The start of the year is always a time for retrospection and re-evaluation of our priorities and goals. It is also an opportunity to get proactive with smarter decisions and better habits. If you’re looking for New Year resolution goals to stick on your fridge, tap into your iPhone or write into your diary, here are six tips to get you planning.
H
ealthy Body, Healthy Mind
The top of everyone’s New Year’s resolution list should involve a goal for self-care. Self-care isn’t just the latest buzzword. It plays an important role in modern life. Self-care is an umbrella term that describes taking an active role in your own physical and mental wellbeing. For some, the goal may be to achieve a better work-life balance, and for others it might be starting a regular exercise routine to get into shape.
One way to commit to a healthy New Year’s resolution is to start with prioritising sleep. Making a commitment to get the desirable eight hours of sleep a night can have a big impact on your energy levels, health, motivation, productivity, creativity and even your body weight.
Whatever you decide as your self-care goal, just remember the benefit of self-care is a long-term payoff in achieving a healthy mind and body.
Read More Books
Have you ever heard the adage, ‘readers make better leaders’? Well, it’s true. Many successful professionals and leaders in history were avid readers.
For those that aren’t committed readers but want to develop a reading habit, joining a book club can be a great way to motivate yourself. It can also expand your friendship and networking circles. There are different options for joining a book club, from the traditional face-to-face book group to online book clubs.
If you’re already an avid reader, this can mean increasing the number of books in your Goodreads challenge or committing to reading books in genres that you don’t normally try out. For example, if your reading list is 100% non-fiction books, why not try a fiction book? If you’re a fiction fan, perhaps pick up a memoir?
Eat the Right Foods
Eating the right foods doesn’t have to be a complicated affair, but it does involve a commitment to making the right choices. And you don’t have to completely overhaul your diet to start making changes. A commitment to eating healthy can involve cutting out or cutting down on saturated fats, caffeine or artificial sugars.
There are many healthy substitutions. Use natural sweeteners in place of sugar, and opt for lean meats or steamed seafood in-place of meats with high amounts of saturated fats such as BBQ steak, lamb chops and roast pork. Even opting in for a weekly vegetarian-only day might give you the incentive to discover some great tasting vegetarian dishes. As for the six coffees a day, perhaps cut down by replacing a certain amount of high caffeine drinks with green and herbal teas.
It’s important to remember that it’s not all about what you eat, but often how much you eat. Portion control is important when eating right. As an example, reducing the portion size of your meat or deep-fried carbs is a step towards eating a balanced diet.
Uncover a Passion
The New Year is all about possibility and wonder, and one of the best ways to embrace the New Year is to invest some time and energy in finding a new passion.
One way to start is to take inventory of your interests. Forget what you’ve always been good at and instead focus on what you enjoy doing or what you have always wanted to explore. Just remember that most skills are learned. No one is born with a pen, paintbrush or book in their hands, but rather mastery requires time, devotion, study and repetition.
You may not find your new passion overnight. Half the fun of uncovering your passion is the adventure you can have learning and exploring new forms and topics. Love visiting the gallery? Learn how to paint. Always taking photos on your phone? Step it up with by learning DSLR photography. Take on a sense of wonder in discovering your passion, and just have fun with it. You might even find your passion in the unlikeliest of places.
Discover the World
In the microcosm of our lives, it’s easy to forget about the world outside our home or office door. Discovering the world doesn’t have to mean saving months or years for an immersive trip overseas. But it can mean taking an interest in history, geography, political science, philosophy or literature to expand your understanding of the world through a different lens. It also might take a great topic of conversation at events, or allow you to network with like-minded people.
One way to immerse yourself in a new way of seeing the world is by making it a goal to learn a new language. Learning a new language doesn’t just increase your holiday destinations, but it is a gateway to immerse yourself in a new culture and in some cases, a new way of understanding language and communication. There are many different reasons to learn a new language, but the boost to your career, memory, vocabulary or travelling can provide you with the incentive to take the plunge.
Commit to Learning
No matter what career or stage of life you’re in, there is always something to learn. And it’s never too late. Your New Year’s goals can include a devotion to learning new skills or knowledge. You can set aside some time to expanding your knowledge in a particular field or commit yourself to hours developing a skill to boost your career. There are so many resources for learning, from online tutorials to classroom-based learning. Not to mention the wealth of textbooks and literature available at bookstores or at the tap of your finger.
Committing yourself to learning varies from person to person. For some, it may involve mastering existing skills for professional growth or learning new skills to explore different career opportunities. For others, learning can take dedication or involve taking courses.
Making a commitment to learning is a commitment to growing, which is its own reward.