The new year will only ever be what you make of it, and these seven reminders are here to help . . .

“New year — a new chapter, new verse, or just the same old story? Ultimately we write it. The choice is ours.”

Alex Morritt

On the cusp of yet another new year, we are faced with the meeting of our past and our future — for where this year ends, another begins, and so begins yet another leg in our journey through life.

And it will only be what we make of it, what we bring to it.

No matter who you are, where you are, whether you’ve made it or if you’re just getting started, remember these seven things as you step into the next chapter of your life.

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1: It’s not too late to change your destiny

We’re tempted to believe that each passing year makes it harder and harder to change who are, and while that may have truth to it, it doesn’t mean we cannot change. As Steve Harvey said, “you are never too old to reinvent yourself, never too far along for your journey to change.”

Every moment can be a fresh beginning.

This new year, believe in your power to change whatever areas of your life you want to change — because you can.

“You are never too old to set another goal or to dream a new dream.” ~C.S. Lewis

2: The new year still only comes one day at a time — focus on making each day its own victorious life

No matter what you plan for this year, no matter how big or overwhelming it may seem, remember that it only comes one day at a time — not four months at a time, or even a week, but now and only now.

You will only ever have the day you’re living in. You cannot possibly have any other time! So focus on each day as it comes, and ensure that each day of this new year is made a small victory in itself.

“Write it on your heart that every day is the best day in the year.” ~Ralph Waldo Emerson

3: Do the things you’re scared of doing

It’s part of the human journey to face fear — it’s our reaction to fear that determines our destiny. Whatever it is you dream of doing, whatever milestones you want to pass, fear will meet you there and demand you show your courage. So this year, do what scares you, and no matter how many times you fall, keep going towards whatever worthy ideal you’ve fallen in love with.

“Whatever it is you’re scared of doing, do it. Make your mistakes, next year and forever.” ~Neil Gaiman

4: Happiness isn’t waiting in the future, it can only be in the present

Pursuing happiness is futile, because happiness isn’t something you chase, or take, or get, but something you create within yourself — through a mind that is worthy of happiness, an attitude that opens its arms to it, a conscious effort to face life and all of its pains and pleasures with the daily decision to be happy.

We are, as Abraham Lincoln once said, as happy as we make up our minds to be, and as Benjamin Foley wrote, when we stop chasing the world’s definition of happiness, we begin to see that the choice to experience happiness has been right in front of us all along.

“You do not find the happy life. You make it.” ~Camilla Eyring Kimball

5: The best is yet to come

As idealistic as it may sound, believing in the promise of the future over its perils can change everything — for how we think about our lives is what makes them what they are.

If we think the future will hold only pain and suffering, it certainly will, real or imagined, and likewise if we believe that better things await us, they certainly will — we create our realities through what we focus on, through what we choose to believe in.

“What a wonderful thought it is that some of the best days of our lives haven’t even happened yet.” ~Anne Frank

6: Live the year before it happens

While we can’t predict exactly what will happen, we all can go into the year with a plan. What do you want out of this year? How will you weave these coming months into the beautiful tapestry of your life?

Take the time to sit down and meditate on it. Set the goals, envision the dreams, make your intentions known to yourself, so that when you step into the new year, you can already see it all coming to fruition — you’ve lived it in your mind, and now you will live it through your deeds.

“The best way to predict the future is to create it.” ~Abraham Lincoln

7: Whatever this year becomes, it is up to you

Though life throws events and circumstances at us, how things turn out is still largely under our control. While what happens isn’t always our choice, how we react always is, and our reactions shape our futures, opening and closing far more doors than chance or luck ever will.

This new year is full of potential, it’s a blank page, and it’s your choice whether it’s something new or just the same old story. It’s up to you.

“Tomorrow is the first black page of a 365-page book. Write a good one.” ~Brad Paisley

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New Year, New You

One year is over, and another is beginning. I wish you a year full of growth and worthy challenges, of happiness and perseverance, a year in which you renew your mind and attain an even greater expression of yourself.

It will not be an easy year — no year ever is — but we all can invest the years we’ve lived into the year to come, and live it as well as we are able.

No matter what happens, let’s decide to make this year the best one yet.

Let every new year find us better than we were the last.