In many situations, a change in perspective can open up new opportunities. When it comes to planning for the new year, one of the most traditional perspectives is ‘what resolutions will I make for the year ahead?’. It’s a forward-looking perspective that’s often focused on major change. While I’m not suggesting you abandon this perspective if it works for you, I do think it’s worth considering other perspectives in addition to it. Finding new ways to think about how you’ll make the transition into 2020 can help you uncover new ideas, goals, and strategies for success. One perspective that I want to dive into today is lightening your load. What are the things you don’t want to carry with you into 2020? This can be a great place to start when it comes to planning for the new year. It’s a cleaning up of the proverbial clutter and creating an environment in which you can thrive. So, what kind of things might you leave in 2019?

Habits

I recently wrote about the power of habits, and I think they’re key to consider when it comes to leaving things behind. Whether good or bad, all of our habits influence our success. When thinking about what you’ll ditch for 2020, bad habits are a great place to start. If you can identify some of the habits that are slowing down your success, you can make a conscious effort to keep them out of the year ahead. Things like procrastination and too much screen time, for example, are probably not helping you get where you want to go. If that’s the case for any of your habits, don’t bring them with you into the new year.

Mindsets

Mindsets also play a significant role in our success. They inform the way we approach our work, the decisions we make, and the way we respond to challenges. Start the new year off with a fresh perspective. Take some time to reflect on the mindsets you have now and determine if any are negatively impacting your success. As with bad habits, by bringing our attention to these things, we can make a point of leaving them in the past. Whether you’re not open to the potential for growth or you regularly focus on the competition, these kinds of mindsets should be left in the past.

Failures

We’ve all probably had our ups and downs in 2019. Hopefully, if you encountered failure, you were able to learn from it. As you step into 2020, take those lessons with you, but don’t hold on to your mistakes. Past failures can be a weight that holds you back. Whether they make you feel incapable, afraid of future failure, or unmotivated to try again, there’s no use for them. Separate the insights from the failures themselves, and only bring along the things that are going to help you have a successful year.

Fear

Fear is one of the most limiting forces out there. Though it’s not always easy to combat, it’s worth making the effort to leave some of your fears behind and move into 2020 feeling a bit freer. Fear can hold us back from experimenting, setting challenging goals, and taking risks, and seizing opportunities. Where does fear come up in your professional life? See if you can design a plan for the new year that will allow you to transform it into a sense of determination and drive.

As 2019 winds to a close, ask yourself how you can move into 2020 feeling lighter. Identify the things that have accumulated and are weighing you down, and make a conscious effort to leave them behind you. Any thoughts about what you’ll be leaving in the past? Please share in the comments.