How to Be Happy This Year: 5 Tips to Finding Your Happiness Within

How to Be Happy This Year: 5 Tips to Finding Your Happiness Within

Happy 2020 Everyone! I’m back!

Wow… I can’t believe it’s been a year and a half since I’ve opened a fresh post to write on. Needless to say, a lot has happened to me since I took a step back from my blog in Summer 2018.

First of all, I want to thank each and every one of you who has stuck by my side and had my back through the ups and downs of the last year. Loyalty is everything to me and you all are the real ones. Second, I want to welcome everyone back to what is evolving into the new and improved version of The City Sidewalks! I am SUPER excited to be sharing all of my new projects with you in the upcoming year. More to come on that in a little bit…

So, where the hell have I been?

The short of it: I took some time off to deal with my mental health. I’ll admit that after moving to New York, I completely lost my footing. It had nothing to do with my surroundings, but rather my mindset and my mental health. I was suddenly overwhelmed with a lot of anxiety and depression that pushed me into a place where I didn’t even recognize myself anymore. It’s like change was happening all around me and I was stuck somewhere else. I lost myself. I became totally out of touch with the things that truly made me happy and was looking to anything to quickly fill that void. My life had become unmanageable.

A series of events in 2019 brought my life as I knew it to a screeching halt. At one moment in the Fall, I was faced with a situation that forced me to take a very honest look at myself and see who I had become. I was mentally in a very dark place and contemplating what my next steps should be. Have you ever had that feeling when you fall asleep somewhere after a night of drinking and you wake up the next morning wondering how you got there? That’s really the best way I can think of to describe how I felt in that moment. I was so confused as to how I had let myself get so far away from myself.

But strangely, through it all, I felt this calm, quiet voice inside of me telling me that everything was going to be OK and that everything was unfolding exactly as it should. I was sitting alone in a room, crying my eyes out, but also fully knowing that everything was happening for a reason to put me on the path I was really meant to be on. So I decided to pull myself up off the floor (literally) and strap myself in for what was about to be a magical ride. From that moment on, I dedicated every waking second I could to improving the only thing I had control over: MYSELF.

Shit, man… That was the best damn decision I could have ever made! In choosing me and my happiness as my top priority, it’s allowed me to step into this completely new space of alignment with the path I was always meant to be on. It’s opened the door to a new way of life that I hadn’t even dreamed of before. It’s allowed me to come to a graceful place of acceptance and gratitude of everything that I went through over the last few years and knowing it all happened for this greater purpose. I can honestly say that I am happier than I have ever been in my entire life and radiate with that joy every single day. And I know that it’s only going up from here!

My goal for this website in 2020 and beyond is to evolve the content that I create so that you can be inspired to dream, create, and live a life you’ve always wanted right alongside me while I do the same.

What you can expect to find on The City Sidewalks now is content that is focused on helping you live the life of your dreams by breaking through your limiting beliefs, doubts, and fears so you can own your power and manifest a life you love living EVERY. SINGLE. DAY. I’m dedicated to providing content that is based on the foundation of living from a positive mindset that can influence how you live your life, travel, take care of yourself, and manifest anything you want. There will still be lots of travel content, but it will be flawlessly intertwined with how to create a new mindset that allows you to deliberately manifest your dream life and all of the travel adventures that come along with it.

This year, you can expect more content coming to the website (just because I was offline doesn’t mean I wasn’t traveling!), my YouTube Channel, my first eBook, and a ton of free things being added to my Free Resource Library on a monthly basis. If you want to get on board and start learning how you can be the master creator of your reality, I suggest you subscribe to my newsletter now if you haven’t already because I have soooo much in the works for you ;)

Now that all those personal updates are out of the way, we can get to the meat and potatoes of this post! For my first post back, I believe it’s appropriate to start on a high note and discuss happiness. Happiness! How do we find it? How do we feel it? How do we keep it? It seems like such an elusive thing; but when you take a step back and realize that you’re actually in control of your own happiness, it can be a really powerful thing when you take back that control once and for all. When I was faced with my tough times, these were the tips that I used to shift my mindset to focus on the happiness that I was able to create:

