Happy New Year! 2024

3 Quotes

“Don’t live the same year 75 times and call it a life.” —Robin Sharma

"The magic in new beginnings is truly the most powerful of them all.” ―Josiyah Martin

“And now we welcome the new year. Full of things that have never been.” Rainer Maria Rilke

We already looked at ways to reflect on the year that is ending, now let’s look at ways to kick off the New Year. So many people set goals and resolutions, but there are several ways to set your intentions for the year ahead.

Like everyone else, I used to set New Year’s Resolutions that fizzle out by February or March. I still do it every year anyway, and I’ve found that scheduling smaller milestones and checking my progress monthly helps me keep my resolutions better than I used to. We’ll eventually do a deep dive into habit formation, but not today. Today, there are a couple of New Year’s ideas that I like better than traditional resolutions.

More than setting a series of logical goals and resolutions, I like to think about creating the year ahead. That somehow the new year is full of potential and I can shape it into what I want. I find that the more I think about it in this way, the more often I do create the things I want each year. The shift in thinking from following a checklist of obligations to shaping the year ahead helps me keep my enthusiasm alive as the months go on.

What I really love doing is setting a one-word theme, or short phrase for the year ahead. I first heard of this on the Happier podcast, so of course I’m sharing an episode below! This is so much easier than keeping a resolution. It’s more of a mindset or way of being for the year.

Over the Past Few Years I’ve had the following themes:

Honesty – A year I worked hard on people pleasing.
Take Root – A year I was settling into a new career path, getting married, renting a house.
Take Heart – A year of profound grief that I needed to survive and remind myself to be kind and patient with myself and others.
Sparkle – A year I needed to create more fun, more style, and more enthusiasm in my life.
Flourish – A year focused on growing in an unhurried and beautiful way.

And for 2024 I’m choosing Magnetize. I’ll probably write more about this later and what it represents to me.

I love hearing what other people choose and what their themes mean to them. It’s fun that Happier episodes throughout the year include listeners calling in to share how their year is going and the ways they’re keeping the theme in mind.

2 Podcast Episodes

Choiceology with Katy Milkman

Episode #15 “A Clean Slate: With Guests John Beshears, Richard Thaler & Ray Zahab”

https://www.schwab.com/learn/story/clean-slate-with-guests-john-beshears-richard-thaler-ray-zahab

If you want to learn about the power of the New Year, Katy Milkman is the person to listen to. She is a professor, researcher, and behavioral economist at The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania. Much of her research ties into how the perception of a fresh start can shape a new habit or goal. Take a listen and see what you think!

Happier with Gretchen Rubin

Episode #201 “Choose a One Word Theme” for the Year

Gretchen Rubin is really the queen of habit formation and rituals. If you listen to her podcast regularly, you will find a whole community and movement around the one-word theme of the year and the 24 in 24 items. I picked this episode from 2016 when the concept was newer to the podcast. There are countless episodes following up on this.

I listen to this podcast regularly. Gretchen touches back on the one-word theme of the year throughout the year, as well as progress checks on the 24 in 24. If it’s something you want to do, the support and reminders offered on her show will keep you on track throughout the year ahead.

1 Resource

Gretchen Rubin has an excellent website with tools are resources for 24 in 24 and the one-word theme of the year. If her episode piqued your interest, there’s no place better than her website to get ongoing inspiration and accountability in 2024.

https://gretchenrubin.com/getting-started-the-24-for-2024-trifecta/