Making a new year resolution requires proper planning, willingness to go through with it, and the determination to make it work. The result of sticking to those new year goals is worthwhile.
A good new year resolution must be realistic, feasible, achievable, and geared towards making you a better person in the coming year. Perhaps that explains why billions of people across the world key into the wonderful tradition.
Yet, millions of these resolutions fail yearly, as people struggle to stick to them. Some manage to pull through for the first few days of the year, some for weeks, and others barely hit the second quarter of the year with their resolutions intact.
No matter which category you’ve found yourself in previous years, now would be a good time to decide to adopt a better approach. With these fifteen New Year resolution ideas, you could never go wrong.
1. Compliment At Least One Person Everyday
Paying compliments to someone, even if a stranger, could light up their day. And it costs you nothing. Hence, it wouldn’t hurt to make that a new year’s resolution, which in turn keeps you sharing in the recipients’ positive energy and appreciative smile all year round.
2. Plant A Tree
Okay, it really doesn’t have to be a tree as not everyone has the luxury of including one in their property without proper legal documentation. But taking the initiative to grow something, be it a tree, flower, or medicinal herb is a good way to ring in the new year.
3. Redecorate A Room
Giving your room a face lift in the new year is not a bad idea, especially if you’ve been postponing that for decades. Why not take that step now?
4. Read A Book Periodically
It could be once a day, twice every month, or three books every quarter. How often you decide to do so doesn’t really matter as long as you remain consistent.
A good reading habit, combined with reading more books every year can help you know more, changing one’s life for the better.
5. Drinking More Water
This might sound easy, but it would surprise you how many times you’ve fallen short of the medically required individual daily water consumption.
Drinking more water could help keep your system purified, and leave your skin glowing. The perfect start to a healthy lifestyle!
6. Buy Only What You Need
Perhaps you find yourself still wondering why you always exceeded your last year-s budget, or why that salary never seemed enough. The answer could be as simple as “you keep spending on the things you do not need.”
Wanting something and needing them are completely different things. Hence, ensure you live a debt-free life by saving as much as you can from your wage and buying only those things that really matter.
7. Try Something New Each Month
Another new year resolution that could help you usher in the coming year on a good note is resolving to try something new each month. At the end of the year, you would be at least twelve-fold more physically, mentally, and emotionally advanced and wiser than you were the previous year.
8. Learn A New Skill
Face it, you can’t always spend your leisure time hanging out with friends. Everyone also needs some me-time to allow for some self-improvement. This self-improvement can take the form of learning a new skill, language, or sport or advancing old ones.
9. Walk One Mile A Day
Several people have acknowledged the benefits of walking in their lives. Most celebrities have even admitted to attaining their dream body only by walking some distance a day.
That said, resolving to walk at least one mile every day not only cuts down on the expenses on bus fares, it also keeps you healthy and in shape all year round.
As a plus, you get to save the world in some way by leaving the car at home and cutting down the use of fossil fuels, thereby reducing the emission of greenhouse gasses.
10. Reduce Laundry Clutters
The temptation to leave fresh laundry in the basket is real! In fact, there is a common saying that “the farthest distance is from the laundry basket to the closet.”
By implication, many tend to just leave folded laundry lying around, creating unnecessary clutters. This year, make a point of always doing the laundry all the way, thereby reducing clutters and leaving your space tidy.
11. Stay In Touch
Keeping in touch with loved ones and old acquaintances can prove tricky, especially when you’ve got millions of things keeping you occupied.
However, staying in touch is a good practice that helps build relationships. Hence, make a point of calling up everyone on your list at least once a month, even if it means drawing up a calling schedule.
12. Achieve Your Body Goals
Body goals could involve gaining or losing weight. Many people spend years deciding to improve their bodies to their desired taste without actually achieving it.
But making a point of doing so by listing it as a New Year resolution takes you a step closer to achieving it.
13. Hit The Gym
Hitting the gym is very beneficial to one’s health and wellbeing whether you are trying to lose weight, put on some muscle, or just staying fit without becoming thinner. There are no restrictions, which makes it the perfect New Year resolution.
14. Develop And Stick To A Skincare Routine
To be fair, there is more to looking and feeling beautiful than having great skin. But why not put in the extra effort to look supple by adhering to the right skincare routine that leaves you feeling good, and looking the part.
It costs close to nothing and becomes a pattern you never want to miss. So add that daily pampering session to your list of achievable new year resolutions.
15. Quit An Addiction
You probably had this one on your list last year, and are skeptical about doing so again when it seems just impossible to quit. That doesn’t change the fact that addictions are questionable practices that threaten to take control of one’s life, possibly ruining them in the process.
Hence, rather than scratch that off your list altogether, adopt a better approach to quitting that addiction. Do something different from what you did previously, book sessions with a therapist, speak to trusted companions, find solutions online or seek treatment in rehab where needed.
While at it, ensure to keep the goal in mind, which is ushering in the new year fully determined to be a better person for yourself and your loved ones.