Stop dreading another ‘groundhog year’ of making little progress and watching others get what you want. The first step to banishing the January blues is to completely change your mindset about this time of year and see it as an exciting opportunity to create a life you can’t wait to wake up to. It only takes a month, or even a week, to see progress and start becoming proud of yourself, so why not start now? 

I’ve always been somewhat of a competitive, type A persona, but it took me years to really develop the perfect reset guide that changed my mindset and enabled me to achieve my dream life.

The first step I took is to actively shift the dread of having to ‘work’ at an other year and instead tried to beat the old version of myself, and use the successes of other people as motivation, fuel and inspiration. Over time, I developed the confidence of a mediocre white man, but with the qualifications to boot. 

Beyond university, I applied these hacks to manifest every aspect of my life – career, hobbies, relationships, fitness and nutrition, travel, self care and individual goals.

I went from being single and having one friend in 2016, to being in an 8 year relationship, receiving princess treatment, going on 6 trips a year, having a great group of girlfriends, and building my dream gym body. I am also now financially independent and able to support my family because a few internships led me to becoming the Head of Marketing in a corporate fintech firm, all while also making money from freelance journalism, social media and modelling part-time. You can manifest this and more too using these simple steps.

This wasn’t simply luck, but a premeditated manifestation of all my desires that placed them in my mind front and centre every year. I’m aware that I have a lot of privilege, but there are other case studies of countless of girls from incredibly diverse backgrounds who have done the exact same thing as me. I used to think that the only way you could ‘make it’ was by coming from a rich family, and it’s definitely true that a supportive one also goes a long way (in my case) and that nepotism is a huge problem in pretty much every industry. However, so many people just like you have also achieved there dreams, no matter how big or small they are, simply by taking the first step and creating habits. 

While there are anomalies, dreams start with a vision and then an organised plan to achieve them. Ask yourself, what would your dream self do? Well, your ideal self would have her life together, and that means taking the time to plan and resetting to prepare for a new chapter. 

Follow this step-by-step guide to kickstart the best year of your life, and feel free to pick, choose and swap the methods that work for you.

Step 1: Deep Clean 

Reset your space by organising everything in your house, room and even beyond by decluttering, vacuuming, reorganising your cabinets and drawers, reselling or donating old clothes and wiping away every surface. 

The actual process of cleaning itself will serve to motivate you and can help you destress. Research shows that cleaning helps your mental health by giving you a sense of control over your environment and engages your mind in a repetitive activity that can have a calming effect, improve your mood and provide a sense of accomplishment and satisfaction. 

Rsearchers have also found that clutter can make it difficult to focus on tasks as your visual cortex can be overwhelmed by unrelated objects, making you confused, irritable and less efficient. A messy environment can create stress and anxiety, partly because this represents unfinished business, which can be very stressful for most people. In contrast, an organised space produces emotions of calmness, well being and a sense of control, which will signal to your brain that you’re ready for new beginnings. 

One of my favourite tips is to spray your carpet with yoga matt cleaner or some kind of essential oil (particularly lavender) at the end of your deep clean so you can get that really luxurious, satisfying feeling.

Step 2: Do a digital declutter 

We’re constantly on our phones and even the average individual has become a micro content creator, taking thousands of photos a year from vacations, weekends, spicy times and more. You may even have hundreds of screenshot receipts from old flames, new frenemies, weird memes and everything in between. You don’t want those to just be virtually lying around all over the place

Every time we go on our phone, our attention is pulled in multiple directions, so you also don’t want to get even more distracted from random selfies you don’t need – especially if you want to get into content creation this year. It’s vital to stay organised!

I recommend using a cloud storage app like Google Photos to back everything up, and then delete the items from your phone that you no longer need or have already used to make content. If these apps don’t offer enough space, invest in a phone memory stick or SD card for your camera. 

You should use this time to check your mobile account balance, take care of any transfers, delete unnecessary subscriptions and sort out your notes app so you can find everything easily and not have pesky thoughts lingering in the back of your mind.

I’d also recommend turning off all of your app notifications for the first month, or at least week, so you can capitlise on Capricorn season and really ‘lock in’. 

Step 3: Journal and reflect on the past year 

To both put the past year behind and celebrate it, you could make a collage, scrapbook, IG carousel dump or TikTok video commemorating your favourite moments from the last year. Use this template to make a digital scrapbook from your past year.

@jeyybi_on_capcut

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♬ original sound – JEYYBI – JEYYBI

Then, you should cleanse your mind from all your thoughts and memories from the past year, letting go of the bad times (as much as you can) and commemorating the good ones.

