Sometimes, life can become so overwhelming that you just wish you have a restart button and start all over again.

Each day is a new day and a new opportunity to start all over again. There is no perfect time nor place. We can reset our lives and reflect on our priorities, intentions and our goals whenever we want to. That is the true power of resetting, knowing that you can do it anytime.  It doesn’t have to be a big and drastic change but a small, simple and intentional one can make a big difference. The reset I am talking about doesn’t involve quitting our jobs (although if you don’t love your job, you can re-evaluate), getting rid of everything, or moving to a quiet place to live in the mountains.

Photo by: Johannes Plenio

As the leaves change into beautiful colors this autumn, it also reminds us of change and transformation. It reminds us to reevaluate our goals, values, and intentions and other things which we build our life with. It is a powerful reminder that we are in-charge of our lives and we have the power to define the path we want to take.

This autumn season, I decided to start with small and simple tasks to reset my life and here are a few ideas I can share and you can do it too as often as you’d like.

1. Visualize the life you want and rewrite your goals.

Picturing the life you want is a very powerful tool you can use to guide you towards   accomplishing your goals. Once you envisioned your life, you can start working on tiny steps day by day so you can progressively reach your goal, may it be towards more financial freedom, better job, better relationships, better self-care, anything you desire to achieve. Start with small things that you can do right away so you can feel more encouraged and motivated when you complete a task.

Tips:

When I was in nursing school, whenever we had to complete a Nursing Care Plan for our patients and we need to set goals for their care, we were taught to use SMART as a guiding principle.

Specific, measurable, achievable, realistic/relevant, time-oriented. Make sure you set a time frame for your goals so you can get inspired to keep your momentum.

2. Determine what is important to you.

Let go of the things that no longer serve you.

You can let go of your material possessions that no longer serve a purpose, unhealthy habits, or even relationships that no longer bring you joy.

Tips: Declutter your space. A clear space, is a clear mind. I personally have been feeling so overwhelmed with the amount of stuff I accumulated over the years to the point that those stuff bring me anxiety. I have a post about my decluttering here.

3. Declutter your mind

A cluttered mind takes a lot of energy which prevents us from creating clear priorities. You can declutter your mind with free and simple actions:

1. Get enough rest and sleep.
2. Meditate
3. Bond with nature
4. Take a break
5. Declutter your space
6. Write down your thoughts

There are a lot of ways to relax and clear our minds and the above mentioned are just a few of them.

4. Let go of the negativities

This includes letting go of grudges and resentment towards yourself and others. Forgive yourself and others.

This may be very difficult for most of us but we have to remember that everyone makes mistakes, but learning how to learn from these mistakes and to move on, and forgive yourself is important for your well-being.

Be kind to yourself and treat yourself with compassion as you would to other people. As painful as it may feel, there are things in life that are worth enduring the pain for in order to move forward and reset your life, and forgiving yourself is one of them.

Here are some tips on How to Forgive Yourself

5. Develop a healthy habit

Starting small is a great idea so it can be done repeatedly and they are just effective. You can chose to improve self-care habits that you can include in your daily routine like eating healthier food, exercise, morning or evening routine, or even the habit of slowing down, meditation, reading a book and or learning the art of doing nothing.

“Doing nothing, but with a purpose to do nothing or no purpose at all, may help to decrease anxiety, bring creativity to the surface, and boost productivity” Elisabeth Almekinder

I have been reading and watching about the Blue Zones and here’s a very helpful article about the happiest people on earth, the Dutch people.

Niksen: The Dutch Art of Purposefully Doing Nothing

Leo Babauta has some great tips on The Art of Doing Nothing.

There is no shame or rules in needing to start all over again. If you think you need it, you can do it.

Talk to you soon.

Love, Siegrid