December: declutter, detach, delete anything that devalues your life

By Daniel Francis

Have you begun preparations for the new year? I know most people may wait until January to set goals, and we hear the ‘New Year, new me’ narratives popping up, but I think it’s important to prepare for the new year. It’s difficult to pick yourself up and just make a full 180, which is why most people who set New Year’s resolutions fail to achieve them. Some even give up before January ends. A major contributing factor to this is a lack of proper preparation.

I’ve mentioned this before, but I typically start my preparations for a new year in December. Maybe that’s a testament to the season of Advent we are in, where we are in the first season of the new liturgical year. I will let God decide that one.

But December can be that period to recalibrate your body, mind, and spirit in preparation for the changes you want to make going into the new year. I like to think it’s a period of preparation and an opportunity to start workshopping the new goals you want to set and achieve.

So where do you start? Well, start by thinking about the goals you set for this year. What were you able to achieve, and what did you fall short on? Why were you able to achieve some goals? What made you give up on the goals you fell short on? Reflect long and hard on these questions and answer honestly. Based on how you answer, there may be a trend of environments, people, or objects that have a negative correlation with your success.

Is it your phone? Do you spend too much time scrolling when the time could be spent more productively? Is it your mindset? Do you give up too easily, and is this perpetuated by the circles you run in or the spaces that you spend the most time in? Take stock and note what you may need to declutter, detach, and delete from your life because it is, in fact, devaluing your life.

Now that you have set the stage, it’s time to set goals, and because we are still in December, you can begin working on some of these goals moving into the new year as opposed to starting on January. I think there is a bit less pressure when you ease into the new year, already working on some of your new goals. It’s like you have a bit of a head start. Common mistakes that are made when setting goals that I want you to look out for are: not writing down your goals in the first place, not setting a target date, the goal not being clear and concise, not setting action steps for your goals, and not seeing your goals consistently enough.

Each of these mistakes in goal setting progressively increases the likelihood that you will not achieve the goal. So why put yourself at a handicap? Give yourself the best opportunity to achieve your goals and achieve success.

I recently concluded my goal setting in preparation for the new year, and one thing I had to be honest about was my desire. Looking back at some of the goals, I realised that I did not have as great a desire to achieve some. Addressing that head-on can help you properly tap into the motivation to actually want to do the work.

If you don’t get excited by the prospects of achieving your goals, if you don’t think it’s worth your time, then you won’t do the work, and you will be in the same position.

Real change comes from purposeful, proactive work. We all have different areas in which we fell short this year, but here we are at the end of another year. The choice is ours to make on how to proceed.

Do we make a change, or do we follow along the same ole same ole? Think about how you want your 2026 to look and decide.

Daniel Francis is a millennial helping other millennials. He is a two-time author of the books The Millennial Mind and The Millennial Experience, and an entrepreneur. Over the past four years, he has served as a Personal Development Coach whose work targets Millennials and helps them tap into their full potential. He is also a self-publishing coach and has guided hundreds on self-publishing their book successfully.

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