2016 is coming to a close and with the new year approaching, people’s thoughts are beginning to turn to the future, and what 2017 will hold. There are many different opinions about new year’s resolutions; some people love them, and some people argue that it shouldn’t take a new year to change your life. Though we agree that you can make changes to your life at any point, there is still something irresistible about a brand new year; it’s a chance to start fresh and make goals that are easy to measure over the next 12 months. Here we look at some spiritual resolutions you can make to ensure that 2017 is your best year yet.
Decide what your priorities are
People have a habit of setting several lofty goals to achieve over the year, and are often disappointed when they realise that focusing on too many things and spreading themselves too thin to achieve it all, is actually set themselves up for failure.
The first thing you need to do when thinking about what you want to achieve over the next 12 months is to focus on your top priorities. Do you want to spend more time with your partner, or your family? Do you want to focus on work, and climbing the career ladder? Is health your main priority this year? Or is it a mixture? Figure out what your top priorities are, and then you can set actionable steps to help you achieve your goals.
Practice gratitude
Life isn’t easy 100% of the time, and we all go through rough patches. However, most of the time we all have a lot to be grateful for, but often don’t stop to think about it.
A good way to really notice and appreciate when things are going well is to take some time to practice gratitude. The best way to do this is to write in a gratitude journal. Get yourself a notebook or a daily diary with enough room to write in, and each day write down one thing you’re grateful for.
This is an excellent way to reflect on your life and take stock of what you have. Plus, when you do encounter a rough patch and feel as though you have nothing to be thankful for, you can look back through your journal and be reminded of all of the good things in your life.
Forgive
We all have people who have wronged us in our lives, and it’s easy to hold a grudge. However, grudges are heavy burdens to bear, and in doing so you are only really hurting yourself. Why not choose this new year as a chance to wipe the slate clean and practice forgiveness?
You make think that forgiving somebody is letting them off the hook, but it’s actually yourself that you are allowing to move on. Forgiving somebody doesn’t mean that you forget what they’ve done, it just means that you have taken away its power to affect you and your life.
Spend more quality time with the people you love
We’re all guilty of spending more time than we should do staring at a screen. A lot of the time it can’t be helped; many of us now spend our days at a computer because that’s our job. However, a lot of the time we come home and stick the TV on, and spend a lot of our evenings scrolling through social media or playing games on our tablets.
Though social media is a good way to keep up with our friends and family, it takes the personal connection away. Instead of having meaningful conversations, we simply ‘like’ or add a quick comment on to a Facebook status, or retweet something. Before we know it, it’s been weeks or months before we’ve actually spent any quality time with an old friend.
A good way to feel more connected to your loved ones is to step away from the screen for a period of time each day. Instead of texting somebody, why not give them a call instead? Or set a house rule that for a bit of time each night, the family puts away their technology, turns off the TV, and simply sits and talks about their day.
If you use social media to stay in touch with friends and family who live far away, why not schedule a video call for when you’re all free? Or if there’s a time difference that makes this tricky, you could spend time writing them a letter. Yes, snail mail isn’t as instant as chatting online, but your loved one will appreciate the time you’ve taken to sit down and write them something and it will feel much more special.
6 comments on "Spiritual New Year’s Resolutions for 2017"
Anonymous
Mine didnt work out brilliantly last year. here's to the new one!
char9974
Good points to bare in mind for next year
Anonymous
Very interesting
Melissa Soares
reading this article in 2018, and wishing i could replay my 2017!!
Anonymous
Very interesting & wish I could go back and make my 2017 better but my 2018 is going well so far
Anonymous
i will remember those tips!