I cannot believe I’m saying this, but the year is almost over and the new year is creeping up quickly. The new year may bring about some anxious feelings, or even anticipation, but it’s also a great time to reflect about the current year and make a plan for what resolutions you’ll tackle once January comes.
According to Merriam-Webster, a New Year’s resolution is a promise to do something differently in the new year. Eh, sounds simple right?
Yep it kind of is! New Years’ Resolutions are all about making changes in your life as it pertains to some form of habit, behavior, or goal. The goals can be around your relationships, self-care, professional development, etc. It can be anything that you want to work on or improve upon.
And that is why the New Year sparks so many people seeking to make new changes. For many people, the New Year is a moment where they can reinvent themselves and get a completely new slate. A new year to break old or bad habits and hopefully introduce new habits.
You can also reflect on what you didn’t change or didn’t get to in the current year. For some, their New Year’s resolution ideas are simply resolutions from previous years that they didn’t quite do.
Either way, establishing New Year’s resolutions is about allowing yourself the opportunity to make a meaningful change and stick to it.
So I wanted to spark some ideas and make it simply for you as you prepare for the New Year. These are 15 resolution ideas you can use in the new year!
Wake Up Earlier
I’ve kind of always been a morning person but once I truly focused on my morning routine, it drastically changed my life. It allowed me more time in the morning and the day to do the things that mattered to me.
I wake up at 6am every day and I find that it helps me get things done more efficiently. I’m able to meditate, journal, workout, and get to work on my business by 8am. It makes feel good because I’m taking care of myself and being productive.
Waking up earlier is a great way to conquer your days by getting a real head start.
Think, what can you accomplish if you simply gave yourself an extra 30 minutes every morning? What about an hour?
Even if you have to be up early for work, school, kids or all three, it will be worth it to get that head start to your day. You’ll also find that this is the perfect time to get things done before the day comes and either distracts you, ruins the mood, or just simply gets in the way (I think we’ve all been there).
Not convinced? Welp I think this saying will put it into perspective:
The early bird gets the worm.
John Ray
Meditate During The Week
Meditating can take various forms, which means the type of meditation you choose to practice may differ from other people. And as always that is perfectly okay.
To meditate means to engage in contemplation or reflection or engaging in mental exercises such as concentration or repetition.
The wonderful thing about that, you can do meditate pretty much anywhere. Your practice may occur while you lay in bed in silence, or maybe as you go on a long walk. Or maybe you want to grab a mat and do some meditation with yoga.
Get creative with it! Find out what meditation means to you and how you can do it often. For me, I enjoy guided meditations in the morning to help me ease into the day.
The best part of meditation is that it gives you a chance to be still and silent. It quiets the noise from our daily lives, and gives us an opportunity to hear what our inner self actually needs.
Read For Leisure
When is the last time you picked up a book AND were truly moved by its content? When is the last time you picked up a book for liesure, at all?
If it’s been a long time (only you know how long it’s been), this is your reminder to get back to reading!
Reading honestly is so much fun and it’s a great way to learn, and evolve your thinking. It’s also important for your mental health and even physical health. According to Healthline, reading regularly shows that it can improve:
- Brain Connectivity
- Vocabulary and Comprehension
- Sleep Readiness
- Stress Reduction
- Blood Pressure & Heart Rate
- Depression/ Anxiety
Definitely some impressive benefits that none of us should ignore! And the best part is you get to read whatever you want. So try getting completely engulfed in a few books for the new year!
Exercise Regularly
Incorporating fitness in your lifestyle is a great way to take care of your physical body. Exercising gives you a sense of accomplishment and boosts your self-confidence, especially when you see the results you desire.
For the New Year, try to exercise regularly which means a few times each week. Realistically, you should aim to get at least 3-4 workouts each week. This is based on the Mayo Clinic’s suggestion to get at least 2 and a half hours of aerobic activity each week.
Divide that by 3 or 4 and you get about a 40-50-minute workout each day. You can adjust this by doing smaller frequent workouts. Whatever is easier for you!
But you have to stay consistent. Exercise should be like a daily habit that you think of or consider when you’re taking care of yourself. We often forget that self-care includes how we care for, and treat our bodies.
