How to Upgrade Your Life Before the Year Ends

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The last few months of the year bring feelings of anticipatory excitement and urgency, as you start thinking about how to upgrade your life and make the next year your best year yet.

But, there is also a common trap that you might fall for: you want to improve your life, yet push it off thinking: “Oh, I’ll just start in the new year. It doesn’t make any sense to start now”.

If you’ve wanted to change your life but have been pushing it off to wait for the “perfect moment” – please stop!

I want you to create momentum for next year, starting now!

It’s time for you to upgrade your life – yes, all before 2024 is over – so that you can enter the new year feeling your best! Are you ready? Then, let’s get started!

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What Does Upgrading Your Life Mean?

A life upgrade means making positive changes that help you feel, look, and be your best!

Think about it: how do you usually conclude your years? Yeah, I’m sure it’s not on a positive note…

Most likely, after Christmas, you pull out your dusty resolution list, only to realize that you haven’t accomplished any – or barely.

You spiral down into a cycle of self-pity, frustration, and disappointment toward yourself. Is that how you want to feel, at the end of the year?

This strategy is clearly not working – isn’t it time to get rid of it?!

I have a better way of finishing off this year…

This strategy is proven to make you feel like you’re on top of the world and you can really achieve your dreams!

5 Steps to Upgrade Your Life

Are you ready to learn the 5 steps you need to take for an immediate life makeover? Then, let’s get started!

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1. Set one clear goal

As the year is coming to an end, you might feel drawn to do as much as possible.

You can definitely achieve your 20 goals in a month or two, right? Well, not exactly…

Stop putting unnecessary stress on yourself and make peace with the fact that this year you won’t make all your dreams come true.

It’s a hard pill to swallow, but the sooner you realize it, the sooner you can focus on what you can make happen!

One way to upgrade your life before the year ends is to pick one goal – and one only – and stick with it.

So, ask yourself:

“What is the one goal that, if achieved, could change my life the most?”

If you have a hard time picking only one area of your life to work on, think about what’s been bothering you the most lately.

And, if you still can’t decide, then I’d say to close your eyes and randomly pick something. Let fate choose, if you must.

Why only ONE goal?

The reason why you should focus on only one goal is that, in this way, you’re setting yourself up for success.

I mean, if you didn’t put in the effort for the past 10 months, how do you expect to get the desired results in a month or so?

You have to be honest with yourself and with how much you can do – that’s the key to not being disappointed!

There’s no worse thing than entering the new year feeling like a failure…

You’re still on time to change the trajectory of your year! So why not make the most of the time left by having something to celebrate?

Finish the year feeling good for what you’ve accomplished, instead of blaming yourself for all that you didn’t.

2. Create an action plan

Well, now that you’ve found an answer to my question, it’s time to move on to step number 2: creating an action plan!

Picture this:

While it’s great to think about the desired outcome, you cannot forget about an important part: the whole journey.

If you’re at point A, and you need to go to point Z, you need to figure out how you’re going to reach points B, C, D, and so on…

Without a plan, it’s not going to happen! (And you want to make it happen, right? 😉 )

The reverse-planning strategy

To achieve your goal, here’s how we’re going to create the perfect action plan:

• Define your desired outcome, being as specific as possible
• Braindump all the things you need to do to get there
• Take out your planner and assign each one of these tasks to a defined block of time, specifying the clear outcome to have by the end of each session
• Come up with a list of possible obstacles you might encounter
• For each of these obstacles, write down the exact action you will take to overcome it

Here is an example:

By creating a solid action plan – that takes into account the possible setbacks you will face -, you’ll be more likely to achieve your goal.

3. Try new routines

You don’t have to wait for the new year to make changes to your life.

Another way to upgrade your life before the year ends is to try out as many new things, habits, and routines before 2025.

The truth is that, oftentimes, we underestimate the challenge and overestimate ourselves.

A 5 AM morning routine looks good on paper, but how would you feel actually doing it?

When the new year approaches, there’s a common sense of excitement that pushes you to set high expectations for yourself.

Then, a few weeks into the new year, as the excitement wears off, you’re ready to give it all up: you can’t change!

One way to avoid this is to start tweaking your routine before the year ends.

That way, you can test things out and see what works and what doesn’t.

If something doesn’t work out, you can remove it from your plate without feeling bad and thinking you’ve already ruined the entire year.

So, think about the habits and routines you aspire to adopt in the new year. Is it:

• Waking up early every day?
• Hitting the gym 5x a week?
• Meditating for 10 minutes every day?
• Writing a new blog post every week?
• Drinking more water?
• Adopting a consistent nighttime routine?

