Want to find out how to finish the year strong?
Regardless of whether you’ve had a good or bad year so far, it isn’t over until the fat lady sings, which means there is still time to finish the year strong and go into the next year ready and raring to go. Keep on reading to find out 7 ways to finish the year strong.
1. Review your current goals and decide which one can be achieved by the end of the year
There is nothing like a deadline to create a sense of urgency and motivate you to take the necessary action. So many people procrastinate when it comes to taking the necessary actions to achieve their goals, however, the end of the year is in sight and to end the year strong it would be great to tick a few more goals off your list. Now it may be then that when you review your goals you have a number that you can move forward with. I would urge you to focus on what you complete within the current timeframe (now and the end of the year). Having achieved one or two of your goals will give you a greater sense of accomplishment than having more slightly closer in relation to four of your goals.
2. Tie up loose ends
Do you have small items on your to-do list (it could be a to-do list in your head) that you keep saying you’ll sort out and then never do? Now is time to cross those things off your list whether it is a physical or mental list. These to-do items might seem little, but they take up unnecessary space in our brain and are likely to be an annoyance to you. By tying up all of your loose ends now it will mean you can go into the new year without all of those things hanging over you.
3. Declutter
This is similar to tying up loose ends in the sense that you should focus on using the end of the year to ensure you go into the new year in a good place. Your environment has a major impact on how you perform so use the end of the year as a time to have a major clear out. As they say out with the old and in with the new. By using the end of the year to get rid of everything that no longer serves you you’ll be creating space for new things, that will serve and support you, to be able to come into your life.
4. Become fully aware of your current financial situation
If you are someone who has a good understanding of their financial situation then skip this step. However, if you are normally someone who buries your head in the sand the moment money and numbers are mentioned keep on reading.
You should have an accurate understanding of your financial situation whether you in thousands of pounds of debt or a multi-millionaire. Taking the time at the end of the year to properly understand your financial situation is vital. This means digging out all of your paperwork, opening those unopened letters, finding lost bank accounts and getting all of your figures into one place. Ideally, you should create a spreadsheet that enables you to quickly see your assets and liabilities. Then you’ll be able to calculate your net worth.
When you are fully aware of your current financial situation you are able to make informed decisions going forward. If you are in debt, you’ll be able to make a plan about how to pay down the debt. It may be from doing this exercise you have more savings than you realised and you can start investing. Regardless of where you are on the financial scale, the important thing is you need to be fully aware.
5. Invest in yourself
The best investment you can make is in yourself and now that you are up-to-date with your current financial situation you might realise that you have more money to invest in yourself than you had anticipated. Think back to the goals (the ones you decided couldn’t be achieved this year) and consider whether there is anything or anyone you can invest in to help you achieve one of those goals quicker or to help ensure you stay on track. This could be a whole range of things including a course, a coach, a training programme or a conference.
6. Celebrate everything you’ve achieved
Are you someone who achieves a goal and then is straight onto setting a new goal and working to achieve that? If so, this is especially for you. A major part of finishing the year strong is acknowledging everything you’ve achieved and if you didn’t already celebrate your achievements doing so now. Now if you aren’t naturally someone who celebrates you might be thinking “how is this helping me to finish my year strong?”. The fact is you need to make the time to celebrate what you have achieved. When you celebrate what you have achieved you are giving yourself the chance to properly acknowledge your achievements, this will help you to feel good about yourself and in turn, help you to feel more confident about achieving more in the future.
7. Conduct an end of year review
Right at the end of the year, you should carry out an end of year review. This will help you to ensure that you proper reflect on how your year has gone. One of the questions you should ask yourself in an end of year review is what you’ve learnt. Taking notes of what you have learnt throughout the year means regardless of whether it was a good year or a bad year you are able to have used those experiences for a positive reason. Now you’ll be in a place to take those learnings forward. If you don’t already have an end of year review process read – How to do a personal end-of-year review.
There you have it! You now know 7 ways to finish your year strong.
I hope you have found this helpful. Even by trying out a few of the suggested ways I’m sure you’ll be able to finish your year strong and put yourself in a good place for the year ahead.
