At this point, you’ve likely abandoned all those lofty New Year’s resolutions.

This isn’t surprising. All too often, these beginning-of-the-year vows are doomed to fail.

What might be a better solution? Reflecting on the past year and setting new goals as a time that makes sense to you, not when everyone else is doing it.

That might be your birthday, in the midst of a major life change, or just on a random weekend – and it might take the form of YearCompass.

What is YearCompass, you may ask?

It’s pretty much what it says on the tin: a chance to map out the direction of the year ahead.

YearCompass is the creation of three Hungary-based founders, Ádám, László, and András, who back in 2012 came together to create what’s essentially an exercise booklet for anyone who wants to reflect on the year that’s been and plan for the future.

‘The idea to publish the booklet was actually built together from three individual branches,’ László tells Metro.co.uk.

‘I think we all feel a great amount of energy during Christmas and New Year’s Eve. One drive is to reflect, learn, close the past year and one is to dream, plan and go fresh into the new.

‘This was no different for us. I wrote a 17-pages long document as a reflection of my year: feelings, successes, thoughts, key learnings, failures. I sent it around my family and friends and everyone was very positive about the content – some of them even replied with their own document.

‘The second founder András invited 40 people to his flat to “close the year together”, from which 20 actually showed up and the other 20 politely requested the questions because the idea resonated them too.

‘The third founder Ádám downloaded almost literally all of the year planning booklets, calendars, and tools that existed on the internet. He mixed the patterns and the experiences of the first two founders together. And YearCompass was born.’

When the trio shared their booklet on Facebook, it spread like wildfire. Now, a decade on, people all around the world head to the website to download YearCompass (it’s free), fill it in, and see if it can change their lives for the better.

This year alone, YearCompass has been downloaded 2.5million times.

And that number is only set to grow. While the site gets an inevitable rush of interest around the New Year, the beauty of the concept is that it can be completed at any time.

‘Do it whenever,’ says László. ‘The more important thing is to do it regularly (such as every three months).’

Why has it resonated with so many people? That’s down to YearCompass tapping into our collective need to reflect and progress, but allowing us to do this in a structured, mindful way.

When you download the booklet, the first instruction is to close your eyes and take five deep breaths, starting only ‘when you feel ready’.

Then, it dives straight in, asking you to chart all the key events of the past months, write down the biggest risks you took and the thing you’re most proud of.

A key part of this is ‘forgiveness’ and ‘letting go’, before you can move on to ‘dreaming big’ for the future.

‘It helps to close the past year and plan the next,’ László explains. ‘Our main goal is to increase the self-awareness for people.

‘We believe that a more aware community and society does better things and is more generous towards each other.

‘This is our contribution of “making the world a better place”.

‘YearCompass asks questions that facilitate the mind to feel, think and wander.’

You’ll need to dedicate some focused time to doing YearCompass, but making this commitment could be genuinely life-changing.

Just look at the testimonials from people who’ve made this an essential part of their routine.

László notes: ‘We chose the name YearCompass on purpose. We believe that planning your year works the best if you consider your goals like a compass.

‘It’s enough to know that you want to head North, you can tackle the mountains during your road and decide whether to climb, bypass them or even dig a tunnel into one or two.’

Fancy giving YearCompass a go? You can download the booklet here.

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