My 2024 Summer Arc: How I’m setting myself up for success in the new year
There’s a trend going around the internet called the “Winter Arc Challenge”, where people use the last few months of the year to set up good habits and routines ahead of 2025, so they can start the new year with a bit of success.
When I was younger, I used to love setting resolutions – I was always excited at the prospect of starting the year with a clean slate… only to break my resolutions within a couple weeks of the new year. As time went on, I decided to opt for a “theme of the year” instead, and that worked way more effectively. I find that having a yearly theme keeps me grounded because I’m not tied to a specific goal – I’m allowed to evolve.
And when it comes to goals these days, I “reset” myself any time I want; every few months, every week, sometimes every few days. My aspirations are always changing as I learn more about myself, and I never want to be restricted by my past goals.
So I’m going to share my 2024 Summer Arc Reset Routine™ (It’s a Summer Arc because I live in Australia). These are small things I do so I always feel aligned with my current purpose and goals. When I’m feeling frazzled or lost, I often come back to these methods and start again.
NOTE: These are methods to help you add more structure and clarity into your life. It shouldn’t feel like a prison – think of it as a light guide that will continue to evolve as you live day to day.
Create a life rating table so you know what areas you need to improve
When I was feeling the most frazzled and lost in 2024, I created the “Life Rating” table for myself. I wanted to be aware of the parts in my life that needed improvement, as well the categories that I was happy with and could leave on autopilot.
This method has been done before in multiple ways (i.e. most notably, the Wheel of life). However, I wanted to create a version that worked better for me visually, and something I could edit in Google Docs.
This is how it works: I create a table with life categories (such as Creativity, Family, Career) and give it a percentage rating. On the right side I have a column named “Improvements / Comments” where I add goals, feedback or encouragement to improve my rating of that specific category. This is an example on what it could look like:
I also colour code it so it’s visually clear which categories I need work on:
0-20%: Red
30-70%: Orange
80-90%: Yellow
100%: Green
How I choose my percentage rating is purely based on vibes, and it’s important for me that it’s rated against my personal standards and no one else’s. At the end of the day, even though everyone feels pressure from others around them, your life satisfaction should only be based on how you feel about yourself.
I really love this system because I can check back whenever I want and add categories that are relevant. All the ones above may not apply to you, so I encourage you to make your own and fill it with your own life categories.
Timeblock a rough weekly schedule so you know when you need to be doing things
I love routine and structure, so I always enjoy creating a rough weekly schedule for myself. It gives me a sense of peace knowing all the things I need to cover during the week are accounted for (e.g. fitness, admin, creative time).
I don’t always stick to this schedule perfectly (again, this is a guide, and this doesn’t include variable events like social activities), but I find it helpful to know the habits I want to build are timeblocked into my week. So when the time comes, I know I only need to focus on that one thing.
Focus on adding things in your life that you want to do, not things you should do
This is less of a practical tip, and more of an emotional one. If you haven’t read The Crossroads Between Should and Must, I highly recommend it because it changed my perspective about the obligations in my life.
I realised a lot of my goals and aspirations were driven by a “should” (e.g. I should sell products, I should post on IG daily to keep engagement up), instead of a “must” or ”want” (e.g. I must travel to Japan, I want to draw more often).
I didn’t realise how much energy “shoulds” took up in my life until recently. When I was burnt out a few years ago, everything turned into a “should” and I felt so disillusioned because I felt like I wasn’t living for myself anymore – I was living for others.
So I changed my mindset; and I actively removed the obligations and “shoulds” from my life. I also adjusted my phrasing for a lot of them – instead of saying “I should”, I now say “I get to” or “I want to”. Here are some examples:
When I think “I should catch up with that person”: In all honesty, it sounds like I don’t want to see that person. So I don’t actively make plans until I really want to.
“I should wake up and go swimming”: I changed it to “I get to wake up and go swimming”. Swimming is something I truly enjoy, so changing my thought process to that (even though it's at 5am in the morning) makes it more exciting.
“I should do an artistic project this year”: Instead, “I get to work on an art project this year” makes it immediately sound like a privilege and something that’s already on the horizon. It feels optimistic and encouraging.