Here are some journaling prompts I use: 

1. What changes did I experience this year?
2. What were some moments of joy I experienced this year?
3. How have I prioritized my well-being this year?
4. What strengths did I discover in myself this year?
5. What was the most valuable lesson I learned this year?
6. What dreams or goals did I pursue this year, and how did that journey unfold?
7. What was the most difficult challenge I faced this year?
8. What are three moments from this year I’m thankful for?
9. What was the best new thing I tried this year?
10. What was the biggest risk I took this year?
11. What are my goals for the coming year?
12. What new opportunities became available this year?
13. Write a message to myself to be reviewed one year from today.
14. What challenges did I face this year, and how did I overcome them?
15. In what ways have I positively impacted the lives of others this year?
16. What new skills did I gain this year?
17. Write down your favourite books, movies/shows, food, artists and songs from the last year 
18. How did I express my creativity this year?
19. What fear did I face this year?
20. What word or phrase best describes this past year?
21. What do I hope to carry over from this year into the next?
22. What were some of the most meaningful moments of this year?
23. As I reflect on the past year, what am I most looking forward to in the coming year?
24. What are my top 10 favorite photos from this past year?

Pick and choose which questions speak to you, but try not to shy away too much from the more challenging reflections – they’re basically free therapy for the chemically balanced. 

Step 4: Create a life binder/planner and set your goals

Find a blank notebook (or use last year’s) or create a binder with individual paper to divide into sections: 

• 2024 Achievements 
• 2025 Goals & Resolutions
• Seasonal Goals (or goals for the next three months) 

Achievements:

Before you start thinking of your goals, create a section in your planner filled with all of your achievements from the past year. We cannot find motivation to go forward if we do not celebrate ourselves or see how much putting in some work can pay off! Acknowledge the big or small wins, and then create a separate list of everything your grateful for. 

Gratitude only brings good things and being thankful is the best place to start bringing in more abundance to your life. When you journal in the previous step, you can release the bad moments and find the lessons from them, putting them into perspective, so use this exercise to hype yourself up and lift your mood for when you write your resolutions down. 

2025 Goals & Resolutions:

Then, start brainstorming this year’s individual goals, plans and manifestations onto some scrap paper or your notes app, before putting them into your life planner. This way, you can start to notice emerging themes. 

I recommend dividing your resolutions into the following sections: 

• Individual Dream Checklist – contains goals/tasks that you want to tick off this year
• Motivation & Productivity – ways that you’ll be productive 
• Confidence & Relationships – ways you’ll practice confidence, set boundaries etc
• Health, Fitness & Nutrition – your workout goals and healthy habits 
• Career & Professional Development – work goals, courses and education, skills to learn
• Family, Society & Moral Life – how you can give back and improve the lives of others
• Hobbies & Travel – fun things you want to do that aren’t tied to your career 

I personally like writing some life lessons and wisdom from the past year, as well as some confidence quotes, alongside my actionable resolutions so I can read out my planner on Sunday night before I start each week. For example, “prioritise the most important and difficult tasks first to get them out of the way” and “don’t stress if you haven’t achieved something – tomorrow is a new day”. 

After you finish, you can record yourself saying these out loud so you can listen to them when you feel down or simply have nothing to do (I had to listen to my own voice while doing a 6K run because my music wasn’t working). Even if this feels strange at first, it’ll also make you feel much more comfortable with listening to the sound of your own voice. Saying these goals out loud will help you visualise them, and you can also write them in a manifestation journal as if they’re already real (such as “I am a successful fashion editor who travels for work”). 

Alongside the mindset resolutions, remember to fill your checklist with goals that are SMART (specific, measurable, achievable, realistic and timely). While still aiming high, your goals should not be too difficult or unrealistic, but rather focus on the things that you can control.

For example, rather than saying “I will gain 1 million subscribers”, write “I will create a content strategy which I will stick to and post 3 times a week.” If you want to add a ‘soft’ measure like a number, use it as a guideline and focus on the actions that you can control and don’t depend on other people or ‘fate’.   

Make sure to keep your dreams close to your heart and not share them with just anyone. Research shows that the gratification you get from voicing your goals simulates the dopamine you get from actually achieving them, which can demotivate you from taking action through to the end. Also, you don’t need to hear unwarranted opinions from people in your life as they can distract you, even with the best of intentions. Focus on self validation instead! 

Seasonal Goals:

Break your larger goals into smaller, manageable steps needed to make your deams a a reality in a smaller, seasonal section of your planner or binder (at the start of the year, that would likely be a ‘winter planner’ for us in the Northern Hemisphere). This section can contain a to-do list, a wish list, a gym/diet plan and anything else you want to take a note of, such as a savings plan.

Do a monthly or weekly check in by ticking off your achievements. Then, you can do a seasonal check in where you update your to-do list according to your new ideas, and you can also discard goals that no longer serve you. 

Additional planners

You can use a separate weekly planner or calendar to write down every deadline, event, trip and holiday for the year, and then continue making a note of any others as soon as you hear about them. 

One great goal to set for the year is time keeping and punctuality, whether for one of your goals (which means setting an artificial deadline that you aim for as if it were real) or in person for when you have plans. The way to build both self confidence and trust is to stick to your own word, so you know that once you promise yourself that you’ll do something, you won’t let yourself down. 

A dream journal is also great for free writing your dreams in the first moments of waking so you can later analyse your subconscious thoughts (basically therapising yourself) and clear your mind as part of your morning routine, so you can start the day with a fresh mindset.

