Making the most of the final 6 weeks of 2023
At this time of year I always feel I have a choice between giving up on making stuff happen until the new year or going all in and beginning the new year 6 weeks ahead on dreams, goals and habits.
I am determined to end this year stronger than I am right now, feeling positive, fulfilled, connected, creative, organised and full of love and joy. But, this is the extra important bit, without adding a whole load of pressure onto myself at an already busy time of year.
I am going to share my plans with you here to help me and hopefully to inspire you. I will review this post in early January and report back with how it turned out, so that I can learn about this final six week process for this time next year.
I have had a really bumpy 2023 with lots of unplanned things happening, some amazing (hello Healy and my gorgeous team) and some really not so amazing (I’m sure I’ll share it all when the time is right), so I’m feeling more determined than ever to make the most of these final 6 weeks.
The first step is to get back into my daily journalling habit. When life gets hard we sometimes drop the things that helps us the most, and journalling is definitely one of those things that really supports me. I don’t know why I have stopped for the past few months but that in itself is something I need to journal about! I’m back on my morning journalling routine this week and as I would love to journal in the evenings too in 2024, I’m going to try to do evening journalling at least 3 times a week
The second step I have taken is to think about things I will regret not doing at the end of the year. Three of these are :
Running - I started running again at the beginning of 2023 and it felt amazing. But then for many reasons I stopped. Running makes me feel free and gives me a beautiful combination of feeling super energised while also feeling really calm. It’s not so easy to run where I live now. Running in London is so good for so many reasons. Running in a small town means you pretty easily run out of pavement and/or well lit roads. And the park is so much smaller than the big London parks. But I’m not going to let this put me off. I started with my first run yesterday and I am determined to run at least twice a week for the rest of the year….and beyond! I would love to run 5km on Christmas Eve but let’s see. No pressure remember…it’s the difference between making a start now and putting it off for another six weeks that matters.
Creativity - I haven’t had a very creative year, so I am going to make a list of things I would like to create for Christmas and give my creative spirit a wonderful boost.
Clutter clearing - I have been working on this during 2023 but because other things have taken me off track I have lost my rhythm with this. I know if I keep going for the next 6 weeks, it will make such a difference with how we start 2024. I am going to do 15 minutes a day. That is going to add up to about 10 more hours of clutter clearing before the end of 2023 (I won’t be clutter clearing on Christmas Day or Boxing Day!), which is amazing. I’m going to create a list of “zones of high clutter stress”, so that I hit those spots first.
The third step is to get super connected with both my diary and my daily to-do lists. I want clear to-do lists and the dedicated times to make the stuff happen. This won’t all be work and study stuff. It will be fun Christmas stuff, seeing friends and family, running, creativity and clutter clearing, planting my bulbs, looking after my seedlings, baking, celebrating the Winter Solstice, reading books and not to forget watching The Holiday!
Let’s go!! If this inspires you to make the most of these next 6 weeks, I would LOVE to hear at least one thing you are going to make happen.