If you’ve already failed at your New Year’s Resolutions, read this…
I struggle with even recommending New Year’s resolutions because they are so difficult to achieve. Only 46% of those who made a New Year’s resolution were successful. I recently read about what seemed to me to be a practical solution in a Popsugar article. The author recommended resolutions based on your Zodiac sign. I took it farther, and I suggest adopting all twelve resolutions, one after another, because they are not difficult, and a month should be long enough to achieve each one. See what you think.
January – Drink more water.
February – Reconnect with old friends.
March – Volunteer for a cause you care about, like an animal shelter.
April – Take up meditation.
May – Reevaluate your closet and get rid of what you no longer wear.
June – Start a podcast or find a new favorite podcast.
July – Journal every day.
August – Practice gratitude.
September – Be kind to yourself and celebrate your accomplishments.
October – Allow yourself enough alone time.
November – Let go of grudges and resentments.
December – Don’t over-commit yourself.
I also read a similar piece in The New York Times based on an article in their Well section that focused resolutions on small improvements, not major changes of flaws in yourself. It recommended things like:
- Learn something new
- Be kind to yourself
- Learn to calm yourself
- And my favorite – develop an ‘exercise snack’. An exercise snack is a short burst of movement you can do anywhere, like jumping jacks or wall push-ups. These things take no time to do, but in the aggregate, they can really make a difference to your fitness.
To me, those make much more sense, and are more appealing than resolutions like lose weight, pay off credit cards, exercise more.