Alright ladies, it’s that time of year again that a lot of us start hunkering down with a big old list of goals. The new year means a fresh start, a new chapter, and another year full of opportunity and possibility. 

I know a lot of you are making a conscious effort to improve your daily lives whether it is with your diet, with your career / business goals, or within your personal lives. I have been able to reflect on this past year myself which has allowed me to align my new goals and desires for 2015. Instead of making a list of resolutions for myself, I turned my life into four different categories: health, career, personal, friends and family. I looked at those four different categories and wrote down what will improve each category of my life this year, what I’m going to “detox” out of and this is what I came up with:  

The Balanced Babe New Year Plan:

Career:

• I’m making one new goal a week that will take me  a step closer to a bigger goal, and I will make sure I achieve it within my timeline.
• I am not going to let negative thoughts, doubts, and fears hold me back. Every time I worry about a project, a new strategy, or money, I switch my thought process to thinking about what I can do to solve the issue instead. 
• What I’m going to detox out: Mentally holding on to obstacles and issues I had to deal with last year with my career so that I can embrace new opportunities this year!

Friends and Family: 

• I want to make it a habit to make time with my girlfriends. Schedules can get extremely busy , but making time with close friends should be a priority! Plus, there are studies that show women who talk on the phone with a friend for an hour a week feel more content with life on a weekly basis.
• Family time: I also want to make it a habit to spend time with family at least every other week. Your parents should be your number one structure. It’s easy to keep in touch by text, email or phone.  They brought you into this world and hopefuly their values have had a positive impact on your life. 
• What I’m going to detox out: Friends/acquaintances that are all drama. Drama is supposed to be a high school issue. Women that hold on to drama and get a kick out of stirring the pot should be  annexed from your world!

Personal:

• I’m going to treat myself to a spa service once a month because heck, I work my butt off daily and over the weekends to make sure my brand is never losing steam. The importance of self-care and time to decompress is uber important to maintain mental health. So ladies, make sure you schedule in a total spa day once a month to treat yourself! This doesn’t mean going to an actual spa, you can easily pamper yourself at home too.
• Spend more time at home. Living in Chicago is tough (in a good way) because there are always events happening, or a new restaurant opening up. This past year I’ve noticed that I only stay home Sundays – Tuesdays, which needs to change! FOMO needs to be dealt with people, and not every networking event needs to be attended. I’ve noticed that unwinding after a long day of work on the couch with a fuzzy pillow and a good show can do wonders for stress management.
• What I’m going to detox out: Stressing myself out. How do I do this, you ask? Well, I make a lot of goals and I am extremely impatient, so I start on new projects earlier than I should. It’s important to remind yourself “I’m the only one that is in charge of my stress”, “I’m the only one bringing stress upon myself”. I’ve noticed that when I say this to myself in my head, it helps me calm down. 

Health:

• Cut the booze to two days a week: I want to remind readers of something here, this is the Balanced Babe outlet, not the “I never drink and never eat sugar and never eat dairy or eggs or anything bad because I’m always trying to be perfect 100% of the time with my diet”. With that said, the holidays were filled with more opportunity to drink wine / champagne / tequila, which I chose to enjoy during traditions with family and friends. I know there are a lot of women out there who went through the same ordeal this holiday, so instead of cutting the booze out completely and then going on a binge later, cutting down to a glass or two Fridays and Saturdays will make a difference. 
• Follow my intuition more: This means, work out when I feel is the best time to work out. Eat what I feel like eating (hot foods / cold foods / something salty / something sugary) but making sure that it is something that will nourish myself instead of processed foods. Fighting cravings just doesn’t do us any good in the long run, so why don’t we just find ways around them?
• Juice every morning: I made it a habit to have juice or smoothies minimum once a day before the holidays, but with travel and visiting family that was hard to maintain. Now I juiced for about 3 days (only from when I woke up until about 5pm, then I ate a meal) and have felt clear and lighter. I’m now going to juice in bulk on Sundays and store my mixtures in air tight containers so that I can enjoy green juice daily on the week days.

           The juice cleanse I tried recently was Love Grace “Get the Glow Back” cleanse. I juiced      from morning until before dinner time for three days and as always when I juice, I felt lighter,  more focused, and all around healthier. Although I wasn’t too much of a fan of the smoothies, I  really enjoyed the actual juices, so I would recommend these for whoever wants to try them.  

• What I’m going to detox out: The need to order crazy items off a dinner menu. I’m not going to lie, I am a major foodie and Chicago is probably the best place to be for foodies. I’m out to eat about 4 nights a week and even though I order my plant-based options, I also love trying new menu items. For those of you that struggle with the same issue, I would try to simply enjoy the atmosphere at a restaurant and order clean one night, then try something new and indulgent the next night. This way you are still appreciating the experience of dining out without always ordering menu items that are probably high in sodium and sugar. 

Phew! I think by focusing on two ways to improve each category of your life you will feel balanced, content, and pleased with life. As a bonus, we are going to help you get one step closer to a healthier year! To boost  your new year jump start with a mind-body cleanse, Love Grace is giving away juice to one Balanced Babe reader! What else are you going to do for 2015 to jump-start your new years plan?

a Rafflecopter giveaway

You know the drill, terms and conditions are in the raffle copter widget (US only, 18 y/o +, no PO boxes). 

Disclaimer: Love Grace sent me a juice cleanse for review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.