1. Surrender and let go

   A big step towards finding your happiness and shifting your mindset is to accept where you are in your journey, surrender, and let go of the illusion of control that you’ve been exerting. A lot of the control that we try to exert on a day-to-day basis comes from a place of lack of not having what we want and fear that we aren’t going to get what we want. Through the Law of Attraction, all this does is attract more of what you don’t want into your life. Learn to realize what you do actually have control over and let go of what you can’t control. Surrender to whatever current circumstances you’re experiencing and let the universe step in to do its job. Let go of trying to control what has already happened or what was already in motion and focus on the one thing you do have control over. Which brings me to my next point…
   
   

2. Realize what you do have control over

   There is really only one thing that you have control over in your life: YOURSELF. You have the power to control your thoughts, your actions, your behaviors, your habits, your words, your feelings. All of it is in your control. After you finally learn to let go and release resistance, you start to get into the flow of energy that effortlessly allows anything you want to come to you. Realize that you are the only person you have control over and bask in that power. Stop caring about what other people are going to think. Stop caring about trying to control a situation that already happened. Stop caring about things that haven’t even happened yet. Take your power back and see that you have control over how you react and feel about anything that comes your way. Be more present in the moment and focus on yourself. You are the only one who is responsible for and in control of your happiness. Take that power and run with it!
   
   

3. Love yourself + STOP negative self-talk

   This might be the tip that changed my life the most. When I began this journey back to myself, this was the key to feeling happiness in any moment. I started taking inventory of the thoughts that were running around in my mind. Wow, was this a wake-up call. There was SO MUCH negative self-talk going on in my head. It’s no wonder I was dealing with debilitating anxiety and depression on a daily basis. Constantly comparing myself to others, telling myself I looked a certain way, thinking I wasn’t good enough to do what I wanted to do. WTF?! Who gave these thoughts permission to run my life?! …I did… (the Chrissy Teigen meme would be great right here) As soon as I realized what was going on, it was like the kids were having a party and the parents finally came home and caught them. I decided to make a conscious effort to monitor my thoughts and immediately eliminate any form of negative self-talk that came across my awareness and switch it with the more positive or productive version. This took conscious effort for about one week and then started to become second nature. It completely changed my self-worth and self-image and allowed me to step into alignment with the person I wanted to be. Love yourself and go easy on yourself! We beat ourselves up way too much for no reason.
   
   

4. Do more of what you love

   This seems so simple, yet we rarely make the time to actually do it. Doing the things that you love, that bring you joy, and that feed your soul are a quick way to happiness. It can be as simple as playing with your pet or as adventurous as skydiving. Whatever it is, make a list of the things you absolutely love and intend to do them. Schedule the time if you need to, but do more of what you love and you will instantly be happier.
   
   

5. Give gratitude for every moment

   Gratitude is such an important key to happiness. The more you are grateful for what you have, the more you will have what you are grateful for. Gratitude is a quick way to raise your vibration and let the happiness flood into your life. Give gratitude for every single moment and experience in your life. Even if you’re feeling down/angry/shitty, know that there is something in your life to be grateful for and shift your focus to that. I now like to live by the phrase: “Everything happens for you, not to you.” This simple phrase has changed my life. If you start looking at anything you’re going through with that phrase in mind, it allows you to open up your heart to receive the lessons that are meant to be learned in order to move you to the next phase of your experience. There is always something to be grateful for!

When I was on my path to healing myself, I had a moment of clarity that shifted everything in my perspective. I realized how impactful this shift was on my personal experience and suddenly had an immense desire to share it with you all. I figured that if I could go from being at my lowest point in life and not having the desire to continue on, to doing a complete 180° shift and finding myself, my happiness, and learning how to take control of my life and manifest anything I want, then anyone else can do it too.

