New Year, New Habits: Five FREE New Year’s Resolutions
By TVG Staff
A new year brings new opportunities to better yourself. Although weight loss supplements and gym memberships are out there, they won’t be as easy on your budget as these five New Year’s Resolutions that won’t cost you a dime.
Read Everyday
We subscribe to lifelong learning. Reading every day helps keep your mind sharp. Research from the Fisher Center for Alzheimer’s Research Foundation says it also can help you sleep better, improve memory recall and fight off Alzheimer’s disease. Find some topics outside your work and read about advancements, historical discoveries, scientific breakthroughs or maybe just the latest short story or novel by your favorite author.
Research also tells us that spending time learning outside your field will also help foster creativity, offering you a new perspective or way to solve issues that may come up. For example, if you are into American history, take a look at some of the original documents from the American revolution, read up on what our country’s founders had in mind for America, or how they wanted this government to be different. Take a look at the Constitution—it’s a lot more digestible than you may think. You can find it free online in the government archives.
Take Time for Yourself
There’s a popular saying that “self-care is healthcare,” and it’s true. People often base their worth on how much they can do for others. While it is good to serve others, and selflessness is certainly a virtue, it is equally important to take care of yourself. Sometimes it’s as simple as making decisions with your family or partner, allowing your voice to be heard and giving your opinions on what you would like to do. It is easy to get caught up in always doing what others want to do, acting the part of the peacekeeper or the pleaser—but that isn’t always healthy. Advocate for yourself and take time to say no, opt out of doing what others are doing, and do what you want to do instead. Also, periodically, take a break from the chaos, and just do what you want to do: grab a book, take a bath, relax and let yourself just exist. Activity doesn’t always equal productivity. It isn’t necessarily good to stay busy all the time.
Learn Something New
Try to learn something new every day. Some days, you may feel you didn’t learn anything new, however, you can still make an effort to learn new skills. If you want a challenge, take up a new musical instrument, or study a language other than your native one. It can be simple, like using a dictionary calendar that teaches you a new word every day. Try using it in a conversation. Merriam Webster’s Word of the Day is a great place to start. Challenge a friend, coworker or family member to use the word as many times as possible in a conversation to really make it stick, and to file it away in your brain for future use.
Log Out
Social media is a useful tool, especially for the art and science of PR, but it can be an addicting habit. Instead of getting stuck in the scroll loop that is so common on social media, take time to log out and actually make memories with your loved ones. Many people use social media for news consumption. To remedy just scrolling forever and wasting time, set notifications for important news accounts that you follow. This will save time. Also, for the more social side, go directly to a friend’s account to interact with that person. If you can’t remember their name to go to their account, you probably don’t need to spend time on their page.
Be active
Being active is simple. Move your body! The human body is a complex machine with innumerable moving part. Get up, walk around, stretch- anything to keep yourself moving. If your tracker has this feature, let it remind you every hour to get up and move. Some people enjoy dancing as exercise, or walking, hiking or bicycling. Yoga is another great way to keep moving, while minimizing strain or stress.
We hope that you will take a few (or all) of these resolutions to better your life. Let’s make 2019 the best year yet.