Most of the resolutions that I ever made in my life were mostly end goals (like reading 30 books, losing weight, etc) rather than adopting a regular process (like reading more, keeping fit) to make my life better. It is much better if you start adopting methods rather than goals and it will slowly but steadily improve your lives.
1. Start being empathetic rather than sympathetic.
First, understand the difference between sympathy and empathy. Everyone can be sympathetic to someone else’s situation. Being empathetic is putting yourself in someone else’s shoes and seeing the world from their perspective. Sympathy is just feeling bad for someone else and doing nothing to understand the "what and why" and give unsolicited advice. Try to understand people’s situation better before judging them.
2. Start using Google Calendar.
If you can use Google Calendar effectively, it can make your life much easier. I would want to go to events, but I eventually forget about them, as happens with everyone. We have so many daily activities, it is natural to forget a couple of things. However, recording those things will prevent you from doing so.
3. Listen more and talk less.
It has now become a cliche I guess, but still, I hardly see people implement it in their lives. Everyone is interested to share their stories but no one is interested in hearing about the lives of others. Listen to others until the time your turn comes to speak up. Don’t just wait for your turn.
4. Stop being a phone addict.
Most of us put alarms on our phones. We wake up, look at messages, social accounts and every other useless aspect of media. This can generally be completed within 10 minutes, but more often than not, people lay in their bed for a long time first thing in the morning. We start our day by looking at the lives of others instead of our own. That's something to think about.
5. Have more meaningful relationships by eliminating the bad ones.
There are so many people in our lives with whom we maintain contact just for the sake of being nice and not being too hurtful. But what we forget is that it consumes both our time and energy, and mostly leaves us mentally exhausted. We can save that time and invest somewhere else we want.
6. Learn just one new skill this year and be perfect at it.
Pick up a new hobby and practice so much that you're able to call it a skill. That's an art, and it takes commitment and time. There is no point in thinking about taking up three or four hobbies, and expect yourself to excel at all of them. Picking one is more doable -- something that you seriously want to do or learn about. It can be learning a new language, learning a new sport, learning how to use a musical instrument, etc.
7. Learn to control your anger.
Coming from a person who has a lot of difficulty controlling their anger at the smallest of issues, no one is really interested in dealing with your anger. I learned this pretty early and try to remind myself constantly to keep myself in check. "Holding onto anger is like grasping a hot coal with the intent of throwing it at someone else; you are the one who gets burned." - Lord Buddha
8. Learn to prioritize your life and clear clutter.
Prioritizing our lives nowadays is way more difficult than it was a decade back when we had limited options for distractions. Now we have Netflix, too many sports, endless YouTube videos, among other things. Sometimes we overindulge in these and lose focus of our main activities which varies from one person to another. Resolution #6 can help clear clutter of too many hobbies.
9. Learn how to manage money.
One of the most important aspects of being an adult is to learn how to manage money. Overspending is not really an option we have when we grow up. There are so many expenses like internet, phone bills, electricity bills, monthly installments for previous debts that we don’t think about while buying something new “and” expensive. It just adds on to the debt. Managing money is an art. An art which if learned, can do wonders in your life. Try it!
