How To Start Your New Year Off Right

Look at this! First blog post of the year and a new home for the blog after taking most of December off of blogging! I’m happy to be back and refreshed to share all the latest in health, fitness and wellness. Throughout the break, I spent my time figuring out where I wanted to go with blog. Wondering what kind of topics would cater to you more, help you improve your overall health and get you that confidence to continue thriving in your lifestyle. I’m currently in the process of reorganising my space or ‘purging’ as I like to call it. Getting rid of old gym wear, selling apparel to make space for new items that speak to me more.

These past two years have been a wake up call for me. It has pushed me to be more resourceful with what I have and release the things that have been holding me back. Time waits for no one. If I could make it through the last two years, I know that I can do anything. Here are four ways I’m starting the new year off right.

Reflect & Refresh

You may not know this but I’m someone that battles with overthinking. Sometimes it can be so bad that I’m distracted all day consumed by thoughts. At times I keep myself up at night replaying my decisions over and over again. I have found that giving myself time to sit down and reflect on the day has really helped me with my overthinking. It keeps me from going off of the deep end when something unexpected happens or occurs.

A lot of my overthinking comes from things I can’t control. Having a period of time every day to reflect on the day before and release anything that is holding back has helped me become more aware of the present. Before I start on anything for the new year, I reflect on my wins, my trials, my improvements for the upcoming year. It has really helped me a lot in the last 9 years. If you are someone that struggles with letting go of the past and moving forward, give yourself a 20 minute ‘thinking time’ to write down your reflections and release them.

Create A Schedule And/Or Routine

Having routines, I thrive off them. I’m very particular when it comes to my morning routine. I wake up early around 4.30am during the weekdays and 6.30am over the weekend. It feels good to have a couple of hours to myself to meditate, do my daily devotionals, pray and train. I have found that having a daily routine and a daily schedule has taken out the guess work for the day.

I’m still working on creating a regular evening routine but spending 30 minutes to read is something that I’m starting to cherish more as I get older. If you would like to see what my daily morning routine looked like last year, check out the ‘Health’ category and read this blog post. For starters, I make my bed every morning. It’s a simple to get started. Once it’s made I don’t feel the urge to go back to bed. I’m sure that you have read it in books or heard it in podcasts that successful people make their beds every morning. I urge you all to create a schedule and/or a routine that is going to help you reach your 2022 goals and make you feel good about yourself every day.

Planning & Productivity

If you are not working towards something, it can be hard to stay motivated and be consistent at it. Grab a notebook and pen, write down your goals and plan a strategy for accomplishing them. After I finish my meditations in the mornings, I like to write my daily tasks and starting with the most difficult task, then work my way through the list. My powerlifting sessions take me 2-3 hours a day so I prefer to do them in the mornings. I have set days when I meal prep, train, write blog posts, film gym content and shoot outfits. I also have set days and times that I’m going to post on blog, Pinterest and Instagram. Content creation is not my full time job as I have a 9-5. Planning my days and having a set schedule for these things has helped me become more productive with my time.

To hit your health and fitness goals this year, I would highly recommend having a weekly schedule to help you remain consistent. Get into the habit of writing your daily tasks so you become better at planning and be productive.

Overall Wellness

The balance between your physical health, nutrition and mental well-being keeps your body and mind in top condition. If you are not putting your self-care first, this is the time to start doing that. I wasn’t very good at it before 2020 but these last two years, I have prioritised it above all. I schedule in a daily self-care activity. It can be doing skincare, reading a book, going out for a walk, sleeping early or trying out a new hobby. We’ve all experienced burnout in one way or another. Learning to manage our stress and taking care of ourselves improves our overall wellbeing.

If you don’t know where to start, ask yourself what kind of activities do you like to do? What makes you feel relaxed, calm and at peace? Whatever those activities are, try to schedule them in for 10 mins a day. Learn to put yourself first so you are able to give more in other areas of your life. You can’t pour for an empty cup.

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I hope that this post was helpful for any of your looking for tips to start your new year off right! Make sure to bookmark this post for any wellness and self-care tips! You can find more ways to improve your wellbeing here on my Instagram account as well.

Until next time,

Folakemi