Why don’t you try implementing that specific habit, routine, or behavior already now?

Add it to your schedule. Give it a try. See how it feels.

If it feels good, that’s great – keep doing it as you enter the new year!

If you realize it doesn’t work out for you – just forget about it and move on!

4. Check in with yourself

Another great way to upgrade your life before the end of the year is to check in with yourself – both internally and on the surface.

Checking in with yourself means setting aside some intentional time to reflect on yourself, your vision, and your current life situation.

Most people tend to leave this practice for the very end or beginning of the year.

You might be surprised to find out that’s not the best time to do such an activity…

At the end of the year, the anticipatory excitement for what’s ahead of you together with the delusion of the not-so-great year you had influence your perception…

You’re brought to focusing more on what you haven’t done than all the great things that also happened.

So, the best advice is to start the reflection process now.

There are two types of reflections you must make if you want to upgrade your life:

• Inner reflection
• External reflection

Below, I will provide you with some of the best questions you can use to dig deep into yourself and your life.

Questions to tune in with yourself

• How am I feeling right now?
• What physical sensations am I experiencing?
• What are my core values?
• Am I living in alignment with those values?
  • If yes, how?
  • If not, why am I not doing this already?
• What is my ideal daily routine?
  • What actions can I add to my current routine to close the gap between them?
• How am I taking care of myself?
• How do I talk to myself?
• What are some self-limiting beliefs that are keeping me stuck?
• What are the things that bring me joy in life?
  • Am I setting aside some time to do those things?
• How do I describe myself?
• How would I describe my ideal self?
• What am I good at?
• When do I feel the happiest?
• What are the 3 achievements I am most proud of?
• Why do I want to achieve that one goal (see point #1) before the year ends?

Questions for external reflection

• Who are the most important people in my life?
  • How do they add value to my life?
  • How am I best serving them? What do I bring to the table?
• When approaching new people, how do I present myself?
• How am I contributing to other people’s lives, my community, and the whole world?
• What is my love language?
• Am I aware of the love languages of the most important people in my life?
• How satisfied am I with my current relationship?
• How satisfied am I with my current friendships?
• What characteristics should the ideal best friend have?
• Am I being the kind of friend I wish I had in my life?
  • If yes, in what ways?
  • If not, how can I improve?
• How satisfied am I with my current family dynamics?
• How can I be the ideal [friend, partner, child, co-worker]?

Once again: you don’t have to wait for the new year to level up and become your best self.

Why wait? Start building momentum now!

BONUS: Grab your FREE “50 Journaling Prompts for Self-Discovery”

5. Declutter your life

Finally, the last way to upgrade your life before the year ends is to do a massive declutter.

I am talking: digital, physical, and mental!

The basic rule for a good decluttering session is: if it doesn’t make you happy, healthy, or wealthy – then it’s out!

You want to start the new year feeling, looking, and being your best – that’s the whole point behind upgrading your life, right?

So, whether you need to empty your wardrobe, reach inbox 0, or cut off the bonds with that person – just do it!

In the next sections, I’ll give you some ideas for decluttering your life!

Digital declutter checklist

• Unsubscribe from unused paid memberships
• Delete pictures and videos
• Sort out your gallery, putting the content into folders
• Unsubscribe from irrelevant newsletters
• Reach inbox 0
• Set reminders to limit your phone usage time
• Organize your documents and files on your laptop
• Uninstall unused apps
• Back up important files and photos

Physical declutter checklist

• Sell or donate any clothes you don’t wear
• Do a declutter for each room in your house
• Organize your desk
• Divide all your paperwork into different binders
• Establish a basic daily cleaning routine
• Have a maintenance weekly cleaning routine
• Design an environment that works for you, not against you

Mental declutter checklist

• Cut out negative, toxic people from your life
• Identify and get rid of your energy-suckers (tasks, bad habits, etc)
• Braindump your tasks
• Have lists for different areas of your life
• Use the power of journaling to sort your thoughts
• Identify self-limiting beliefs
• Create checklists, routines, and rituals to follow
• Adopt mindful habits (such as meditation)
• Cut off distractions
• Have regular self-care rituals

Bonus tip

Want to make this more fun? Turn this life upgrade into a challenge – and ask your partner, friend, or family member to join you on this journey!

That way, you’ll hold each other accountable while making sure you both make the most of the time left this year!

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That brings us to the end of the article!

If you stuck with me this far – congrats! (And thank you 🙂 )

Don’t forget to share your “Upgrade Your Life Challenge” if you decide to start one! 😉

It’s time to make every second left of this year count! Start now.

Q: “What would you like to improve by the end of the year?” – Let me know in a comment! 🙂

Until next time,

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