How To Reset Your Life For 2022 In 5 Steps

The first step is to do a mental declutter. Essentially, you want to get all of the thoughts out of your head and onto paper. One way I’ve personally done this is by creating a worry sheet. Worries are clutter for your mind. They’re tripping hazards! Those worries roll around in your head in the background of everything else you do. 

In my bullet journal, I wrote down some of my worries on different colored splotches that I scribbled out with a Midliner. But I didn’t want to just write down everything that I was worried about and stop there. That’s not exactly the best way to quash worries 🙂 I also wrote down why I shouldn’t listen to those thoughts. Sometimes I have data that directly disproves the thing that I’m worried about!

Here are some prompts you can journal about:

– What things have been causing you anxiety?
– Where did your stress come from this year?
– What projects or tasks have you been investing your time into?
– Who did you nurture relationships with this year?

Now that we’ve gotten all the data from our year, the second step is to analyze it. You’re going to audit your finances, projects, and relationships from the past year.

We’re not doing the planning part quite yet. You just want to evaluate what was worth your time and what was a good investment. I have tons of different spreadsheets and graphs that show me what things were a good use of my time and what helped me to grow.

Probably the most important part of step 2 is the pruning process. That means making sure that you’re not just acknowledging the things that didn’t pay off, but that you’re actually pruning them going forward. You’re not going to be adding them back to your schedule. 

It’s a bit like pruning off the branches of a tree or plant that aren’t providing fruit. That way the rest of the branches can get more nourishment and can grow bigger and stronger.

It’s the same when it comes to your time. You have a limited number of minutes in your day and a limited amount of energy. So it’s important that we’re pruning the things that are no longer providing for us or that just aren’t worth it.

Number three is all about visualization. As you take time to think about what you want the next year to look like you can ask yourself the following questions:

– How do you want to be spending your time? 
– What do you want to be doing? 
– Who do you want to be with? 
– What changes are you hoping to embody in the following year?
– Who do you want to become?

Be realistic and honest about what you truly want to experience and how you’re going to get there. I think a lot of times we just go with whatever we think we “should” go with.

Some years there just isn’t a whole lot of change. It doesn’t have to be a total overhaul every year. 🙂 But it can be really healthy and cathartic to just sit and visualize what the new year will look and feel like. By putting yourself in that position you can plan more effectively.

The “why” is the power that gets you from point A to point B. You’ll be more motivated to pursue your goals when you have a powerful purpose. When you really connect with your vision, it gives you that extra energy boost that you need to accomplish things.

Now you’re going to take all the information and data from the past steps and create some kind of a plan. In most cases, this is going to require scheduling. I like to say “if it’s not scheduled, it isn’t real.” Having this rough schedule laid out can really give us the kick in the butt that we need to get moving and to make some changes 🙂 

Here are some questions to ask as you sit down to plan:

– What kind of tasks do you want to be working on for the upcoming year? 
– How do you want to structure your tasks and order of operations?
– What do you want other people to be taking on task-wise?

In the past, I’ve shared the 15 systems that have simplified my life. Creating these systems is just another form of planning and really helps you reset your life more easily.

This final step is the one that so many people leave out (but I know better 😉). We can get stagnant and keep ourselves stuck in a rut because we haven’t cleared out our physical space to make space in our lives for some of those big plans. 

Thanks for joining me in my planning process. I hope it will help you reset your life and get the most out of the new year. I will talk with you again in 2022!