Spoil yourself and love every part of your night as you take care of yourself into the New Year.
Spending New Year’s Eve alone doesn’t make anyone a loser. Not everyone wants to cheer a hundred times and buckle under the social pressure to celebrate.
It’s one night on the calendar, and in the big picture, a pretty meaningless tradition. New beginnings can happen anytime, and New Year’s Eve is symbolic of this, but not the be-all and end-all.
If you are an introvert or just socially exhausted after the balance of the holiday season, don’t feel like someone else’s playlist on Apple Music or inane conversation about the same football teams to no end, being by yourself is the answer. It’s quiet me-time, and probably also a bit safer these days.
Before and until the clock strikes 12, you can…
Self-care your way into 2026
Stock up on eye masks, bubble bath, bath bombs, and pampering goodies, and enjoy a glass of seriously good champagne or bubbly. Spoil yourself and love every part of your night as you take care of yourself into the New Year.
Book a massage for late afternoon, before anyone closes, and start off your celebration of you, early. Spend the night in a gown, meditate, contemplate and settle in with a really good book.
Cook up a storm
Plan a menu, source some recipes, and cook yourself a starter through to a gourmet dessert. Put on your favourite music, plate the meal beautifully and dine at a stunningly set table. Light scented candles all over your home, and while the food is in the oven, dress up or down like you want to, and end off dessert with a gorgeous selfie-shoot.
Be messy creative
Buy a blank canvas and some paint, and Picasso your way into 2026. Bake a loaf of bread with all your favourite ingredients and flour up your kitchen, in a messy way.
Write the first few chapters of the book you always known was lingering inside you, poetry, or build some Lego or buy a model ship or aircraft to assemble. Set up a still-life photography studio in a corner of your home and create creative setups with everyday items. Then edit the pictures on a platform like Canva or use AI to develop your creative themes.
Binge Watch
Avoid the countdown news reports and the New Year’s Eve television specials. Instead, pre-list some of the shows or movies you have always wanted to watch, and settle in for a night on the couch with popcorn, as many chocolates and as much deliciousness as your appetite can muster.
Also Read: Babelaas? Here are some hangover fixes ahead of New Year’s Eve
Take a spiritual journey
Settle in for a night of meditation, contemplation and deep thought. YouTube has some great meditations available at no cost. Think about the year ahead, the year that was, and how you can make the world a better place for yourself and those around you.
Listen to the sounds of the night, the crickets, the birds, the quiet of 1 January after the noise dies down. Importantly, read or watch and listen to something that’s not trying to fix you, and ditch the self-help books for another time.
Write a real letter
You never have to mail it, because it probably won’t get here unless you Uber, use a courier, or have Courier Guy deliver the note. But get yourself a nice pen, some writing paper and jot down some thoughts to friends and family, people you love and care for. People who shaped your year and whom you want in your life moving forward. People you appreciate.
It’s an incredible tool not only for sharing with others and telling them how you feel, but also for organising your own thoughts and feelings and realising just how dependent we are on one another to survive, physically, materially, and emotionally.
Dream vision boards and decluttering
Buy a stack of newspapers and magazines, and print out pictures that symbolise some of your dreams. Cut them out and Pritt them onto an A1 board that you can put up somewhere private, for your eyes only, to keep reminding yourself of what you want to achieve and how you can live your dreams.
At the same time, edit your life and declutter. This does not mean repacking your wardrobe but rather reorganising your life and cutting out the bull.
It’s an exercise that requires a lot of thought, and ask yourself the questions: Who or what enriches my life? Who or what drains my energy? What do I keep, what do I collect, and what do I simply cut out of my life moving ahead? It’s a manual for emotional prosperity for the New Year, and something you can only really do by yourself, for you.
