It used to be that we all made New Year's Resolutions and then promptly forgot all about them. In fact, the only one of mine that I can remember is one I made as a sarcastic teen who was being pestered to make one: I vow not to have tea with the Queen of England this year. (I kept that one, BTW.)
You could just ignore the whole idea of New Year's altogether, but if you're itching for change, there are other ways to inspire yourself. Here are three ways that are popular among the creative crowd:
1. Word of the Year
Some people like to pick a "word of the year" to provide a focus for that year. I've done this in the past and it's fun. Some years the words stick with me and other times they fall away, just like any normal New Year's Resolution. The appeal of this is that it's very broad, so it can cover wide swaths of your life. If you choose "brave," you can be brave about trying new foods, saying yes to the job promotion that scares you, or using the color yellow in your jewelry designs. It also has the advantage of being something that you can easily put on a pendant or bookmark as a daily reminder. If you need some suggestions for words to consider, check out One Word 365.
2. Paper Planners
It's one thing to talk about our goals and quite another to write them down. For me, writing them feels like more of a commitment. Maybe a simple pad of paper and a pen will work or maybe you need something that's filled with inspiring quotations or specific questions to get you thinking. Check out the Passion Planner created by a young entrepreneur or Your Best Year 2015 productivity workbook by marketing guru Lisa Jacobs as two examples of planners designed for the creative set.
3. Yearlong Project with a Theme
I like this "Year of Making" idea from Kim Werker to make something every day. You don't need to complete something every day and the "something" can be quite varied: a batch of cookies or a ten-minute doodle can count. The idea is to make the creative process just a regular part of your life and forget about perfection. (Making something Pinterest-worthy every day is not realistic.) Lots of books have been written about these types of year-long adventures. For example, J.A. Jacobs wrote a book called Drop Dead Healthy about the year where he tried to follow every single piece of health advice he could find. Last year I read The Wilder Life, a book Wendy McClure by which described her obsession with Laura Ingalls Wilder and her attempts to visit all the places she lived.
How do you plan for a new year?