1. Clear out your Google reader, cull your Facebook & Twitter friends, & unsubscribe from a few mailing lists. We can only take in so much information, after all, & signing into Google Reader to see 1000+ unread blog posts can create a sense of fear & loathing in even the zestiest speed-reader. Don’t feel like you’re obligated to read this or that site, or follow this or that person. If you’re creative in any way, I actually think there are massive advantages in NOT reading the same things as everyone else! It helps free your mind up, & allows you to fill your imagination with new, different things… which will help your output, too!
2. Take it a step further & give your email account a really good scrub-down! Delete all those old messages from ex-boyfriends, as well as notifications from eBay, Twitter or Facebook. You don’t need that stuff! Really! When are you ever going to look back at it? Never! Delete, delete, delete!
3. Feng shui your space! It may sound silly, but feng shui is really quite a wonderful technique which I’d like to believe can net you some fantastic results. I’ve been practicing feng shui for years. I actually learned about it from a teen girl magazine when I was about 15 years old!
I wrote an article about it years ago — Improving Your Life With Feng Shui (Or: Why I Bought Goldfish Today) — & I still refer back to it whenever I’m rearranging a room! (I am also fanatical about not having cacti in the house!) The great thing about feng shui is that you don’t have to chuck all your furniture out or go mad shifting everything around the house. Even the smallest addition — like a red candle or a plant — can boost your luck & make the space feel happier & more functional. I think a quick moment of feng shui-ising your room or office would be a fab way to spend the 31st of December, before you run out to a party!
4. Clean out your wallet, purse &/or handbag(s). Put all your receipts into some kind of filing system, throw away all those “buy 100 & get a 10c discount!” cards, & get rid of those mostly-eaten packs of gum. Throw out your scrunched-up tissues & the business cards of people whose faces you don’t even remember. Once it’s all cleaned out, add in the things you’ll really need: you’ll probably find a good pen, a little mirror & some breath mints very useful! Another nice thing to do is spray some of your favourite perfume on a card & drop it inside your handbag. That way you’ll catch a whiff of a fabulous scent whenever you open it up!
5. Grab a big piece of paper & start to write down all your hopes & dreams.DREAM BIG. Write down all the cities you’d like to visit, the hotels you’d like to stay in, the people you’d like to befriend & the things you’d like to own. Don’t judge yourself or suppress your true desires. This is a list for you, & only you! Be true to yourself when you do this exercise. Once you have a huge sheet of paper covered with ideas, get another piece of paper & start to whittle down all the ideas. Choose a few that are most important to you, & then a few more that are less important but that would still be wonderful to achieve in the next year. Prioritise & rank each item, & then break them down by month. This is a great way to make things seem manageable, as opposed to trying to do everything by the end of February! From there, you can dissect each goal into micromovements… But we’ll talk more about that in the new year! I got your back, baby!
6. ...Better yet, have a “dream date” with one of your best friends! Drink wine or tea together, & allow your minds to drift & ponder the things you’d like to make happen in 2012. Molly & I did this today, & it was fantastic. Actually, last year one thing we did was set a 2011 goal for one another. It was a great exercise, because our friends are often much more able to see what we’re capable of. Ask your friends to set a couple of goals for you in 2012 — you might be surprised by what they come up with!
7. Change your passwords. I’m sure a lot of us are using the same old passwords we’ve had since the very first time we signed onto the internet, & I love the idea of leaving them in the past! I don’t think there is any need to hold onto anything which unnecessarily tethers us to who we used to be, & setting new passwords is such an easy way to do that!
8. Pick up a new day-planner which makes your heart sing!It’s almost impossible to be organised when you’re trying to keep everything straight in your head (unless you are blessed with a photographic memory!). Writing things down is seriously the only way I ever manage to get anything done! For bonus points, buy some fun new pens & stickers to decorate your planner. I love neon pink pens for writing down appointments, & a purple highlighter for marking off things on my to-do list!
9. Resolve to make one BIG change to your appearance in 2012. Maybe you could get a new haircut or colour, take out a piercing or totally switch up your style… Whatever it is, keep it a secret! It’s always so much fun to walk into your house or place of work looking like a totally different person! If you’ve been wearing the same pair of boots since 1996, or doing your eye make-up the exact same way for 5 years, maybe you’re comfortable, but it wouldn’t kill you to switch things up a little bit! Variety is the spice of life, as they say, & a new year is a great reason to surprise the hell out of yourself!
10. Stock your kitchen! There are few things more satisfying than opening the fridge or pantry to see a magical cornucopia of delicious food & beverage options. I’m not a good food shopper — I put it off & barely have enough food in the house to scrape together the next meal — so when I do actually make it to Wholefoods, I appreciate it the next day! Load up on fresh fruit & vegetables, exotic cheeses & unusual chocolates, ginger beer & delicious soup — whatever makes you smile! It’s so lovely to have a selection of snacks at your disposal, & helps prevent you from running out for a donut due to pure starvation at 3am!
