Thinking about the new year: What do you want from life in 2024?

I know that the idea of New Year’s resolutions can be a bit cliche and overdone. Not to mention, they sometimes feel impossible to stick to. That’s why I want to take a slightly different approach!

I like to focus on the bigger picture of what I want from next year. This can involve many different aspects of life, including work, health, relationships, leisure, and more. The future should be something that makes you excited! If you don’t feel particularly excited or hopeful, this exercise may be able to help you feel better.

You’re still getting to know yourself

Figuring out what you want from life can be easier said than done. In college, when people would ask me what I wanted to do after graduation, I genuinely had no idea. I felt weird about it, like I had failed in a way. All around me, people had certain goals and aspirations, and I was a little bit aimless. As much as I wanted to have my life planned out, I couldn’t quite figure out who I was or who I wanted to be.

Once I graduated and joined the “adult” world, I realized that it was normal to not know what you want. And it’s also normal to change your mind about what you find fulfilling.

Every day, you are getting to know yourself a little bit more. There are always opportunities to grow as a person and gravitate towards self-discovery. You are slowly chipping away at your future self, and now is the time to think about who you want that person to be. If there are things in your life that are holding you back and bringing you down, the end of the year is the perfect opportunity to re-evaluate those things. Maybe you need to let them go, and if you can’t let them go, then maybe you can change your mindset about them.

All paths have led you to this point

When I was diagnosed with CVID, I didn’t know if I would ever be truly happy. I worried about living in a constant state of depression and anxiety. But, chronic illness didn’t actually ruin any hopes of being happy – it just changed my goals and the trajectory of my life.

If it weren’t for my diagnosis, I never would have gone through so much character development. I probably never would have started a website, focused on mindset and positivity, or been a featured guest on podcasts.

They say hindsight is 20/20, and I think about that constantly. When terrible things happen, it’s really hard to have perspective because we don’t know what the future holds. But, sometimes we forget that while there will inevitably be dark times in our future, there are also so many exciting, happy days that we have not even experienced yet.

It’s so wonderful to think that there are so many special people that we haven’t met yet – for some it’s a future spouse, for others it’s a future co-worker or best friend. How amazing is that!?

As I have said in previous articles, remember that you are exactly where you are meant to be. You should be proud of yourself for how far you have come.

So now what?

All of your paths have led you to where you are today. 2023 is coming to a close, and I am sure many people have experienced some life altering changes.

So here’s the question – now what? Where do I want to go from here?

I think that is a great question to keep in your mind about as we start the new year. When we take a second to search deep down within, we can find what will make 2024 great. We have to remember to focus on the aspects of life that we can control.

How to take action

My suggestion is to sit down, turn on some music, take out a pen and paper, and picture your ideal life. Write down all of the aspects of that life. Then, write down how you can work towards making it into a reality. Even if it consists of small tiny steps, this can make a big difference because it will allow you to believe that you can make a positive change. You can’t change everything, but you can work around your circumstances to the best of your ability.

It also might be helpful to journal about everything that has happened this year. Picture yourself in January of 2023. What were you doing? What were your hopes and dreams? What were some difficult things that you were experiencing? How have those things changed? After reflecting, you may realize some new things about yourself!

Making a clear list of things that you want and steps to make them happen can get you in the right mindset to work closer towards achieving your goals and creating the best possible life for yourself. If you want, you could set a reminder for about six months from now, and check on this list. You might realize that your desires have changed – or you may realize that some of them are starting to come to fruition!

Of course, it is important to understand that we don’t know what tomorrow brings. We can’t predict the future, and there may be some hard days along with the good. But as we get to know ourselves, we can work hard to create the best opportunities for success, happiness, and fulfillment.

Happy 2024 and don’t forget to give yourself grace!