.
Gratitude Tip: Leave the past in the past and embrace the blank slate that is before you. Spend a few moments in gratitude for the year that has passed and that you are here to celebrate the New Year. Give thanks for the good, the great, and the difficult things that you made it through last year.
9. Success – We all want more success than the previous year. It is human nature to strive to be better than we were before. Keys to creating more success this year include setting clear and concise goals and staying accountable to these goals on a daily basis. Choose your three most important goals for 2016 and then break them down to simple daily actions to take in order to reach them.
8. Inspired Action – Simple daily actions to reach your goals become even more powerful if you add a bit of inspiration behind them. A rock solid “WHY” as the foundation of your goals motivates you to take inspired action. Do you know the “WHY” behind what you are aiming for this year? What does achieving your goals really mean for you? How will your life change when you reach or exceed your goals? Success without inspired action does not come as easily nor does it feel as good.
7. Connections – What if next year is all about creating new connections and making new friends? In many ways, we live in a disconnected world and we’re spending much of our time hiding behind our screens rather than making real connections. Let’s change this by allowing yourself to be more open to meeting new people and allowing them to be a part of your life. Take time to look people in the eye and smile. Add value to the people around you everywhere you are.
6. Being of Service – My word of the year is service and I am working on becoming more of a servant-leader. Create more opportunities to be of service to others this year. Volunteer for a charity you love. Offer to help a friend who is going through a difficult time. Most of all, lead with a servant heart wherever you go.
5. Positive Influence – When people are in your presence, do they feel more positive and uplifted? Your energy has a direct effect on those you come into contact with. This year, make a commitment to be a positive person. Choose your words with care and be the light for others. When you find yourself in a negative space, instead of spreading the negativity around, connect with someone in your life who is in a positive space and ask them to simply listen. Should you be the one who is asked to listen, open your heart and connect with compassion.
4. Creativity – Opening yourself to express more creativity sounds like a lot of fun! How can you do this? Where are opportunities in your day to be more creative? Blogging daily has given me opportunities to be creative by finding something new to write about with an underlying theme of gratitude. Adult colouring books are very popular and are a simple and fun way to be more creative. Trying a new hobby or sport also engages the creative part of your brain. I have seen beautiful posts of paintings on Facebook and Instagram – and some of these creations were made by those who have never done anything like this before. The world needs your creative gifts! Find a way to unlock them.
3. Healthier Lifestyles – What if this year you were in your best health ever? How would that translate to all of the other things you create in your life? New Year’s resolutions are a good place start – though they tend to expire within a few weeks. Make a year-long commitment to create a healthier lifestyle for yourself and to inspire those around you. Developing new health habits takes time. Give yourself the gift of incredible health this year and everything else will fall into place much more easily.
2. Love –This is one of the most important things we want to create more of in 2016. Love is free. Unconditional love is one of the greatest gifts we can give each other. The more love you give away, the more love there is, as it has such a beautiful multiplying effect. Give the gift of a smile to someone and you usually get one back. Give a hug and one is usually returned. Let’s create more unconditional love in 2016. My love has no conditions. I l
ove you simply because you are a human being and all human beings are worthy of love.
1. Gratitude – This is the foundation for everything that I create in my own life and it is my driving passion. There is always room for more gratitude in our lives. I am committed to deepening my own gratitude practice in 2016. I will be working with Gratefulness.org as a resource for all things related to gratitude and I invite you to visit this site.
The newest chapter in your life is blank. You hold the pen.
How can you deepen your own gratitude practice this year?
Do you want celebrate more gratitude this year? Try these tips from How to Feel Gratitude (Even When You Don’t Want To).
Pump up your commitment to your resolutions and discover How to Write SMART Personal Goals.
Not sure what makes you feel passion? Check out these tips from How to Find Your Passion.