Oh what a night!! Most of us here made it to midnight, a house full of kids and adults! The grownups were hanging out for bedtime by 12 I can tell you. And the 5 kids who were still up, contrary to what they said, could barely keep their eyes open when the new year finally arrived.

How about you? Did you see in the new year with excitement or were you already tucked up in bed?

While we’re on the subject of new year there’s no better time to talk about Resolutions & how often we make unrealistic ones that are impossible to keep.

That’s why I was thinking instead of setting unachievable goals this year, a better way to start the year is to pick a task you can do right now. It might even help you get over that hazy holiday feeling!

Imagine how good it would feel to kickstart 2024 with clarity and confidence.

Here is a list of ideas below to get you started, or at least, inspired!

  1. Clear out your inbox. Delete anything that is old or you don’t know what to do with. If you’re brave enough DELETE them all like one of my workshop attendees did a few months ago. She said it was the most freeing thing she did all year. And the world did not end either! How would you feel if you could head into the year with a clean email inbox?
  2. Clean out the pantry, cupboard or drawers in your kitchen. I just tipped all my cutlery out of the top drawer (most of it was in the dishwasher anyway) and gave the drawer and insert a scrub. Next on the list is my container cupboard… I think I might need to throw a few away!
  3. Overhaul your wardrobe. Donate whatever you don’t need to the local op shop or charity to help someone else start off their New Year a little better. My daughter and I do this regularly and we both love how organised our wardrobes look, as well as the happy feeling we get when we think of someone else enjoying the outfits we no longer want. In fact my Miss 10 will be doing this when she gets back from the pool as she left all the contents of her bather drawer on the floor trying to find something that still fit.
  4. Create a photo album on your phone and every day/week/month save your highlights. At the end of the year get it printed into a photobook or make it into a slideshow to remind you of all the best things that happened. I love this idea and planning on doing it myself, being a photographer I have thousands of photos, and so many of them are hidden away, only seen when they pop up in my phone memories.
  5. Create a Vision Board! Include everything you want to achieve, how you want to feel, where you want to be and who you want to spend your time with. Pop it up somewhere you will see it everyday to have the most impact. If you want to know more about Vision Boards I’m holding a workshop in my Macleod Studio later this month so just hit reply to get the details.
  6. Get images that are on brand and will help you show up all year with confidence! I have the best offer for you this month to help with this and it even includes BONUS videos for your reels and stories. Now if you’re thinking ‘no way I’m not photogenic’ don’t let that stop you. Even my most nervous clients tell me they enjoyed their photo session afterwards, and they all love their photos. Rachel said “Amanda you made me feel so comfortable in front of the camera. The images are perfect and I couldn’t be happier with the whole experience” and Sherelle wrote “Amanda made me feel so comfortable from the moment she arrived. She is patient, she makes you laugh, she is fun and she really goes the extra mile. I cannot recommend Amanda enough, you will not be disappointed”.

Even though I haven’t officially launched this special offer I’m sneaking the link in here so you get first pick of the dates.

If you’re ready to start 2024 off with on brand images, click to choose one of the following options –

Pay upfront and save over $250

OR

Pay your deposit today & pay off over 1 or 2 further instalments

Note – Your Photo Session can be taken anytime before the end of March 2024

Let me know if you use one of these ideas to get your year off to a good start, or if this blog inspires you to take some other action!

Until next time,

Amanda 💜