7 Tiny Ways To Start 2024 With An Advantage Over 99% Of People
Make the new year the best year of your life.
Ashlyn Ciera | Unsplash, Binti Malu | Canva Ready for the new year? None of us are, but let’s see how we can make the most of it.
Here are seven ways to start 2024 with an advantage over 99% of people:
1. Note your top five lessons from this year.
Few take a moment to assess how their year went.
It needn’t be some big fanfare thing. Just reflect for a while on what you learned this last year. What lessons can you bring forward into the next?
Note this down.
Enjoy this brainstorming and reflective process.
What were you grateful for this year?
You’re not Scrooge, are you?
So open up and take a second to see what you love about your situation and life.
Photo: Marcos Paulo Prado/Unsplash
2. Create and share content.
Most people drift away from creating things, and the limelight, toward the end of the year.
That’s fine for many.
But certainly, if your financial success relies on attention, you will stand to gain by remaining on people’s radars through the slower period in the year.
People are indoors, and many are still glued to their screens.
Make videos, record podcasts, and get your writing out there.
Share material (like the article you’re reading) that is relevant and flying on current trends.
Be seen, be heard, and then it won’t be such a grind to gain attention when everyone returns from the land of the dead in the new year.
3. Exercise like you would in a ‘normal’ month.
Most people allow their exercise schedule to drop off in December. Several variables are at play, particularly in cold climates, for why this is. (Also, Christmas and feeling burned out toward the end of a long year.)
But here’s the trouble with that. If we feel burned out, the last thing we want to do is eat more junk and exercise less.
Maintaining some decent daily exercise will boost your mental health, stave off the love handles, and set you up for a significant advantage at the start of next year.
Photo: Ivan Samkov/Pexels
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4. Don’t binge.
December and Christmas are when we can fall into cultural norms and dabble in societal expectations.
From baked goods to playing video games, watching movies, and drinking alcohol, we can fall prey to the sumptuous trappings that lure us this time of year.
Overdoing it is the norm and even subtly encouraged by most people. But we know that too much of anything makes us sick and sluggish. Not a good start for next year.
Bring awareness into your consumption this month.
When you sense yourself sliding into over-consumption, slow down.
You’re making life harder for yourself by letting yourself go.
Enjoy yourself, but say no to that unnecessary fifth drink.
5. Establish your three main priorities.
Entire months and even years can go by with little direction or progress because we never established what mattered to us the most.
It really can be that simple. It doesn’t matter what we do if we don’t know what’s important to us. And that’s how we can spend our years meandering and unfulfilled.
Before next year cracks, sit down and establish those things that matter to you.
- What are your main objectives?
- What projects would you love to make happen?
- Who would you love to meet?
- What non-negotiable daily habits will you ensure kick off the year strong?
Be in the 1% and be clear on what’s important to you, and get it in writing.
RELATED: What You Need To Remember About The Priorities You've Set For Yourself
6. Make this month about connecting.
It’s easy to want to hide away and hibernate this time of the year.
But use the holidays as an excuse to connect with people you might have yet to reach out to. Invite some people out for a meal. Send some unique cards.
Text or DM some people — new and old.
Why bother?
Because your network — and a buzzing and warm one at that — is one of your most powerful assets.
No matter your focus, you’ll be better off starting the year with people aware of you and talking about you.
7. Nurture a still mind.
As the year closes, mindfulness is the last thing on most people’s minds (during the most spiritual time of the year for many).
We can be wrapped up in family dramas, plans, parties and relationship woes. We medicate with alcohol and pies. We’re engrossed in marathon Christmas movies.
We’re in consumption mode, which is the opposite of awareness (or mindfulness).
Some of this is great — absolutely — I’ll be the first on the sofa to watch Home Alone for the 19th time.
But here’s the thing.
When we develop the habit of mindlessness, we create a resilient mind immune to mental health challenges.
We can remain calm when others would devolve into a triggered rage.
We nurture our most vital habit when few even consider it.
What a way to prepare for a conscious new year.
RELATED: 4 Smart Psychological Tricks To Make Someone Feel Instantly Connected To You
Alex Mathers is a writer and coach who helps you build a money-making personal brand with your knowledge and skills while staying mentally resilient.