Make it a priority to take care of your body by making exercise an important part of your life. Trust me, it will pay you back, and then some.
Join An Interest Group
So for this one, I’m taking you back to college days, where I, along with thousands of other students, were encouraged to join student-led interest groups. Simply put, groups that talk and work on a topic that is of some interest to you. See, simple right?
Well, I am a believer that we shouldn’t stop at college. I think that is one thing that absolutely plagues us during the phase of adulting.
Not giving energy to our interests anymore because we have to focus on life crap.
But it’s important that you continue to pursue your interests, even well into adulthood. And honestly you should never stop.
Finding new groups that share your interests also gives you the opportunity to meet new people and form new relationships from a mutual standpoint.
Not sure where to start? Try joining an organization such as Meetup to find new groups and events. You can even search for groups on Facebook to find one that is fitting for you. This year I found 3 different Facebook groups with similar interests I have, and it’s been a great experience thus far.
I’ve been able to meet and network with people, while also gaining so much knowledge I wouldn’t have received otherwise.
Plan Your Meals Ahead of Time
You can save so much time every day by planning your meals before it’s actually time to eat. This makes life much easier by removing the guesswork out of what to make or buy, and instead, streamlines the entire process for you.
I found that when I meal prepped even a little ahead of time, it made my day and week go by that much smoother. I didn’t have to worry about what I would have to eat each meal, and I didn’t have to talk myself out of ordering out because I was honestly, that lazy sometimes.
Many people think meal prepping has to be a long and arduous task, when really it just means being smart about how you eat and what you’re eating!
Develop A New Skill
Developing a new skill is really the fun part of adulting that many don’t talk about.
For example, in order to get a job, you usually need some type of skills to ensure you can complete your job duties. These skills will vary by job and profession, but every job requires some type of skill.
And most jobs will help you develop and further your skills so you can usually grow more within the company. Well that’s great for the company, but what about you?
Well it’s great to develop new skills at work, we should be doing the same in our personal lives as well. Why not push yourself to learn something or get good at something you sucked at before?
In the New Year, try working towards a new skill. It can definitely be one that will help you get that promotion or help you grow professionally. But, also try to look at other skills you can acquire and develop, hopefully leading to a very fun experience of learning and personal growth.
Practice Gratitude A Lot
Being grateful at its core means to show appreciation for something or someone. It also means to show thanks for an experience or moment. Practicing gratitude often will truly help transform your state of mind, seeking the positive of things, instead of the negative.
Practicing gratitude has the ability to truly transform your mind and puts life into real perspective.
Introducing this practice into my daily lifestyle helped me to manage my anxiety a lot better, and refocus on the positive. It also helped me to train my mind to think of situations differently and to be grateful to simply experience things, even when they do not go my way.
And the great part is, you can practice gratitude in so many ways. Some people (me included) practice it through regular ol’ journaling. I alternate between pen and paper and my Sanity and Self App, but it’s completely up to you how you wan tot record your gratitude, if at all.
Just be mindful and try to be grateful whenever you can. Trust me, it works magic!
Reduce Screen Time
Spending time away from all screens has really given me peace of mind that I didn’t realize was there. Seriously, I never really took the time to consider how much time I spent in front of a screen. I kind of found it sad to be honest.
But I learned the hard way that de-cluttering, even from technology, is important for your overall well-being. We may not always realize it, but everything that comes across our screen stimulates us in some way.
So, it is completely healthy to take breaks as often as you can, without jeopardizing productivity.
In the new year, try to reduce your screen time and focus on what is happening in the moment. It’s okay if you have to use technology for work for example, but in your down time, put the screens away.
I’ve learned how hard it is sometimes for myself to disconnect so I’ve even went as far creating Screen Time reminders on my cell phone.
I go into the settings on my cell and indicate how many hours I want to spend every day on various apps. I make sure to keep my social media apps on a low spend, and will be notified when I go over that limit. I’m c]completely aware when I’m tied to my phone, and when I’ve actually taken a break.
It’s annoying but, personal accountability matters.
Do Something Nice for A Loved One
Relationships shouldn’t be daunting, but they do require some effort. And why not give effort to those relationships that truly matter to us?
