New Year's Resolution Alternatives

New Years Champagne
Image from The Graphics Fairy


    Do you ever get tired of the old resolutions.  Want something a little different.  Or maybe you want something more engaging for a New Years party.  Here is a collection of different challenges and activities for the new year festivities.

Memory Jar

     A memory jar can be any container in which you store good memories.  It can be a jar, a can, a tea tin, or whatever your heart desires.  As wonderful or happy things happen throughout the year write them down on a piece of paper and date them.  Place the note in your container.  At the end of the year open up the container and read all the good memories you have collected.  You can also open it up during the year to help remind yourself about the good things if you feel down.  At the end of the year you can get a new container and store or display the old one.
    I have seen memory jars on the internet in several places.  But, my first real introduction to it was at last years New Years party.  There was a collection of jars for everyone to chose from.  My current container is not terribly cute or anything, but for some reason I was attracted to the shape of the jar the moment I set eyes on it.  It was such a fun activity having everyone pick out a jar.  I also look forward to sharing some of my memories at this years party.

Letter To Self In One Year

    You have probably heard of writing a letter to your future self and opening it in ten years, yet we change so much even in a single year of time.  I know that I have changed significantly in the past year.  Write a letter to your self to open next year on new years eve.  In the letter you can talk about your hopes and fears.  You can list out things you hope to change.  You can talk about your goals.  Or you can even write yourself a letter of encouragement.  Close and seal your letter.  Try using stationary that really speaks about who you are today or of who you wish to become.  For extra security or style you can seal the letter with a sticker or if you have it sealing wax.

Contact Past Friends

    We all lose contact with people over the years.  Sometimes it is simply because of distance.  Sometimes it is over disagreements.  Often times it is merely the fact that life can be so hectic that we just lose touch with people.  Think of three people you haven't talked to in some time.  Has it been a year?  Two years?  Five?  Maybe even more.  Try to contact these three people within the next year.  See how they have been doing these past years.

Life Scouts (Challenge Badge)

    Have you heard about Life Scouts.  I saw a video about it by it's creator much earlier this year.  He was so energetic and excited about it.  Check out the video for an explanation of how the badge system works.  If you want a fun and randomized challenge, purchase one of the challenge badges on the store.  You will get a random badge selected from fifty of the one hundred badges.  Then try to earn the badge you got.  What will you end up trying?  Milking a cow, vlogging, Eiffel Tower, falconry.  There are several interesting badges.  Check out Life Scouts today.

Radical Self Love Bible

    If you have been reading my blog for a while, especially on Thursdays, you will know that I follow Gala Darling.  She is a fabulous writer and blogging babe on a mission to spread radical self love.  Remember that song "What the world needs now is love?"  Could your life use more love?  Too many of us are encouraged to be hard on ourselves and sometimes we are even encouraged to be hateful to ourselves.  A Radical Self Love Bible is a tool to help you be more positive about yourself.  Check out the following links to learn more.



Back Burner

    Ever have projects that you can't work on at the time, but don't want to forget?  In 2013 I decorated a little envelope and placed it under my memory jar so I would always remember where it was.  In the envelope I filed away projects I wanted to pursue in 2014.  I recently opened it up to see what in the file I wanted to work on first and what would stay on the back burner.  It has been useful and I think this is an idea worth sharing.
    How can you create a bake burner file?  First decide what to keep your notes in.  Using a physical object like a tine or envelope is great if you are likely to forget which folder on the computer you put your notes in.  Plus a physical object can be decorated and and displayed so it is never "Out of sight.  Out of mind."  For the notes take a note card or a piece of paper and write down information you will want to remember about the project.  Just enough to jog your memory.  Maybe even some websites or names.  Don't plan out the whole thing now, especially if the problem is that you don't have time to do it now.  Schedule designated times to go through your back burner envelope and see if then is the right time to start working on it.  I hope this serves you well.

101/1001 Challenge

    This is a wonderful project conceived by New Zealander, Michael Green.  Michael Green built and maintains the Day Zero Project website.  The challenge is to complete 101 tasks in 1001 days.  It is a wonderful challenge that will really push you.  I can't tell you how much I learned while doing the challenge.  To learn more about the challenge check out the about page.

7 Things x 2014

    Here is another great activity from Day Zero Project.  They have seven prompts to get you thinking about what you want to achieve in the new year.  Take a look at the seven prompts and see what comes to mind.  This is a great activity to do before you set your goals.  7 Things x 2014


    There are plenty of options our there for kicking off the new year.  Use on of these or come up with your own.  Remember that you do not need an event or holiday to decide to take up a new challenge or to change something about yourself.  If you can feed off the energy and hype of such events, make it work for you.

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