I felt inspired to create two things for you to start off the year to make it your best year yet. The first thing is my 30 Days of Self-Care Challenge, which you can get totally free by signing up for my Free Resource Library. These are tips that I used to start putting myself first and delving into the self-care that I needed. The second thing is my eBook, 30-Day Mindset Mastery Challenge, which are the steps that I used to get into this mindset and start creating the reality that I wanted to see unfold.

This challenge outlines the exact framework and steps that I took in order to help me:

• Get through a painful breakup and heal myself in the process

• Give up alcohol and other substances that were no longer serving me

• Overcome and conquer my anxiety and depression

• Find my passion and purpose in life and create a map to my dreams

• Improve my relationships with family and friends

• Attract more money and stability in my life

• Create a healthier self-image and effortlessly lose weight

• Live a happier life filled with only things that serve me

• Let go of all fears, limiting beliefs, resistance, and doubts I had

• Start to truly love myself and realize I had the power all along

You can buy the eBook right now and start the challenge, or you can read the first week for free in my Free Resource Library.

Thank you again to everyone who has stood by my side, had my back, and supported me through this journey. I’m so optimistic and excited for everything that is about to unfold in 2020 and cannot wait to share it with you!

—xx, Ana

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8 Things My Birthday Taught Me About Mental Health

8 Things My Birthday Taught Me About Mental Health

Last week, I turned 28. To me, it was a milestone birthday because I’m no longer in my early twenties and I’m quickly approaching 30. It left me thinking things like,

• “How the hell did it come so fast?”

• “Is this what the rest of my life is going to be like?”

• “What do I even have to show for this time?”

• “Please make it stop!”

Turning 28 was kind of scary for me. I realized that my life, as it is today, is nothing close to what I thought it would be by the time I was 28. When I was younger, I always thought maybe I’d have a family by this age, maybe I’d own my own house, and maybe I’d have my own thriving business that I could live off of and not have to supplement it with other income.

Well… None of those things are the case right now. For a moment, it felt very disappointing. I felt like I had let myself down and completely failed at being an adult. I felt like I had failed and that my dreams were never going to come true.

Failed. Can you believe that? Despite accomplishing a fair amount of goals I had set out over the years, I still felt like I was nothing and would never be able to accomplish anything. Failed at 28.

It wasn’t until my sister sent me a text reminding me of the New Moon that was approaching (which happened to fall right on my birthday, May 15th) that I realized how ridiculous I was sounding. Turning 28 on the New Moon was the perfect time to reset my goals and intentions. I mean, I’ve always been a little melodramatic, but this was just down right stupid of me to think so negatively about my entire life.

I had let society’s imposed rules and limitations (some of which I don’t even subscribe to) get so deeply ingrained in my head that I had convinced myself I was a complete failure at age 28 for not meeting those preposterous expectations and should just give up. Not only had I let myself be fooled by these absurd “rules,” but the fact that I wasn’t achieving them was aggressively feeding into my anxiety and depression.

If you deal with anxiety and depression like I do, this might not sound too far off for you. It’s so easy to get sucked into that black hole of negativity when you feel like you can’t find the light at the end of the tunnel. It’s easy to feel like you haven’t accomplished anything when you have that voice in your head telling you it’s still not enough. The key to the puzzle is having the right tools to help pull yourself out of it so you can start to see the light.

Now...hear me out: I’m no anxiety, depression, or mental health expert. I haven’t cracked the code on how to get rid of it and I still deal with my anxieties on a daily basis. But I do feel like my journey with it has led me to finding keys, tools, and healthy coping mechanisms for me to mitigate the effects of it from time to time. It’s these very tools that helped me pull myself out of that “Help me, I’m 28 and my world is ending” negative bubble I felt trapped in.

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If you’re feeling down, alone in your struggles, or just looking for a glimmer of light, I invite you to explore some of these tools and ideas, if you aren’t already, and know that you are not alone!

