My Plan to Reset for the New Year
By: Fabio Oliveira
Tags: Reflections, New Year, Designing Your Life, New Year Resolution

My routine for phase 1:

Wake up early — 6am.

Meditation every day for 20 min in the morning and 20 min in the afternoon.

Free Journaling every day (I usually do it in the morning and don’t filter what comes. I have no intention on what I want to write, just put on paper whatever comes to mind).

Exercise every day — Ideally, something that will help you forget about the external world, such as running, surfing, etc. The more intense, the better. Respect your fitness level, but get to it every day.

Sleep early — In bed by 9pm.

No TV, Netflix, Youtube, etc.

No social media.

Naps during the day are recommended.

Read an inspirational book. This is the only exception for electronic devices if you read on your phone, tablet or Kindle.

When boredom hits, I found it useful to have a few activities planned. A few examples of things I do:

Gardening

Throw away stuff

Get clothes to donate

Play with the kids

Go for a walk

Go to the beach or to a park

There is no hard deadline for the end of this phase. It should feel like a natural progression to start thinking about the year you had. I try not to rush to any reflection and planning during this phase. It usually comes up during journaling, but I just keep it there.

Once clarity sets in and you feel the urge to start reflecting and planning, it’s time to go to phase 2.

Reflection and Commitment (3–5 days)

Maintain the routine from phase 1 as much as possible.

Add 30–60 minutes every day dedicated to reflection and planning.

I start to change my free journaling to a reflection journaling on the first few days, asking what worked and what could be better next year.

Tim Ferriss suggests writing your State of the Union reflection (basically one big piece reflecting on what happened during the year), which I find very useful. I find it useful to do this around the last day of the year or first day of the new year.

The next step is the plan and commitment. For this part, it helps a lot if you already have a goal you are seeking. If you don’t have, you might need a few more days reflecting and journaling about your goals to clarify what you want (this is not easy, and it might take longer than 2 days).

I use a simple process of aligning my purpose all the way down to crucial actions in specific areas.

Complete the following items in the space of 3–5 days. It’s very important that the answers to the items below are well thought out and a product of deep reflection. At this stage I’m trying to set myself free from external influences and find what really matters to me:

How I connect Purpose to Actions

Your purpose in life:

(This shouldn’t change much from year to year. For me it’s a guide, not very specific.)

Your chief aim

(What is the biggest goal you have in life for the next 3–5 years. This goal should ‘’pull’’ everything else and allow you to focus your efforts in one direction. Achieving it will take you closer to your purpose in life. This changes once you achieve it)

Your key decisions for the next 12 months in the following areas:

(This is my way of splitting the key areas of life, but it could be done in other ways as well)

Health

Work

Love

Money

Mental and Emotional

Fun

Review the decision above and make sure they support your chief aim. In my head I see myself building an arrow, where the area closest to my chief aim is on top, and the other areas are supporting it. See the example above in the image where Health is a priority.

Your action plan

(List 5 things you need to do, starting now, that will take you closer to the decisions in the key areas above)

At the end of this phase, you should be very excited about the new year, your plan, and things you will achieve. If you are not feeling this way, go back to your tasks and try to be as honest as possible with yourself. It’s essential to allow your own voice to speak instead of external pressures.