After the Christmas trees are gone, the lights are taken down, and you’ve used all your gift cards it hits you. Two thousand eighteen is OVER. Congratulations dear, you’ve lived to see another year! This is the first Monday of many and it’s time to hit the ground running. We’re one week into the new year. By now you’ve been inundated with vision board party invites, email challenges, and downloads. You most likely have one of two reactions: excitement and motivation or annoyance and overwhelm. Whichever shoe fits, let me help by showing you 5 ways to guarantee an epic new year.

Get Honest

Before you go guns blazing into the new year full of adrenaline it’s best to pause and gain some clarity. Take a moment and ask yourself “How do I really feel about last year?” Self assessment and introspection is a must for growth. What were my accomplishments? What were my mistakes? How can I improve based on the lessons I’ve learned? It’s important to identify what was good, bad, and ugly about last year so you can make any necessary changes.

Get Organized

Now that you’ve established what did/didn’t work well, you can begin setting goals for the year. These goals should be “S.M.A.R.T.” meaning: specific, measured, achievable, relevant, and time bound. For example, one of my goals is to improve my kidney health. Specifically, lower sodium intake. I can measure this by not cooking with salt unless absolutely necessary. If it is, I can use Himalayan sea salt. It’s achievable because I’ve done it before in 2014 after surgery. It’s relevant because I still have stones in my left kidney. I see my urologist this month and will schedule a follow up in June, making this time bound.

Get Physical

This could either be obvious to you or out of place but hear me, you can’t achieve any of your goals if your unhealthy. Playing off of my goal in the previous step, an annual physical is a must. One of the most neglected areas of our lives is the area of health. Get a complete physical. Start the year with counseling or therapy sessions. Then adjust your goals if necessary to include what’s needed to be your healthiest self. Be good to your mind and body.

Get Offline

I know, you’re thinking, “Really Shakira?” but hear me out… Yes as a blogger I spend time online daily. We all do. I even hope that you’ll continue to stop by my neck of the internet and read these blog posts. However, we all need time away from the electronics. A Facebook comment and an Instagram like are great. Sharing viral videos and creating content is awesome. But making out with my husband and spending time with my friends is better. It’s okay to unplug. Your followers will survive.

Get to Work

Finally, the last step in this process is the most crucial. You can assess, plan, get the lab results, and power down all you want. None of this matters if you then fail to do the necessary work to accomplish said plans. Last year I had about three goals that failed to achieve. Why? Because I didn’t do the work. Even with having unexpected surgery and being on medical leave, I could’ve achieved those goals. If I’d had a time table in place with realistic steps they would’ve been accomplished prior to surgery. I encourage you to do the work this year. That’s the only thing standing in the way of your success.

I hope you’ve found this to be helpful. Leave me a message in the comments and tell me what your goals are for the year. Let’s hold each other accountable. I promise if you do these 5 steps, your year will be AWESOME!!

Coat//Thrifted , Scarf//H&M , Top//Uniqlo , Shoes//Donald J. Pliner