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1. Take Care of #1

Like the legendary RuPaul always says, “If you can’t love yourself, how in the hell you gonna love somebody else?” This is SO important that I had to put it at the top of the list. Whenever I’m having a meltdown, 99% of the time, I’ve also been neglecting to taking care of myself and my personal needs. If you aren’t taking care of yourself, it’s easy for the rest of your life to feel like a hot mess. You have got to take care of #1!

Ask yourself what self care and self love means to you. Is it hitting the gym? Is it getting a mani/pedi? Is it getting 7-9 hours of sleep at night? Is it spending 10 minutes a day journaling? Is it going for a walk in nature? Whatever it is, you need to make sure you’re taking care of yourself. Take some time to write a list of things that you can do to take care of yourself on a daily, weekly, monthly, quarterly, and yearly basis. It can be as big as taking a vacation or as small as doing your hair differently.

2. Consider Therapy (or talking to someone)

It’s time to take away the stigmas that surround mental health and therapy. Seeing a therapist is not shameful or something to be embarrassed about. It is something to celebrate and be proud of yourself for taking the steps to explore! Therapy offers a safe space to learn new tools and healing techniques that can guide you towards living a happier, more fulfilled life.

I’m a HUGE advocate for therapy and taking care of your mental health. Right now, I actually see a therapist twice a week (one by myself and one with my partner) and can honestly say that it has changed my life for the better. I’ve been going to therapy on and off for the last 5 years and still feel like there is so much to explore and learn. It helps me in times when I’m feeling down and gives me someone to talk to who I know will listen and be impartial with their feedback.

I speak openly about going to therapy and highly recommend it to anyone who is considering it. Therapy provides you with a non-judgmental individual who helps show you the tools to make yourself a better person. You can learn to heal from past experiences, gain new communication techniques, or discover a new way of thinking. What’s not to love about that?

If you don’t feel ready to take the leap into therapy, that’s totally fine too! If you have an person in your life who is willing to hear you out and talk with you about your struggles, by all means, do that! It is healthier to talk with someone as opposed to keeping all your emotions bottled up only for them to erupt in an ugly manner one day. Talking to someone also helps us remember that we are not alone in these struggles or moments of hardship.

3. Know and Understand Your Triggers

This one seems pretty straightforward. If you can pinpoint what is triggering your anxieties and why, it might give you the space to heal them. This is a great exercise that you can do either alone, with a therapist, or with a safe person that you feel comfortable opening up with.

I usually turn to my journal or therapist for figuring out what is triggering me. Once I start to feel anxious, I ask myself what is happening and what is causing this. Usually writing lists of all the things that are running through my head help quiet the noise and get down to the issue. It helps to know what the triggers are in order to avoid them or learn to deal with them in a healthy manner. Once you can know and understand what your triggers are, it makes usually makes that “big bad monster” (aka your fears) not seem so real.

4. Make Time to Express Your Creative Energy

We are all creative, passionate beings and it’s important for us to remember to exercise those imaginative muscles as often as we can. It is my belief that our creative energy is something that needs to be expressed instead of suppressed. If this beautiful energy gets suppressed, it could manifest itself in unhealthy ways throughout our beings.

Take some time each week to express your creativity in whatever way you feel called to! Maybe you love painting, dancing, acting, writing, playing music, or visiting museums. Whatever it is, do something! Feel free to safely express and explore that creative energy in a way that brings you life. You don’t even need to share it with others, but do something to get that energy out of your system.

5. Make Small & Large Goals for Yourself

Nothing helps get me out of a funk more than knowing I am working towards a goal. If I don’t have a goal or if I feel like I’m not working to achieve something, I tend to have a meltdown and feel like I’m aimlessly floating around on this Earth. Having goals and dreams to work towards make this whole life experience more enjoyable after all.

Create goals for yourself--both big and small! Give yourself the permission to dream and dream big. Remarkable things rarely happen without visions, dreams, or goals in place to achieve them. Write them down, keep them close, and remind yourself of those goals as often as possible.

To that, I also want to say that it is totally ok if your goals change from time to time. Life changes, people change, circumstances change, so it’s perfectly fine for your goals and dreams to change too!

