Tips to Plan and Shape Your New Year

Every year, I enjoy setting new goals for myself. I don’t make silly resolutions as they aren’t very practical. Usually, I sit down in December and reflect over the year to see what I can change or improve on in my life. I hope these tips will give you the inspiration to plan and shape your new year.

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Tips to Plan and Shape Your New Year

Reflect

Take time to review 2025—what worked well, what didn’t, and what lessons you learned. Celebrate your wins (big or small) and identify areas for improvement. This self-reflection helps align your new goals with your true priorities and values, making them more sustainable.

Remove

This is a big one for myself and I know so many others. Remove what isn’t serving you well. For instance, like spending too much time on your phone. We are all guilty of scrolling social media, podcasts and even YouTube. Maybe set a timer and only allow 30 minutes a day instead of two hours. If you are truly working on social media (uploading content) for your job, that’s fine. Just make sure you are staying focused on your work and don’t get sidetracked.

Remove other distractions that might be hindering you from getting other important things done in your life. If you are a young mama, use those nap times wisely and get our homemaking chores done while your kids are sleeping. Think about all the extra time you can spending diving into scriptures and studying the Bible? I started doing this more in 2025. If I felt swayed to do something else, I would tell myself, “nope, it’s a distraction” and then I’d go dive into the word.

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Re-Focus

Here are a few things I enjoy doing everyday and believe it or not, it helps keep my mind cluttered free.

1. I make our bed every day. I grew up with my dad being in the U.S. Army and he taught my sister and I to make our bed every day. It gives you peace and a sense of accomplishment. I was taught that when you make your bed right after or before you get ready to leave for the day, you are more apt to do other things. I also like climbing into bed every night with straightened sheets and our quilt.
2. Open your blinds or curtains every morning. I know so many people that sit in their homes with the shades pulled. Drives me crazy seeing people sit in the dark haha. Let the beautiful sun shine through. Natural light increases serotonin production, reducing stress, anxiety, and symptoms of depression (including seasonal affective disorder). Psychologists recommend opening blinds first thing upon waking to flood your space with light—it enhances emotional regulation and makes your day feel brighter (literally). Like making your bed, pulling open the blinds is a quick task that instantly transforms your room from dim and closed-off to bright and inviting. It signals the start of a new day and builds momentum for productivity.
3. Declutter – I’m guilty of this one. In my defense, I do have organized piles but they do appear to look like clutter in certain spaces throughout our home. I don’t have a dedicated office so I keep things in piles and know exactly what is in them (well, most of them). A good rule I like to do in the new year, is take each room, one at a time, and start going through all the piles or anything else that might not be something I need to hang on to. The older I get, I’m learning that we don’t need to hang on to everything.

Learn a New Skill

Try your hand at something new this year. If you want to learn how to sew, taking a sewing class. Maybe you would like to perfect your cooking in the kitchen – have a friend teach you or there are all kinds of classes online. Learn how to grind your own flour and make delicious and nutritious bread for your family!

Renew

1. Get outside every day. Our bodies were not designed to stay inside all the time. My place of peace is my garden. I love going out there and soaking up the sun. The vitamin D is so good for us. I also like to walk barefoot and do some grounding with the earth. Go take a walk, listen to a podcast or just be with God.
2. Renew your mind and rewire your brain – This one is huge for me. It’s something I’ve been doing for several years now. Our nervous system stays on constant alert due to our jobs, families, environment, toxins, etc. Our central nervous system includes the brain and the spinal cord. The peripheral nervous system connects the central nervous system with motor, sensory and autonomic nerves. The autonomic nervous system is divided into the sympathetic (fight or flight) and parasympathetic (rest and digest) nerves.

How To Renew Your Mind

1. I renew my mind and rewire my brain by doing two things – 1. Getting into the word daily, God’s word. I started really diving into the Bible a few years ago as well and studying what the verses meant. I used to just pick my Bible up on Sundays and never really understood how to know where to start reading. I began verse mapping a few years ago. I now enjoy reading my Bible. I also pray daily.

2. Nervous System Retraining – Deep breathing, limbic system rewiring and somatic exercises. Game changer, as I had a lot of childhood trauma that has stuck with me for most of my life. I’ll be sharing more in the near future on a dedicated post about how we need to renew our minds and rewire our brain. For now, you can read more here.

One More

Live a Simple Life

I used to run around all the time when my kids were little. By the time they grew up and left the house, I was plumb exhausted. I started my blog back in 2014 as a way to document little things I was doing and in hopes to help the younger folks not do what I did.

I love how I get to choose what “thing” I want to do that day. Teaching and helping others is something that I love to do but I learned that I can’t do it all. There are other people that can chip in too. I don’t have to do everything. I now have a granddaughter so I’m putting my focus on her. Both of our kids do live behind us. We are on a family compound, so to speak. I’m super blessed to be able to do life with our adult kids. I wouldn’t have it any other way.

I love spending my free time both in my garden and kitchen. Cooking meals (and baking) for others is one of my favorite things to do. I just received a couple of cross stitch kits so I’m excited to start working on them. Some may say I’m boring, but I say I am content. My mind is at peace now. I am trying to be more intentional about being present with others. I don’t rush to get things done anymore. When someone is in need, my body can rise up and go assist (if I’m needed) and I don’t get worn out anymore. Life is so short, so I’m taking things slow and living a more simple life.

Resources

https://www.thespruce.com/reasons-to-make-your-bed-every-day-350511

https://www.247blinds.co.uk/blog/why-opening-your-blinds-curtains-can-help-with-your-mental-health

Gibbons CH. Basics of autonomic nervous system function. Handb Clin Neurol. 2019;160:407-418. doi: 10.1016/B978-0-444-64032-1.00027-8. PMID: 31277865.

I hope you feel motivated to make some changes and goals for the new year! Having a fresh start in January really helps us get excited for each month ahead. Wishing you many blessings in the New Year!

Wendy Lea Walker, NTP

Nutritional Therapy Practitioner

I’m Wendy. A wife, empty-nester mama, homemaker, homebaker, gardener and small-time farmer. I love sharing wisdom and mistakes I’ve learned along the way. Anyone can garden or homestead, no matter where you live. It’s a mindset. You just have to start somewhere. I believe food is medicine. Feed the body real whole foods and healing will begin. I’ve learned to slow down over the years from all the noise that came with life and enjoy creating a simple home.