With every new year comes a slew of resolutions. You want to accomplish more goals, you want to get fit, you want to be happier, you want to meet the one – most of these resolutions are nothing more than vague wishes. The fact of the matter is that you can change your life no matter what time of year it is, which is why if you want to make this year great, you need to put the work in. You need to change all aspects of your life, and only then will you see the significant improvement that you need to further your goals and to keep your resolutions. Don’t get bogged down by one seemingly unattainable goal, instead, reconfigure your life by following these ten steps:
- Eat Healthier
It doesn’t matter if you want to lose a few pounds or are perfectly happy with your current weight, eating healthy is important. It’s more than managing your weight, it’s managing your mood, your energy, and your long-term health. Your body needs nutrients to survive, and filling it up with junk food is how you’ll get by, but by no means is how you’ll be at your best. If you want to have the energy and health to follow through with the next steps, you need to improve your diet. Do this by eating more nutrient-filled food, cutting out junk food, and even cutting out or reducing vices like alcohol or smoking.
- Exercise Without the Gym
Again, regardless of whether you want to lose weight or not, you should aim to be more active. You also don’t need to pay a gym membership to do it. Walk more, go on bike rides, explore, dance, take the stairs at work – these are all activities that can help to keep you active. Exercise is how you’ll keep your cholesterol and blood pressure low. It is also how you can help manage your mood, and how you’ll feel more energized, naturally. To be happy this year, get your heart pumping. Remember, the goal first and foremost is to feel great.
- See More of Your Friends
Friendships are so important for our mental health. They are there to share our failures and successes, so if you aren’t seeing as much of your friends as you’d like, it’s time to change that. Schedule regular dates to see them, start a group chat and work on being more vocal. Share, and in turn, your friends will share about their lives. Make more dates, and your friends should make more dates. A friendship survives only when the effort is put into it, so work on putting effort into your relationship today.
- Read More
Reading is important for so many reasons. It can help you learn, it can help you be more verbose and a better speaker, and it can also be a great way to slow down in the hyper-world of the Internet. Read, and you’ll find that you feel better. Read nonfiction, and you’ll learn more than you did yesterday. Read fiction, and you’ll travel to faraway places and leave your own troubles behind. Read more this year, and you’ll be a better you.
- Make Home More Exciting
If you want to make the most of your year, you’ll need to make the most out of your home as well. Not only is this where you’ll likely spend most of your time, it is also where you go to refuel. Alone time is important, but that doesn’t mean you should be bored. Instead, do your hobby, get a mystery murder subscription, read, binge-watch shows, try out new recipes, and more. There is no reason to be bored at home, instead, work on making it more exciting so that you can better unwind and relax at home.
- Improve Your Sleep Schedule
Enjoying your home more should include enjoying your sleep more. Going to bed and waking up at the same time every day is how you train your body to have energy throughout the day. Get a better sleep by staying away from electronics before bed, by using noise machines, or even by taking a warm shower before bed. Whatever gives you a better, deeper sleep, do it.
- Make Concrete Goals
Goals are meaningless unless you know the steps you need to take to get there. So, sit down, research, and create a draft of the steps that you need to take if you want to achieve your goals. Create long-term and short-term goals, and work towards them!
- Travel More
Travel is more affordable than ever before, which is why you should get out there more often. Don’t, however, go for the Instagram photos. Go for the experience and for the joy of learning about new cultures, histories, and more.
- Try New Things
You don’t, however, need to travel to try new things. Take classes, go to new places, meet new people. There is so much that you can do right at home that can make your life so much more exciting and meaningful. You might even make a few new friends along the way!
- Document Your Life
Memory is frail. That is why this year you should aim to document your life better. Keep a journal, be more honest with your posts, and so on. Create a diary of your life so that when you feel like reminiscing, you can go back and be reminded of what your life really was like.
The new you that you are looking for won’t emerge just because you make a resolution for the new year. In fact, just one resolution won’t get you very far at all, even if you do follow through. Instead, use these ten steps to reinvent yourself and your life. Remember, however, that resolutions need to be built on. Life is, after all, a balance, and if you don’t have that balance then even trying to fix one area of your life won’t go very well. A fulfilled life is a balanced life, and transitioning to this balanced life can be difficult, but stick to it, and you’ll be amazed at how much you can accomplish.