Make This Your Best Year Ever - New Year’s Resolution Ideas

The New Year stands before us like a fresh chapter in a book. It is a good time to try to re write some of those bad habits that may have been keeping you up at night and try some great new tips that could change your life.

 

Start a Meditation Practice.

Meditating helps to improve your mood, it reduces stress, helps sleep, lessens anxiety, and it even increases your brain’s grey matter — which is involved in muscle control, sensory perception, decision making, and self-control. In addition, once you get the hang of it, meditating is the perfect way to detox the mind from activity and just focus on breathing and relaxing the body for bed.

Move More.

It doesn’t matter what you choose to do: join a sports team; get a pedometer and take at least 10,000 steps a day; get up every 20 minutes and stretch; or join a dance class. Just move!

Living a sedentary life dumbs you down, it makes it more likely that you’ll be overweight, and it puts you at a higher risk of depression. Doing a little bit every day keeps the bones working and also helps your sleep pattern - for me it’s my everyday ritual that sets my day up... my time and I always feel better afterwards. Think of the following quote from the movie “Madagascar “: “Move it nice and sweet and sassy, alright!”

Learn Something New Each Day.

Set a resolution to learn something new every day in order to have a better understanding of the world and how it works. Fortunately, the internet makes it incredibly easy to learn new things

Pick Up a Hobby.

Hobbies can lower your stress levels, boost your brain power, improve your ability to focus, and more. Therefore, in 2017, start a new hobby.

Write a Business Plan.

Make 2017 the year you stop thinking about starting a business and you start taking action –it’s OK if it’s a small business on the side. The first step to take is to write a business plan. Once you get your ideas down on paper, you’ll be that much more motivated to turn those ideas into reality. Having your own business can mean harder work and longer hours but the rewards are amazing and you get to be your own boss doing things your way...amazing

Books, books, books.

I love reading and particularly when studying for my degree a few years ago, I learnt the best way to relax was to read a heavy book. The time I spend reading is always enjoyable and never wasted and there is a real sense of accomplishment on finishing a good book and if it’s a clever one we can always learn something

I’ll definitely be reading lots of books in 2018, and I encourage you to do the same. Particularly when you are trying to switch off. it might just take a few pages, but before long you will be nodding off!

Be More Grateful.

If you haven’t climbed aboard the gratitude bandwagon yet, this is the year to do it. There are studies that show that gratitude can make you 25% happier. Think about that for a second: 25% happier!

Being grateful will also help you to overcome adversity, improve the quality of your sleep, and allow you to get along better with others. For next year, resolve to be more grateful. Saying thank you before bed really helps appreciating how good life is and we should never forget that. It’s also a good way to concentrate on the positives and leave the negatives to fade away as we drift off.

Stop Procrastinating.

If you didn’t achieve your goals this year, procrastination was the likely culprit.

Lists do help so make time before bed to put the list together of your key goals and I bet you by the morning you will be ready to tackle them head on.

Spend More Time in Nature.

Humans were not made to be cooped up inside all day. Spending time in nature makes you happier, it boosts your immune system, and it even makes you more creative. Resolve that next year you’ll be spending more time outside (and just opening the windows more often doesn’t count). Take a walk in the park. And find your moment of calm,

Enjoy the Little Things.

Living life to the fullest doesn’t just mean setting big goals like going bungee jumping or learning to scuba dive. It also includes learning to enjoy the little things. That is, learning to appreciate life’s simple pleasures, such as the following:

▪ Going outside at night to look at the stars.

▪ Going to a pet shop to “ooh” and “aah” at the puppies and kittens.

▪ Walking barefoot in the grass.

Increase Your Emotional Intelligence (EQ).

Daniel Goleman coined the term emotional intelligence in his 1996 bestselling book,”Emotional Intelligence: Why It Can Matter More Than IQ”. In a nutshell, emotional intelligence is a set of skills, including control of one’s impulses, self-motivation, empathy and social competence

Bring More Peace Into Your Life.

I think I can safely say that we all want more peace in our lives. And by this, I mean more inner peace, contentment, or serenity. Resolve to bring calm into your life in the year that’s about to begin by accepting what is, practicing non-judgement, and teaching your mind to become still.

Be Kinder to Yourself.

You may not be able to control how kind other people are to you, but you can always control how kind you are to yourself.  This upcoming year, set the resolution to believe in yourself, respect yourself, and treat yourself, be a good companion to yourself.

Create a Positive Attitude.

Having a positive attitude opens your mind to new possibilities, it makes you more resilient, and it can even help you to live longer. Greet the New Year with a smile and resolve to stay positive, no matter what happens.

Strengthen Your Personal Relationship.

Don’t make all of your resolutions career or fitness oriented. Include that special someone in your life in your resolutions. In addition, let them know what you’ll be doing: “Hey, honey, guess what? We’re strengthening our relationship this year!”

Tame Your Monkey Mind.

Life isn’t easy when there’s a monkey in your head. Specially if that monkey won’t stop screeching and jumping uncontrollably from one branch to another.

Make this the year you finally lasso that monkey and get it to sit still. How? try not to over think - keep it simple with these 6 steps.

Keep a Journal.

Journaling is a powerful life tool. It can help you to organize your thoughts, plan and get in touch with your true feelings and wants. If you choose to add “Keep a Journal” to your New Year’s resolution

Travel.

Plan a holiday to somewhere you have never visited, be the adventurer you have always dreamt to be. 

 

A New Year is like a blank notebook. You get to write anything you want in it. Fill the first page of your notebook with your New Year’s resolutions. Use the ideas above for inspiration. Try setting resolutions to make 2018 the best year ever.