The start of a new year is the traditional time for the setting of new intentions, whether they be for your business, your family or your personal life.

Some people call them New Years Resolutions, but I’ve always found (at least in MY case) that these are the plans destined to fade before we even make it to February.

But there are still a few things I want to do differently this year.

Tracking my progress

I’m busily working on creating some monthly trackers for myself that cover various areas: sleep patterns, mood, daily steps, self-care practices and finances. I have my Filofax, dot markers and Mildliners all prepped and ready to go.

Back to basics

I’m also working on tweaking my business and heading in a slightly different direction. So that’s both nerve-wracking and exciting at the same time. But I think it’s going to be a work in progress for a while. And, in a move that is a little unlike Katrina 1.0, I think the new Katrina 2.0 is going to start small and add on new features as the year progresses. Why? Well if, for example, I wait until a fully-fledged website is up and running before I commence work for the year, then it may be weeks before I see any work-related activity and/or results. And I can create a beautiful landing page in Canva that will suffice until a website with all the bells and whistles attached is perfected. I can hear my mother in my head saying “Katrina, you have to cut your garment according to your cloth.” And she’s STILL right - even in my memories!

A podcast? Well, that’s on the drawing board (ahem - Vision Board). But I want to take some time to plan my content and set up my blog before launching that. So it might be a later-in-the-year activity too. 

(Sidebar: If you have any suggestions or ideas about what you’d like to hear me talk about, please comment below or send me a message. Any and all input will be gratefully received.)

Trying new things

Here’s one idea I saw shared on Facebook (original author unknown) which I think is brilliant, and one I’m definitely going to try this year.

Now, I’m thinking I might go with a “thing I’m most grateful for this week” theme, but it could equally be “something I want to praise God for this week”, “a milestone I achieved this week” or “something one of the grandchildren said or did this week that made me smile”.

But imagine how amazing it would be to look back on New Years Eve next year and be able to truly reflect on your entire year? I mean, there will be times for all of us in 2025 when things don’t go to plan. There’ll be challenges and sadnesses, just as there’ll be successes and happiness. But I think it will be a healthy reminder - for me at least - that there has been something to be grateful for in each and every week. 

My grandma always taught me to look for the silver linings, just as Pollyanna did. That’s sometimes hard to do in moments of hardship, but when I look back on things later I can always see God’s hand at work. So I hope this new habit will really help me focus on building an ‘attitude of gratitude’.

What about you? What will you be doing differently in 2025? And is there anything I can do to help you achieve your new goals? 

Happy New Year everyone.