6. Do What Makes You Happy + Stop Comparing

I’m pretty much adding this in here to remind myself... 

Life is short! Do whatever the hell it is that makes you happy and stop comparing yourself to other people because you don’t owe them a damn thing!

I think that sums it up, right?

But seriously, we could all afford to take this one to heart more often. I can’t count how many times I’ve been crippled by fear and anxiety and hesitated to create something out of fear that someone else has already done it and how could I do it better? UGH. Screw that thought train! I’m so sick of that negative self-destructive nonsense talk that we get smashed into our brains from a young age. It’s time we stop comparing ourselves to others and do what makes us blissfully happy in this life.

7. Forgive Yourself

I've gone through ups and downs of anxiety and depression for as long as I can remember. I have streaks of rough patches and streaks of fantastic patches. As a result, my creative work sometimes takes a hit because of these swings. I've become overwhelmed with self consciousness, anxiety, negativity, and thoughts of hopelessness in my work to the point that I just can't bring myself to doing anything (sometimes it's hard to even get out of bed). But through it all, there has been one thing that kept me going through those rough times: knowing that this, too, shall pass.

When I was younger, I came across a quote from Mick Jagger that said, "It's all right letting yourself go, as long as you can get yourself back."

While I'm sure the meaning behind this was probably not intended to refer to anxiety or depression at all, I sure took it that way. I mean, why not? It was a positive statement that helped me know, "Hey, just because you're feeling like a literal bag of poo right now doesn't mean you have to feel this way forever!" And it always helped me move forward towards that light and positivity.

I had to learn to forgive myself for taking the time and energy I needed to come back to myself. If you don't take away anything else from this post, please let it be this.

For so long, I would beat myself up and feel down for "not feeling myself." I would feel shitty because of my situation and then I would take it a step further and guilt/shame myself for feeling that way. Talk about an ugly, dark, spiral out of control. It's exhausting!

As soon as I started to feel like I was gaining control over my life again, I've also had to look myself in the mirror and say, "Hey...I forgive you. It's 100% OK to take time for YOU!" And you know what? That is what has helped me feel like I'm coming back to myself. Giving myself the space, time, and permission to get back to me.

Be more kind and gentle with yourself. Forgive yourself. Be unapologetically you.

8. Travel

Well you didn’t think I was going to leave this one out, did you? I believe that travel is one of the best medicines we can give ourselves to come out of those dark places and negative feelings. Traveling gets us out of our comfort zones and into new spaces that open our minds to exploring things we aren’t familiar with.

If you’re feeling stuck or down, consider traveling somewhere to get your mind, body, and soul moving. It doesn’t even have to be a far away exotic country. You could travel to the town next to yours for the afternoon to simply explore what they have to offer. Get creative with it and make it happen!

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If you've made it to the end with me here, thank you. I appreciate you taking the time to read this post and continue to support me + The City Sidewalks. My intention for writing this wasn't to have anyone feeling sorry for me or pity me, but rather to express these vulnerable emotions and share how I'm getting through it in hopes that it might help one of you feel like you're not alone. It's people like you that make this awesome thing possible.

Love You All,

xx Ana

 

PS--I'd love to hear from you! Do you have any tips or tools that you use to deal with anxiety, depression, fear, guilt, shame, etc.? Please feel free to comment below! 

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8 Travel Beauty Tips: How to Look Fresh After a Long Haul Flight

8 Travel Beauty Tips: How to Look Fresh After a Long Haul Flight

One of the worst things about travel (besides the dreaded act of packing) is when you walk off of a long haul flight feeling completely drab and disgusting. Your skin is dry, your hair is a mess, and you just feel blah. 

Luckily, there are a few beauty remedies that you can start using to feel completely fresh faced every time you step off a flight. Use these 8 travel beauty tips to start looking and feeling your best after any flight.

Source

1. Pack the Essentials in Your Carry-On

First thing will be to make sure you have all of your beauty essentials within arms reach. Make sure to pack your carry-on with all the essentials you'll need so you don't have to rummage around for them. I'll go over some of my essential items in the list below, but the best thing is to make sure you have a good bag to pack them all in. You can also see my list of 10 Beauty Products to Always Travel With.

