Cheers to a Happy New Year—and laying out your vision

I came across this quote last week on Instagram. When I read it, I stopped, took a breath, and read it again.

This quote is a perfect inspiration to start a new year! If you get frustrated with the idea of new year’s resolutions think of them simply as goals. And turning a page at the start of a new calendar year is great way to jumpstart new goals or refresh/revive old ones. For me, having a few things to work towards, and writing them down, puts them out into the universe. It can also feel like a road map for the year.

You have heard of vision boards, made popular by Oprah and inspiration junkies. I make vision notebooks, which are slightly similar but different. If you are a paper freak, like me, this is the best excuse to  buy a new notebook. (Sometimes I add to the previous year’s book, so then fancy new pens do the trick.) I start off jotting down a few quotes that inspire me. Then I like to break my goals down into work/career, family/friends, personal, and bucket list. On one page I list these goals. On the next page I jot a few actionable steps I can take towards these goals. Now the next step is incredibly important. Put this vision notebook next to your bed. Take 5 minutes before you go to bed or when you wake up and read through it. (This is better than checking social media in bed as I am often guilty of.) Try to do this daily. If you can’t, then occasionally is good too, but daily is better, trust me. You can take your notebook with you to a cafe, order a glass of vin chaud or a cafe crème, and flip through your vision book. Take a magazine if you want and tear out things that inspire you and slip them in the book. Throughout the year as you add to your book, you will always have your goals at the front to remind you where you want to go. And if a few of your goals don’t work out or change along the way…who cares!!!! Take a big marker and scratch them out and keep moving.

Two years ago I looked back at my list and saw that I had accomplished everything I set out to do that year. Looking back at my list from last year, half of my goals didn’t work out how I planned. The important thing is to not get bent out of shape about this. Shrug it off and make new ones.

So stop, take a breath and read again that quote at the top.

I hope that 2016 will be the year you “be whoever you want to be,” “live a life you’re proud of,” and “have the courage to start all over again.”

Happy New Year darlings!! Bisous xx, Ajiri

IMPORTANT NOTE: Of course I got excited this quote was from fellow expat F. Scott Fitzergald, but then found out this is a widely incorrect attribution. These words were written by Eric Roth, the screenplay writer of the film adaption of F.Scott Fitzgerald’s The Curious Case of Benjamin Button.

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Image by Ajiri Aki