How to Finish this Year Strong in 10 Ways

Can you believe that this year is almost over? No? Well, it is! It is kind of hard to believe because there are so many things that happened this year, and most of them are out of our control. But, it is not too late to do something a few days before the new year, and take control of how you want this year to end. In this blog post, I shared some tips on how to finish this year strong.

It feels like this year went by too fast. This usually happens when we are not really intentional or present to what we do. But we can still make up for it. We can do something that is good for us and also makes us happy.

I know that there are some who are already in their Holiday spirit and don’t want to do anything. It seems like everyone is in their vacation mode already. I totally understand this. It’s been a crazy year after all! 

But you know what, ending this year intentionally can’t just help us finish this year strong but can also give us a headstart for the upcoming year. Besides, the things listed below can also be done even when you’re on vacation. Vacation is about taking care of ourselves, right?

10 Ways you can finish this year strong.

1. Set a time to review your year.

It is always good to end this year by reviewing what we did the entire year. It is the perfect time to reflect on how well (or bad) we did this year! 

We can list down the following:

• Our accomplishments
• Events we’ve attended
• Places we’ve visited
• Things we can improve

We can also do this by checking the goals we set earlier this year and seeing if we have done anything. To those goals we weren’t able to do, we can ask ourselves “why” and “how can we accomplish these”.

2. Check your journal for this year.

This year went by so fast that we might not remember what happened. When we’re unsure about something, we get anxious! We then start to think about things we have, haven’t, or should’ve done. 

Overthinking about these will not do anything. To help us remember, we can check out our journal. There are so many things we can learn from our journals, like some small things that made us happy, or why we were so mad that one time. 

Our experience is our best teacher but we often forget about them. Reading our journals is like reading our own history book and then learning something from it.

3. Set your goals for next year.

Another way to finish this year strong is to start next year strong too! Whenever something ends, it is always better when we are ready to face another one. And we can do this by setting our goals for next year.  

Setting our goals in a rush has a higher chance that we’ll not be able to achieve those goals. This is why we have to do this at least a few weeks before the year ends. By doing so, we are giving ourselves a chance to really think about them and also prepare ourselves. Remember that goal-setting doesn’t just include writing a bunch of things we want to do. It is a multi-step process.

You may want to read this – How to Achieve your Goals and Dreams.

4. Get at least one done.

It is normal to not get everything done because of different reasons. It is discouraging but the good news is that we can still do something about it. The year has not ended yet so we can pick something easy on our goal list and do it. 

There are goals that feel so daunting especially when we are running out of time. But let’s still try, and sometimes, it makes us realize how easy it is. We may have been simply procrastinating or being perfectionists. 

It always feels great to check one off the list, and now, we’ve done one more goal! 

5. Declutter and clean up your space.

The end of the year is a good time to get rid of the clutter we’ve collected during the year. We really don’t know how much clutter we have until we get into our stuff, separate the things we need, and throw away or donate those we don’t need or use.

By decluttering, we get to clean and organize our things. Also, we get to make more space for the things (or clutter) we will collect for another year. It seems like a fresh start! 

Aside from all these obvious reasons why we should declutter, it is also a practice for letting go of things that have no more purpose for us. By doing so, it might be easier for us now to let go of our worries or anything that distracts us from being the best version of ourselves.

6. Prepare for next year.

We have different goals that need advanced preparation. By preparing before the new year, we are not giving ourselves a chance to make excuses. 

For example, if one of your goals is to run every day, check if your running shoes are in good condition. If not, buy one. This way when the new year comes, you won’t say “I don’t have shoes, I’ll just do it tomorrow.” And then you end up postponing it until it’s already December.

7. Start working on your goals.

Working on our goals is not easy. If we push ourselves immediately, we might get frustrated and quit. This is why a lot of people quit on their new year’s resolutions. There are reports about gyms being full during the early part of the year but slowly declining as the year progresses.

This is why it is better if we can warm up now.  Of course, it’s understandable to wait until the new year to start because of “new year new me” but it is absolutely better to get things started today.

With the same example above, if our goal is to run every day, we can already start walking today. 

You may want to read this – How to make an action plan to achieve goals.

8. Show some gratitude.

This year has been shitty to a lot of people. It may be due to the pandemic or to some personal reasons. It is easy to get lost in these bad situations that we forget that there are also some good things that happened. 

To finish this year strong, let’s try to look for things that we are grateful for. This way, we will be forced to look at the brighter side. Afterward, we can show some gratitude by doing acts of kindness or giving back. Counting our blessings also works.

9. Spend the Holidays with people you love.

There are no better people to spend the end of the year with than with our loved ones. Spending this time with them is a great way for us to bond together especially when we rarely see them all the time throughout the year. 

Spending time with the people we love can also remind us why we are working so hard and who are the people who will cheer for us and will always have our backs. It’s always good to end the year in our homes – the people who also love us. 

10. Make something nice for your “next year self”.

There’s not a stronger way of finishing this year by ending it on a positive note. There are so many things we can be positive about this time of the year, and some are mentioned above! 

We can spread this feeling to our future self by making something nice. We can write a letter, prepare affirmation cards, or maybe fill a jar with positive notes for our future self!

Finish this year strong, start next year stronger.

Now, for the most important tip, let’s take a good rest! This is very important so we can rejuvenate our strength and we’ll be ready to get back to our realities, aka our work. 

This list is just a guide, and we don’t need to do all of them. We can pick one or maybe two. But if you like preparing and planning, like me, everything in this list is pretty easy and enjoyable to do. 

Even when we’re on vacation, it is still important to do something that aids us in our personal growth journey. And I really hope that next year will be full of growth for all of us. Let’s always prioritize our growth, okay?

Well, Happy Holidays and Happy New Year to you. Remember that I’m always here, rooting for you!

Blaise ♡ 

PS, if you want to vent something about your Holidays, the comment section is open. I know that this time of the year can be crazy!!!