$59.99 $99.99

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RELATED:  The Ultimate Guide of Best Weekender Bags at Every Budget for Travel

2. Hold Off on the Makeup (and maybe the contact lenses)

If your flight is more than 3 hours and you really want to feel your best when you land, it's probably best to skip on the makeup before you take off. The air in the cabin is typically pretty dry and harsh, so it's best to have a fresh face to start off with. If you really need some color, opt for the bare minimum like tinted moisturizer and a touch of concealer.

If you wear contact lenses, it can be really helpful to take them out for long haul and overnight flights to let your eyes breathe. Have your glasses and maybe some moisturizing eye drops handy to soothe your eyes before you put your lenses back in.

$8.97

$2.92

$6.74

$39.00

3. For Ladies: Prepare to Keep Fresh...Ahem...Down There

Alright ladies... How many beauty lists have we seen that talk about beauty products to travel with? Tons (Hell, I even have one)! But it seems like they all fail to mention how you can keep fresh around your lady parts. The best thing to keep handy in your bag are some panty liners, disposable cleansing cloths, and an extra change of underwear. My mom passed on this trick to me and now I never travel without any of these things in my bag. It helps to make sure you feel fresh and clean once you land, even if you can't have a shower for a while.

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4. Hydrate, Moisturize, Hydrate, Repeat

The best way to step off that airplane looking fresh faced is to hydrate your body and skin as frequently as possible throughout your flight. You can do this by drinking tons of water, putting moisturizer on your face, using a sheet mask, lotioning up your hands, using lip balm, and drinking more water.

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5. Skip the Salt, Coffee, and Booze

The worst thing you can do for your complexion before and during a flight is overload on salty foods and alcohol. The salt causes major bloat, which doesn't help when you're sitting for long periods of time, and the alcohol and coffee will just dry out your skin and system. If possible, opt for healthier snack choices and drink plenty of water. The more you replenish with water, the brighter your skin will look when you arrive to your destination.

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6. Rest Up Comfortably

There are a few ways that you can make sure you feel totally comfortable on a flight. First, make sure you're wearing comfortable clothes (leggings, flowy tops, scarves, maxi dresses, flats, etc.) to let your skin breathe. Second, bring along a cozy blanket, a silky eye mask, and a neck pillow. A pair of earplugs or noise canceling headphones never hurt either...

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7. Freshen Up Before Landing

When the flight attendants give the "final stretch" announcement before landing, that's a perfect time to start freshening up. Carry a little travel kit that has all of your essentials in it so you can grab it and head to the lavatory to take care of business. In my travel kit, I like to keep a small travel toothbrush/toothpaste, moisturizer, thermal water misting spray, highlight or concealer, a blush/bronzer kit, mascara, and my feminine care (see above #3).

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$15.00

8. Give Your Hair a Lift Once You Land

The final step to looking fresh after a long haul flight is to give your hair a little oomph. A little dry shampoo and some hair spray can really work wonders to make you look like you're ready to step out in style. Carrying this and a travel size hair brush will give you the perfect volume you need.

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With these travel beauty tips and products, you're sure to walk off your long haul flight looking as fresh and as radiant as ever!

What are your favorite beauty tips to look fresh after a long haul flight? Comment below with more tips!

This page may include affiliate links, which comes at absolutely no cost to you. As an affiliate partner to such websites, including Amazon Associates, I earn from qualifying purchases. All opinions are my own.

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10 Promises You Should Make To Yourself in 2016

10 Promises You Should Make to Yourself in 2016

2016 is upon us and it’s time to start making those New Year’s Resolutions! It is important to be constantly upgrading to a better version of you and the New Year is a nice jumping off point for it.

I don’t believe that the New Year should be the only time of year to make changes in your life, but it sure is a good time and place to hit the “Refresh” button and make adjustments to certain aspects of your life.