You can give your relationships some extra care in the new year by doing something nice, something self-less for someone you care about. It’s not about how you show up or what you do for said person, it’s about the effort and meaning you put behind an action, meant to give someone else joy.
Something I’ve done in the past for a friend was give them yellow flowers, which I heard represented love and friendship. It wasn’t anything crazy, but it was a nice gesture that made them feel good.
Try to do nice things for those in your life often. Not only will it bring a smile to their face, they will appreciate your actions, in turn strengthening your bond and overall relationship.
Practice Self-Care
You should really get into the habit of practicing self-care as often as you can. I strongly encourage this because I know for me, I only reached for that “self-care” button in my life when I was either burnt out, overwhelmed, or both. Instead, I realized how it’s much better to have self-care habits in place to help you prevent and manage the burnout.
Related: 7 Ways to Start Practicing Self-Care
If you don’t feel like this is something you can do all the time, I would challenge you and say that this is the perfect moment to be proved wrong. You can and should definitely practice self-care every day!
Self-care doesn’t have to be a big thing you do to make yourself feel good. It can be so simply and most of us, miss it.
Two self-care habits that I have dedicated to practicing every single day are journaling and guided meditations. This means I never skip days, not even weekends. Each day I start the day with self-care and for me, my days have literally changed for the better!
By establishing a daily habit of self-care, you will transform your mindset to one that focuses on making sure you are okay even when everything else is not. That is something worth paying attention to!
End Toxic Relationships
So I’ll keep it real with you here. I hope that everyone (including myself) has the ability to leave or detach themselves from a toxic or bad situation. But I am not naive. I realize toxic situations and relationships don’t happen in a vacuum, and if ever, are that easy to get out of.
That is why this is a great time to take a moment to reflect about the previous year and all of the crap you don’t want to bring into the new year. It’s totally okay to recognize how a relationship may have worked for you one year, but won’t work for you in the New Year. Seriously, it’s okay and it’s a natural part of life.
I think it’s a healthy practice to be mindful of your relationships/ situations and how they are impacting you. The New Year is a great time to really take stock and figure out who or what is draining you. And then stopping it before it continues!
And this doesn’t only pertain to romantic relationships. Even platonic friendships have the ability to go sour, quick. It sucks, it truly does. But it happens and sometimes the best thing you can do for yourself, is to simply leave.
Review Budget Monthly
I’m all about being mindful of everything that is going on in my life, and I apply this same logic to my budget too. In general, budgeting is a great way to get in control of your finances and create a lifestyle that helps you achieve your financial goals, whatever they may be.
But in order to stay on track, you should review your budget/ finances at least once a month. This is your chance to review how you did, if you went over, or if you are under budget, and have cash you want to designate elsewhere.
Reviewing your budget monthly helps you to notice any errors you may see within your accounts or on your statements. Giving you a chance to actually act on it in a timely manner.
So it doesn’t mean something has to change with your current budget, but again, be mindful.
Related: How to Create A Budget: 5 Steps for Beginners
Related: How to Get Real About Your Finances Today
Donate To The Community
Giving back to your community is a great way to get involved with what’s going on, and help others in a meaningful way. The great part too, is there are so many ways to donate.
I’ve compiled a list of a few things you can do to give back. Keep in mind this isn’t meant to be exhaustive, but instead give you ideas to get you started:
- Donate money to a local charity or organization
- Spend time at a local shelter
- Blood Donation
- Spend time at an animal shelter
- Mentor/ coach the youth
I would also recommend checking out VolunteerMatch, It’s a great platform to find volunteering opportunities in your community! There are hundreds of organizations looking for your help so it shouldn’t be too difficult to find what you’re looking for!
So that’s it folks. Those are 15 New Year’s resolution ideas you should try in 2021. It’s been a really really crazy year so I want us all to strive to see the positive side of things. For me that is…
I’m still here, still striving, still trying to be better than I was yesterday. And I’m grateful for it.
The New Year is a brand-new opportunity to tackle everything you desire that will help you grow and evolve into the best version of yourself. Don’t let it slip by not making some resolutions!
