5 New Year’s Tips for a Happier Life
I’ll never forget, I was going through a particularly difficult time in my life. Riding an elevator the doors opened, a man stepped in and told me “Happy New Year!” Perhaps my face betrayed my concern because at the time it was the middle of the summer. He then replied to my stunned silence, “Remember, everyday is a new year.”
2025 New Years in New Orleans broke merry traditions with an unfathomable tragedy. Our community’s survival instincts kicked in from covid and countless hurricanes, many donating blood, sending money and offering prayers for the victims and their families. We are reminded how precious life is and how often we take our time together for granted. Everyday is a new year with opportunities for fresh starts, new habits, and blessings to count for a happier journey. Give these tips a try for a more joyous life.
1. PRACTICE GRATITUDE
In countless studies happiness has no correlation to wealth or success, but instead genuine happiness is linked to gratitude. Gratitude can be a simple act of acknowledging appreciation for life’s blessings in invaluable metrics such as time with family, laughs shared with friends, and belonging to a community. While it sounds easy enough, our busy lives can often overwhelm our days and prevent us from actually practicing gratitude. Try to incorporate moments for reflection on gratitude into a daily task, or habit stack, like for instance when walking the dog, drinking your morning coffee, or even brushing your teeth, count your blessings and feel the joy of gratitude.
2. Prioritize Self-Care
You’ve heard it every January, “new year, new you” with incentives to finally start taking better care of yourself. While we all know we can’t pour from an empty cup, many times the task master puts their own care last. To prevent this, organize your calendar to include time for what brings you joy, whether it’s a bubble bath, journaling, crafting, or taking a long walk in the park, and honor that time commitment like you would any other meeting. Think of your future self and do things that you will appreciate such as meal prep, resetting your space nightly, or getting enough sleep to be your best self. By prioritizing self-care, you’ll feel more energized and ready to tackle your goals.
3. Bite size
This time of year I’m torn between subscribing to the new workout challenge, indulging in the decadence of Mardi Gras king cakes (specifically Dong Phuong), and tackling goals of becoming fluent in French, cleaning out my closet, and launching a new Sorted service (more on that later). I overwhelm myself with all I want to accomplish! However every goal can be broken down into small steps, just like every king cake must be cut. Leave the knife in the box and make a little progress each day to lead to big results. Keep your goals in sight (it helps to visually post them where you can see them daily). Incorporate a small step into your routine - consistency is key! By focusing on one manageable step at a time, you’ll build momentum and see awesome results.
4. Let go of perfection
Six years ago Bugsy Sailor took a picture of the sunrise and has done so each morning ever since… well except for that one day his alarm clock didn’t go off. Despite missing a day and breaking his perfect streak, he resumed the next morning. Driven by his passion he didn’t let one mistake end his project.
Done is better than perfect. Projects run into problems, life is messy, and in New Orleans you are guaranteed to hit a few potholes. Prioritize progress over perfection to keep moving forward. Resolve to face problems instead of quitting, and clear clutter from obstacles to keep moving forward. In 2025 let’s resolve to let go of perfectionism.
5. ask for help
Cue James Taylor’s You’ve Got a Friend. I really admire the clients who call and ask for our help. They are usually at a point of overwhelm where they recognize the connection between physical clutter and mental stress. Our organizers are talented at creating efficient systems, but what they really LOVE to do is help people, and that’s what our services are all about. Every bin with a label positioned in a specific spot is intentional to be efficient to clients’ daily habits and encourage the whole household to follow that label and tidy items to their home, because it makes sense. Delegate when and where you can because a problem shared is a problem halved.
Start the year with these resolutions, turn them into lasting habits, and cheers to a happy 2025!