In an effort to make 2016 the best year yet, I’ve made a list of promises that everyone could benefit from making to him or herself this next year. Let’s go 2016!

IN 2016 I PROMISE TO...

 

1. Make ME Happy First

Gone are the days of putting other people’s happiness first. If there is one thing that 2015 taught me, it is that you cannot make other people happy until you are happy first.

If making myself happy means staying home instead of going out, then I’m going to do it! If making me happy first means getting rid of negative people in my life, then it is time to say ‘goodbye’. Cleansing your life of relationships that don’t serve you can be a huge first step to finding happiness!

2. Be More Decisive

No more tiptoeing around what I want for dinner or what task to accomplish first. It is time to be more decisive and make decisions quicker. Yes or No. Now or Never. And once you make a decision, stand confident in it. *Hanging out with people who are more decisive is a great way to enforce this new habit.

3. Say “NO” More

Warren Buffett once said, “The difference between successful people and really successful people is that really successful people say no to almost everything.”

How is anyone expected to keep a focus on what matters when you have a ton of different things competing for your attention? Simplify, simplify, simplify!

In order to keep my focus on the projects and things that matter next year, I am vowing to say no to things that do not serve me and move me in the direction of my dreams. We’ve got to learn that we can’t do it all.

4. Go Somewhere I Haven’t Been

It is so important to continuously gain new perspectives on the world. What better way to do it than going somewhere new?!

Going somewhere new doesn’t have to be a new country or a new city. It could be as simple as a new route home from work. Just make sure you get out of your comfort zone so you can experience something different.

5. Take Care of Mind, Body, and Soul

This is so much more than just shedding those last few holiday pounds. This one is about taking care of the entire self—mind, body, and soul.

Vow to take care of the mind by being positive, being kind to yourself with good thoughts, and constantly learning new things.

Vow to take care of the body by nourishing it with clean foods, working out consistently, and indulging in beauty regimens that make you feel and look better.

Vow to take care of the soul by feeding it with things that are positive and true to yourself, meditating consistently, and spreading love and positive energy.

6. Say “Yes” When I Mean YES and “No” When I Mean NO

It is time to stop making choices based on what we “should do” or what makes other people happy. I am very guilty of this one and have made choices based on what I thought would make my loved ones happy instead of what I truly wanted.

It is time to start standing up for yourself and saying “Yes” when you mean YES and “No” when you mean NO. Enough of trying to please other people!

7. Stop Feeling Guilty for What Makes Me Happy

Stand tall and confident in the decisions you make and stop feeling guilty for things that truly make you happy. It may sound selfish, but you are not responsible for other people’s feelings. It is time to stop feeling bad for things that make you feel great.

You decided to take a night off from going out in order to stay home and pamper yourself, and now your friend is mad... SO WHAT?! You want to eat that piece of chocolate, but it doesn't adhere to your "diet." EAT IT! In the long run, your happiness means much more than pleasing other people. Promise to take care of you first.

8. Say “YES” to More Adventure

Before embarking on any adventure or fun activity, you should always ask yourself, “Am I going to look back and wish I had done this one day? Or will I look back and laugh at the story?”

It is time to indulge on more adventures and say, “YES!” when it comes knocking at your door. Just think of all the fun you will have and the stories you will be able to tell when you treat yourself to more adventure...

9. Spread More Positivity

Smile more. Be thankful. Compliment a stranger. Laugh harder. Make a daily list of things you are grateful for. Think positively.

If we all did this—even just a little bit—every day, the world would be an even more beautiful place.

10. Dream BIG

If your dreams don’t scare you, they aren’t big enough. Dream bigger than you have, believe that it will happen, and take the steps you can to move towards that dream. It will happen. Dreams really do come true.

Set specific/time-bound goals, replace negative thoughts with positive ones, and lean into your fears. When you lead a positive life, your dreams are closer than you think. 

What are you vowing to do differently in the new year? Any tips for things you did this year that you will repeat next year?

PS - See my favorite travel things that I can't live without here!

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