5 New Year’s Resolution Ideas and How to Achieve Them

For many of us, the end of one year and the beginning of another is a great time to reflect, sum up our previous experiences and find a way to grow from them. One way to do this is through setting good New Year’s resolutions and then sticking to them until they are fulfilled. Take a look at these ideas for some great resolutions and ways to make them happen.

Forming healthy habits

Setting a resolution to lose weight is easy, but sticking to it is difficult. For some, difficult means that they don’t have time or resources to make healthy meals, while for others difficult means they really crave chocolate in large amounts. The truth is that this resolution is difficult to keep, mostly because it can be too complex. So, this year make resolutions that are simpler and smaller, but still lead towards the same goal. For example, decide you won’t have cake for dinner any more, that you won’t eat snacks while watching TV and that you’ll ride your bike to work at least three times a week. Since these and similar goals are much more easily achievable, you’ll be moving towards some bigger and more significant ones without even feeling like you’re making an effort.

Becoming your own boss

If you do backbreaking work that only brings money to somebody else, you need to make a resolution to change that. One way to make more money, while allowing yourself and others to show your creativity and individuality, is starting your own business. So, either choose something you have a talent for or something for which the demand isn’t met in your community. And if you can combine both of these, you’re definitely getting off to a good start. In case you’re not an experienced businessperson and you’re worried if you’ll be able to build your brand properly, you should consider buying a franchise. For example, if you’re skilled at mending cars, you can find a successful mechanic business for sale, make it yours and start earning some real money from day one. Being your own boss will allow you to do things at your own tempo and reap all the benefits of your hard work yourself.

Investing in yourself

No matter your age or profession, there is always something new you can learn. Acquiring new skills can help you stay sharp, advance professionally, but also enrich your mind. Furthermore, you could end up meeting new people and widening your professional network, or even better, making new friends. Therefore, one of your New Year’s resolutions can be to start learning a new language, to take cooking classes or to get guitar or piano lessons. These are just examples, but the idea is clear. What’s important is that you’re prepared to invest some money, time and effort into it and that you don’t regret it for a moment. You can’t learn anything significant overnight, so be persistent and don’t give up at the first sign of difficulty.

Being happier

Some would say that you can’t decide to be happy. Happiness depends too much on factors you can’t influence. But, does it really? Is there nothing you can do to be happier? You can be the creator of your own happiness and there are many things you can do to be more blissful and content. For instance, you can make a resolution to find at least half an hour every day to do something for yourself, something you love and that makes you joyful and more optimistic. It can be walking through your favorite park, reading good books, watching the latest TV series or talking to your best friend. Plus, you can decide to take a step back from things and people that bring negativity to your life. Resolutions like this one are important, since they can relieve you of stress, promote better mental health and improve your overall quality of life. So, sing from the top of your lungs, love without boundaries and laugh whenever you get the chance.

Helping others

Just like you do things to improve your physical and mental health, you should also try to work on your virtues. A good start is to be more thoughtful, emphatic and ready to help others. There are many ways to do this. You can volunteer and do charity work for a whole range of causes, be there for a friend who’s going through a rough patch or donate blood. The best thing is, you don’t have to limit yourself to helping people. You can help animals or the environment by recycling, conserving water and energy, or even joining an environmental group and cleaning local green areas from litter. Set a resolution to do one kind thing for somebody else every day, no matter how small, and work up from there.

Taking a look back at all our successes and difficulties we came across throughout last year can help us make better decisions about the future. So, turn these decisions into resolutions and then do whatever it takes to keep them.