The new year is here, and what better time to start fresh by setting a few goals for yourself? You probably already know that hardly anyone actually keeps their New Year’s resolutions, but maybe that’s because they aren’t setting the right ones.
The problem with resolutions is that we often set unachievable goals for ourselves and then feel bad about it mid-February when we haven’t been to the gym once since signing up for the membership. Instead, try one of these to get you on track to being a better you without feeling overwhelmed.
1. Cultivate Better Health
Losing weight is one of the most common New Year’s resolutions, and it’s also one of the hardest! Instead of making a number value your goal, try making smaller changes throughout the year that contribute to your overall health. Commit to eating more vegetables, biking or walking to work and school, or meeting with a therapist a few times.
2. Stop Contributing To The Capitalist Wasteland
If you’re like me, holiday shopping, as well as general winter prep, has probably wiped out your bank account. Nothing makes me feel less like spending money than the fact that I have no money at the beginning of the year. But saving money can be a very open-ended and easily ignored goal. Try a different approach: stop buying so much. I’m not going to assume you’ve got a five-dollar-a-day coffee budget, but everyone has something in their budget that they can cut in favor of moving that money into their savings account.
And, on that note…
3. Sever The Ties Between Checking and Savings
A lot of banks allow you to connect your checking and savings accounts so that you can spend from either one, transferring money from one to the other at whim. Stop doing that. Hopefully, the money in your savings account has already been taken from your budget. Pretend it isn’t there. You’ll be happier (and richer) for it.
4. Knock Out A Big Project
Maybe you’ve been meaning to clean up the attic for years. Maybe you’ve got piles of old textbooks you’ve been meaning to sell. Or maybe your closet is full to bursting despite the fact that you wear the same five t-shirts every week. If you’re lucky enough to have some time off for the holidays, take a day or two to knock out one of those big organization projects you’ve been meaning to get to forever. Even if that’s the only thing you accomplish this year, you’ll feel as if you’ve accomplished something monumental.
5. Sleep More
This one’s super easy, even if most of us don’t do it. Set a bedtime and a wake-up time that gets your full eight (or nine or ten, if you’re like me and really like your sleep) hours in, and stick with it, no matter what. You already know that staying up till 2 a.m. watching Netflix is never worth it when your alarm goes off four hours later, so stop torturing yourself. And while you’re at it...