And when it comes to adding new things into my life – time is precious, and I no longer add things that feel like obligations. I always have to remind myself that I’m a grown adult, and I don’t have to do anything I don't want to.
Create a morning and evening routine that has a maximum of 2 focus points, and be realistic about what you can do it in a day
I’ve been trying to perfect my morning and evening routine ever since I started a 9-5 job. It’s been pretty hard to stick to a routine over the years, and I realised why: I was trying to do too much.
My lifestyle has changed over time, but the main thing that hasn’t changed is: I get really tired in the evenings. After a long day at work, the last thing I want to do is more things. Even if the tasks are easy or ‘relaxing’, doing 5 different things after getting home (e.g. writing a daily reflection, doing yoga, drawing, watching an episode of TV etc…) is incredibly bothersome and overwhelming. I fell into the trap of making every tiny thing into a task, and mentally it drained me every night.
I think this may be the first time in my life where I’ve accepted that having a very structured nighttime routine is unsustainable. So instead of trying to do many specific things daily, I’m opting to focus on my personal project work when I get home before 8pm, and making sure I do a 10 minute tidy every day. If I get home after 8pm, the only thing I have to do is the daily tidy. And if I don’t do the daily tidy because I’m too exhausted, I do it the next morning.
As for my morning routines – my mornings fluctuate a lot, and I often have meetings from 7 or 8am, so the only thing that I can control is what I do on my morning commute to work. On the train, I read a book or draw on my iPad. (I’ve successfully stopped scrolling on the train and I’m very proud of myself.)
Change the associations with your environment
Lately I’ve realised the minute I sit down on my couch, I fall asleep and nap for 3 hours. Or I doom scroll (also for 3 hours). My couch is my resting area, and my body responds to it immediately and doesn’t feel compelled to do anything productive when I sit down.
So I’ve started changing my physical routine a bit. When I get home, I do not sit down on my couch until I’ve done my main 2 nighttime tasks (project work and my 10 minute tidy). I also cannot sit on my couch and scroll at the same time (I am allowed to scroll, but I have to sit somewhere else). Mixing my up environmental associations has really refreshed my perspective and I don’t spend as much time doom scrolling.
Add some rules and restrictions to get yourself started on your journey
We often succeed when we put limitations on our circumstances, because it makes us focus on only a few things. I usually like giving myself ‘rules’ for my current life, something that grounds me. I usually go back and make updates to this list constantly – they aren’t strict rules, but they are good reminders for me.
Remember, if the rules you make no longer serve you, you can change them at any time! You are not a failure for doing so, you’re evolving. I used to beat myself up constantly for not maintaining the same habits from years ago, when in actuality – my lifestyle had changed so much it no longer made sense to keep doing them. For example, it took a while for me to accept that I wasn’t going to make personal monthly Spotify playlists anymore. It bothered me that I couldn’t maintain something so simple, but I just didn’t have the capacity to do it anymore and it quickly became a should, not a want.
I love setting these rules – and even though I break them often (haha), I always want to try again… which is a testament to how much I value certain goals or habits.
Here’s examples of my priorities and rules going into 2025:
Yes to:
Reading daily
Drawing daily (exercises in morning)
Life drawing fortnightly
Project work 1 hour minimum per night (illustration and/or graphic design and/or filming my process)
10 minutes of tidy (NON negotiable)
Monthly Artist date (NON negotiable)
Weekly admin starting on Friday nights
Swimming, Tennis, Badminton, Walking, Yoga weekly
Swimming - Saturday Mornings
Yoga - Saturday Mornings
Badminton - Sunday Mornings
Tennis - Sunday Afternoons
Walking - Daily (ish)
One-shot craft days with friends (calligraphy, riso, book-binding, clay)
Being more thoughtful about how I spend money
Restrictions:
No journaling or morning pages unless I’m emotionally stuck
No more than 2 hrs of TikTok a day
No project time required if I get home past 8pm
No turning fun things an obligation (TV, movies, hobbies etc)
My slow build into 2025 has felt incredibly solid and optimistic for me – I think over time I’ve become more accepting that I’m allowed to make mistakes, restart constantly, and put things out there that aren’t perfect. Things will evolve naturally as I live my life, and I’m excited to see how it does.