The marker of a new year is the perfect time to pause. What are the things that you want to leave in the past? And what are the things you want to cultivate in the year ahead? This is a great way of framing your planning for the new year because it allows you to tackle both what is holding you back and what is needed to move forward. This swapping out of the old for new will look different for all of us, but there are several areas that many of us can benefit from addressing. Here are a few ideas to get started:

Ditch Clutter for Clarity

Clutter comes in many forms. There’s physical clutter, like a messy office or disorganized drawers. There’s systematic clutter, where you’re lacking the systems and processes to create a smooth workflow. There’s mental clutter, when you don’t have a system to organize your thoughts. And there’s emotional clutter, which can show up in things like fear holding us back from trying something new or stress dragging down our motivation. None of these forms of clutter support success. Clutter is distracting. It slows us down and can significantly limit progress. If any of these types of clutter are present in your life, consider making an intentional switch for clarity. Whether it’s cleaning up your office and investing in the supplies to keep it that way, designing processes to support efficiency, finding a journaling system that helps organize your thoughts, or paying more attention to the emotions that might be holding you back, there are countless ways to swap out clutter for clarity.

Ditch Bad Habits for Better Habits

Habits shape our daily life, and it’s that day-to-day work that ultimately moves us closer to our goals. Take an inventory of your current habits. How do they relate to your goals? Are they helping you move closer or holding you back? Maybe it’s procrastination, multitasking, checking your emails before bed, or skipping breakfast. We all have habits that limit our success, and it’s up to you to pinpoint them. From there, it’s important to replace those habits with ones that are more conducive to success. That might mean a new to-do-list strategy, a commitment to single-tasking, keeping your phone out of your bedroom, or making time for a more supportive morning.

Ditch Limiting Mindsets for Motivating Ones

Our habits point to our daily actions, but what about our daily thoughts? These can be just as impactful on our overall success. Many of our daily thoughts are informed by our mindsets. As you did with your habits, take a look at your mindsets. Are you optimistic? Are you afraid of failure? Do you believe in the potential for growth? Do you see everything as a competition? Find the mindsets that keep you from moving full-steam ahead towards success and ask yourself how you can shift them. What new mindsets can you bring in that will help you move towards your goals. Maybe it’s seeing the opportunity to learn in every failure, or focusing on yourself rather than beating your competitors. Another key swap? Ditching judgment for gratitude. Whether it’s judging others or yourself, finding a mindset of gratitude instead can be a powerful shift.

What will you swap out in the new year? This is a great question to ask yourself as we move closer to 2020. And a final question — what will you bring with you into the new year? Don’t forget to take stock of all that worked well for you in 2019. What strategies, habits, and mindsets helped you make progress? Highlight these positives and take them within you into 2020.