The new year always feels like a great time to clean out the junk and try something new – whether in our homes or our hearts. Today, I’m sharing 5 things to try in order to feel like a whole new you. Maybe you are always rushing out the door in the morning, feel like you don’t have a whole lot of direction, need to live a healthier life, or feel like you have nothing to wear. You’ve come to the right place! Keep reading for 5 Tips for a Refreshed Year.
Develop a Morning Routine
Always rushing out the door, late, forgetting something? Girl, me too. One time I almost forgot the baby. (Seriously.) Getting into a rhythm or routine in both the evening and the morning can absolutely change the way your mornings go. Pack your lunch the night before and lay out your clothes.
Take time to develop a morning routine. Determine what your priorities are and what things are keeping you from tending to them. Then, jot down an order. Decide when you’ll wake up and be specific about what you’re going to do between the time you wake to the time you leave for work or the baby wakes up.
I’ve been working on this, and even though I slacked during my break from work, I am looking forward to getting back to it! I wake up at 6, do a 30 minute workout, take a quick shower and am (ideally) ready by the time my toddler wakes up at 7. Then, we have an hour for breakfast and to finish getting ready.
I follow @phyliciamasonheimer on Instagram (she’s great, you should too!) and she’s been posting in her stories with the hashtag #mydrivenmorning. Thanks to her encouragement, the morning routine I am trying out now is:
6am – wake up
6:05 – laundry into washer
6:10 – workout video
6:40 – shower
6:50 – get dressed
7:00 – makeup/hair, get Logan up
7:15 – Logan’s breakfast time
7:30 – get Logan dressed, bags ready
7:45 – start car
7:50 – leave for work
Be specific and don’t be afraid to try different things until you find a rhythm that works for you! Some other resources I’ve heard GREAT things about are Make Over Your Mornings from Crystal Paine at Money Saving Mom and Hello Mornings.
Choose a word of the Year
Feeling like you have no direction? I get that! It can be as simple as taking some time to figure out what’s truly important to you.
If you’ve been following me for awhile, you know how much I love Lara Casey’s Cultivate What Matters Powersheets. They are a grace filled way to plan your goals for the year. She also encourages you to pray about and set a word for the year. Last year, my word was “life-giving” and it really did shape the decisions I made for my family. Knowing the over arching word for the year helps me set goals, make decisions and focus in on what really matters.
This year, my word is “entrusted” and I’m really excited to see what God teaches me this year. I’ll be writing more on it in a later post, but basically I feel like God is calling me to change my attitude from entitlement to one of being entrusted. I feel like He reminded me that He gave me, with confidence, each person and thing in my life to care for and love, not as a list of tasks but as a unique responsibility from Him. It’s really shaped how I’ve set my goals for the year and I can already feel a difference in how I’m spending time with my people.
Taking time to set goals, review your past year, and look to the future can really set the tone for your year. And it’s never too late! You don’t need anything fancy – just get out a pen and paper and jot down some thoughts.
I’d love to hear about your goals or your word of the year. Find me on social media so we can chat!
If you’re interested in the goal planner or daily planner that I use, check them out here: Powersheets Simplified Planner
Make health a priority and determine WHY.
Love cookies and hate getting up early to work out? Me too. But I want to set a good example for my family and have energy to live and love them well, so I eat fewer sweets and make getting up to exercise a priority.
Fitness can so easily become an obsession, and that is the same kind of unhealthy that binge eating cookies all day is. Healthy eating is even more important than exercise, and I’m learning a lot about that in the last year or so! Last spring my husband and I even tried Whole 30. Read about our experience here.
Balance is important and so is accountability. I’ve loved the mission behind Revelation Wellness for a couple of years now and I also have a few friends who are Beachbody coaches. Another friend introduced me to Yoli – the Better Body System.
Each of these things is good in their own right, but you will only be successful if you set a goal, are willing to work hard, and have accountability. Decide when you’ll move your body, what work out you’ll do, who you’ll talk to/exercise with, and most importantly determine your WHY. Just saying “I want to lost 20 pounds” is a lot less motivating than “I’d like to reach a healthy weight and make better food choices so that I have energy to play with my kids and set a good example for them.”
If you’d like more information on the resources I mentioned, check them out here:
- Beachbody on Demand
- Revelation Wellness – Rev TV
- Yoli Products (More about the Better Body System here)
Make sure you have the Wardrobe Basics.
Raise your hand if you have a closet full of clothes and regularly stand in front of it saying “I have NOTHING to wear!”. Preach. After my son was born, I went through a full on wardrobe crisis. My body was different, nothing fit, I didn’t know how to dress this new me, and nothing I put on made me feel good.
Through lots of research (read: Pinterest), I found some good resources and a formula that works no matter what size I’m at. It’s all about the basics – if you don’t have some basic wardrobe pieces it’s going to be hard to put together an outfit!
Check out this super helpful graphic from Busbee Style (her YouTube channel is amazingly helpful also).
Grab a neutral top, add a fashion piece and pants (my go to are dark wash jeans or black skinnies). Your go-to fashion piece might be a scarf, a vest, a blazer, a moto jacket, or a long cardigan.
Another option I’m really tempted to try is a capsule wardrobe, where you choose a certain number of pieces that all mix together and that’s what you wear for the season. You know each piece fits great and looks great so there are no bad choices. I love the idea of that simplicity! You can check out some more info on capsule wardrobes as well as lots of other great wardrobe basics inspo over on my Pinterest board – Elevate Your Style.
Complete your look with Jewelry!
As your Premier Designs Accessory Stylist, I’d be remiss if I didn’t add JEWELRY to your list of ways to look like a brand new you this year! Jewelry is such a simple way to elevate your style. Grab a plain white T, add a jean jacket and a necklace (bonus points for earrings and an arm party!) and you’re good to go! Even if you’re wearing yoga pants on the bottom, you’ll feel put together.
Some of my top tips for completing your look with jewelry, especially if you’re on a budget:
- Choose pieces that go with your basics.
- i.e. If your favorite moto jacket has gold hardware, choose a few hardworking gold pieces such as Adoration, Belize, or Sabrina.
- i.e. If your go-to fashion staple is a scarf, look for statement earrings, long necklaces that will peek out at the bottom or short necklaces that will hit right at your collarbone such as Silver Lake, London Fog, Blessed, or Fan Club.
- Elevate your style with a statement necklace.
- Some of my favorites are In the Navy, Eclipsed, Well Spent, Vacay, Blanca, and Mirabelle.
- Simplify your life with versatile pieces.
- Check out Sugar Rush, Lavendar, Cashmere, and Sable – they all have removable chains and can be wrapped, doubled, and layered.
- Check out the new Spring Line that launched 1/6/18!
- Some of my favorites pieces from the line are Durango, More Grace, The Promise, and Cecilia.
- Stay up to date by joining my VIP group!
- Special sales, private events, exclusive content! Click here to join the list and be added to the private FB group!
- Earn your jewelry for free by having a Facebook show with me.
No cost to you – You stay home in your sweats and party online with your friends! For more details email me at premierwithanna @ gmail.com with I WANT FREE JEWELRY in the subject line.
I’d love to hear about what you choose to implement as you hit the refresh button in this new year! Come find me @thegracefuljourney on Facebook or over on Instagram so we can stay in touch!
In Grace & Freedom,
Anna