I also have a calendar where I can look at the day’s activities at a glance, a notes app to-do list where I can quickly tick them off as I go, a weekly planner where I synthesise my main goals into weekly and daily small tasks that will help reach my dreams, and a diary/journal where I write down memories and reflections each week (or sometimes at the end of every day). 

Step 5: Create a vision board matching your planner 

Now that you’ve divided your year into different sections and are clear on what your goals are, you’re ready to open up Pinterest and find the images that speak to you. They don’t always have to be a literal depiction of your dream life, but rather speak to you personally because they represent a feeling or moment that you’re drawn to. 

For example, in my vision board above, there are many literal goals such as buying a house and weight training, but the picture of the girl buying flowers and the couple dancing in the museum, while ideas I could enact, capture feelings of self care and free, careless love that I want to be inspired by metaphorically as well.

How to create a vision board to manifest reality:

1. Create multiple vision boards that reflect the different themes of your life, which you created in your life planner in step 4 (career/money, travel, diet/fitness, love/friendship/family, hobbies, and anything else you can think of)
2. Look for quotes that resonate with you 
3. After saving these images to your Pinterest board(s), use Canva (there are so many templates available) to divide them into different sections 
4. Submerge your favourite pictures from each Canva board into one 2025 board that represents all these aspects from your life (you can also make collages on Pinterest!)
5. Make sure you also do the main board in different formats, so you can print it (or all of them), add it to your life binder, and also make it your phone or laptop lock screen. Last year, I made all the boards alternate iPhone screens and switched between them depending on the day’s theme or focus.

Here are my examples from 2024:

Step 6: Take action! 

Remember that the most vital resolution of all is to treat every new month, week, day and even hour as a fresh start. The new year is simply an illusory opportunity to get your life together and start feeling inspired and motivated again. You can rescue a ‘half wasted’ day just by getting up and taking action, as a lot of our day is spent in procrastination anyway. 

Some of your cells regenerate every few days, so why can’t you? John Locke even famously believed that you can become a different person if you no longer remember your past actions because “a person’s identity is the same as the person who performed an action only if they remember doing it“. So if you do something embarrassing, try to block it out of your mind and move on. As Mariah Carey said, “I don’t know her.”

All jokes aside, you need to remember how far you’ve come and the power of your resilience. I’m sure you’ve been through hard times, embarrassing moments, very demotivated episodes that could border on depressive (especially in our highly individualistic culture). Let’s normalising slowing down instead of quitting and taking a break without completely giving up. Remember when your current life was just a dream your younger self had? Do it for your future self!

Step 7: Self Care, Confidence & Discipline

Every time I start to doubt myself, I prioritise self care and recharge. You don’t need to burn out and one of your main resolutions should be to prioritise hobbies and rest actively in your weekly schedule. Creative people need time to do nothing, so please don’t cram too many things in and feel guilty or stressed over nothing. A small blip won’t matter in the long term. Just use the start of the week to boost your achievements and then enjoy some ‘guilt free’ weekend fun. 

For example, I stick to eating a clean, high protein diet five days a week, and on weekends I allow myself to relax and indulge – and this way, I find that I feel so good that I don’t even have many cravings for junk food or bingeing, specifically because I don’t restrict. Even during the week, I allow myself a random sweet treat for motivation after a full day of eating clean. If you make it a habit and rely on discipline, rather than motivation, you will trust yourself to indulge without having to worry about falling off.

When all else fails, listen to motivational podcasts, YouTube videos and reread your life planner. If you’re feeling too down for even that, turn off my phone and go on a walk to feel grounded in your body, then engage in a creative activity of your choice – whether that’s drawing, writing, reading, photography, baking or anything else that helps you find your flow state. Find inspiration in your inner child, who is always inside of you and is definitely proud of how far you’ve come. Life is for living and making time for fun, and the goals are simply stops along the way. 

So many less talented, less intelligent, less deserving people have accomplished what you want simply by putting themselves out there! Just by showing up and trying, you already can’t fail because you’re doing 100% more than the people who have given up on life and are simply getting through it. It’s never too late, because the fact that you’re working towards something automatically means that you can’t fail. 

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If you follow this guide and stick to the resolutions you create for yourself, without beating yourself up for ‘cheating’ or having an off day, you will be unrecognisable in just three months, let alone a year. When that time comes, make sure you celebrate all that you’ve accomplished, no matter how big or small, and then you can start to feel even more motivated to go further, do more and be your best self. 

Don’t wait to start, it’s so much easier than you think. Just take the first step by creating your plan now and being kind to yourself along the way. 

References: 

Finkel, E.J., Rusbult, C.E., Kumashiro, M. and Hannon, P.A., 2009. Dealing with the inevitable: The interaction of self-regulation and interpersonal processes in relationship functioning. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 36(2), pp.187-201. Available at: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/0146167209352864 [Accessed 6 Jan. 2025].

Morin, A., 2021. How mental health and cleaning are connected. Verywell Mind. Available at: https://www.verywellmind.com/how-mental-health-and-cleaning-are-connected-5097496#citation-7 [Accessed 6 Jan. 2025].