Have you noticed that many months of the year are associated with specific activities and related emotions? When you think of April, who doesn’t think of taxes? Or September with back to school and time to buy new Ticonderoga pencils and notebooks?

I've decided to experiment with January — as New Year's resolutions swirl around us — being my month of Essentialism.

The title comes from a vital book called Essentialism: The Disciplined Pursuit of Less by Greg McKeown. It's a book I try to read each year because it refreshes my resolve to stay more focused on what's most important and boosts my courage to be stingier with my yesses.

Here are some tasks I’m going to tackle in January to support my intention of living a simpler, more focused life:

• Review my Why. This is a written, succinct statement that identifies what’s most important to me. Ideally, it guides all my decisions. It post it in a frame on my desk.
• Reflect on what I did in 2018 that supported my Why. This includes looking at my finance numbers, my heath numbers, and my LiVe Well experiments.
• Reflect on what I did in 2018 that didn’t support my Why.
• Plan the most important things for me to do in 2019.
• Learning from 2018, consider how I’ll overcome getting distracted from what’s important to me in 2019.
• Reread the book Essentialism.
• Clean out a drawer or closet that’s really bothering me because of the clutter.

Here are two quotes that are guiding me:

• Anonymous: “Instead of saying, ‘I don’t have time,’ try saying ‘It’s not my priority’ and see how that feels.”
• Mary Oliver: “Tell me, what is it you plan to do with your one wild and precious life?”

What you do in January? How have you made progress in living your Why?