6 Things To Do Before 2016

We have the choice to start fresh with every new day, but an impending new year takes things up a notch.

A new year is a blank slate. An opportunity to wipe away all that negativity and start fresh, while bringing with us the happiness and lessons we’ve picked up along the way. Really, there is potential to start fresh every day but, at the start of a new year, the bar is raised. Just a little…

As the year draws to an end, I like to reflect — with gratitude — on the 12 months just passed and fill with wonder about the 12 that lay ahead. Here are 6 things we can do before midnight strikes on the 31st, to wrap up 2015 with a beautiful bow and prepare to open the gift that is 2016. If you have any ideas to add, please share in the comments!

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Make something. Looking back on the year, any year, it’s often astounding to realize how much we’ve done. Productivity often occurs a bit at a time but, over a period of time, the results are something to be very proud of. This week, make your last masterpiece of 2015 – even if that masterpiece is a delicious batch of cookies. I recently decorated one of my walls with dried flowers, and am happy to have that stand as one of my final works of the year. Making something today will leave you feeling inspired and buzzing to create more in 2016.

Ask yourself something. It often seems that answers show up once we decide to ask. This week, ask yourself a question about whatever your heart desires. It could be a question about why a certain event occurred in the past, or about what’s to come in the future. You may not know the answer right away but, once you put the question out into the universe, you may find an answer sooner than you thought possible. Maybe the answer is already within you.

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Change something. A new year is symbolic of new possibilities, and the way these come to fruition is by doing. Get a head start by making a change today – whether it’s as small as rearranging your furniture or cutting your hair, or as big as changing your outlook on your very own life. Making a positive change now sets the tone for lots of wonderful newness in the year ahead.

Give yourself something. It’s so important to treat yourself (from time to time). Make a little list of what you’re most proud of accomplishing in 2015, and reward yourself! Take yourself out to dinner, get yourself a massage, buy that bag you’ve been eyeing all year, give yourself a hug. You made major strides this year, and you deserve a little something for that.

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Release something. Whether mental or physical, letting go of what no longer serves us is a wonderful way to lighten your load, making room for something new and beautiful. Pinpoint something that you no longer need – an old object, an unfortunate event, an attachment to a previous relationship – and give yourself permission to let it go. Thank it for coming into your life, and let it know that it has served its purpose. Say goodbye.

Plan something. Whenever there is something a-brewing in the future, I live in a constant buzz of positive energy. One way to initiate this excitement is by actually planning something fun! A trip, a reunion, a party for no reason. You don’t have to put the plan into action right away – just focusing on an idea is enough to bring an extra layer of excitement into the year ahead.

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I hope you’ve all had a wonderful, weird, exciting, enlightening 2015, and that 2016 brings you more peace, ease, joy and fun than you’ve experienced thus far. Happy New Year!

Follow Brigette on Instagram, and have a look at her blog Hummusbird!

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8 years ago

Those are some wonderful ideas, very inspiring! Guess I need to get going before 2016 starts!
https://www.makeandmess.com/

8 years ago

As I was reading through this, I realized that I’ve already began this list without knowing. Haha. I treated myself a little and I changed something small, but effective. Happy New Year.

http://thoughtdweller.blogspot.com/

8 years ago

Very good post with great tips. Thanks! Hope you’ll visit my blog :)

Nazlıgül | on my own way

8 years ago

One thing I’ve done in the past five or six years is to sit down with a cup of coffee and write down all the beautiful as well as the not that beautiful moments that I lived through in the past year. It is not about trying to capture everything that happened, but just to create a notion of how the last year was, the feelings that I had when going through it. I try to memorize as many different things as possible, to live through them again for a bit to then finally conclude with them and be open for a new year to come.
This year, I also made a list of with each month of 2016, writing down one or two things that I will try to do in these months, sometimes it’s just a small thing, sometimes it is a big travel plan I’m already looking forward to for ages and sometimes it is trying to create a new habit, like going swimming first thing in the morning in the lake near to my home. I won’t be mad at myself, if, over time, I change those plans and goals, as I know that with life passing, these things can always change, and I also left a few months’ goals empty as I still don’t want to be too determined, but I am looking forward to the challenge and the small reminders of appreciating life and its little moments.

Valley
8 years ago

Brigette, thank you so much for sharing these great ideas. I love your wall with dried flowers. Happy new year!