It’s the same every year, along comes the first of January and out goes all the fun of Christmas food-comas and booze-fuelled festivities, and in comes the Ten Commandments we promise to live by for the next 365 days of the New Year.
Thou shalt not eat anything that isn’t a vegetable; thou shalt not even look at a bottle of wine never mind think of drinking the whole bottle of its sweet nectar…
Though admirable our resolutions may be, why do we force such punishing lifestyle changes on our ourselves? What happened to the days where we’d look forward to the New Year for all the adventures it would bring, getting a new pencil case for going back to school and seeing our mates?
Instead of putting yourself through your paces with a rigorous and punishing list of resolutions, read our guide of New Year’s resolutions that will not only change your life for the better, they’re so simple you’ll actually be able to stick to them.
1.Lose Weight/Get Fit
Spending time figuring out what kinds of exercise you actually like rather than slog away at the gym hating your life sounds obvious, but so many of us forget fun things like hiking, hockey, long dog walks and cool circus training classes are exercise too.
2. Eat healthier
Count calories if you must, but remember a balanced diet is best. Everything in moderation we say, and that includes wine!
3.Pay off debt/save money
An excellent habit to get into, but don’t forget to be realistic. Why not set up a direct debit to your overdraft or credit card over 12 months and forget about it, you’ll feel accomplished enough knowing you’re actively achieving your goal each month.
4.Drink less
Unless you’ve identified a problem with alcohol, drinking responsibly isn’t a crime. Why not get into the habit of drinking a glass of water or soft drink in between alcoholic drinks to ease the hangovers?
5.Learn a language
Instead of putting extra pressure on yourself; make sure you cut the task into manageable chunks of your time to give yourself the best chance of success. Even better, take time to learn about yourself and how you’ve changed over the last year.
6.Travel far and wide
Not all of us can afford a gap year in the depths of India or tropics of Taiwan, so there’s no point feeling bad about it when others jet off to exotic lands. Bargain weekends away to European cities for culture, or train journeys to spas, national parks and exhibitions are just as fun and easier on the bank balance.
7.Be less stressed
Unless you’ve identified stressful factors in your life (like toxic relationships, messy housemates or spending all your money on payday) then becoming less stressed isn’t going to happen without having something to work towards and alter in your life
8.Volunteer
Volunteering is a cool way to spend your time, there’s no doubt about it, so why not volunteer in ways you know you’ll enjoy too like at the local kids Sunday football team and replace hangover days in bed with a kick about?
9.Be more organised
Some of us are born with the innate skill of being super organised and on time, and some of us struggle like hell. Why not literally block out time in your diary to do the things you need to, or syncs multiple calendars on your phone, making it easier to balance work and personal life.
10. Fall in love
A secret resolution for some romantics; this one definitely can’t be planned. The chances of finding true love on Tinder are slim, same goes with harbouring feelings for an old ex. Focus on you and being the best version of yourself this year – that’s way more attractive.
Don’t forget, whether your resolution is to eat healthier, get fitter, save money or sleep better there’s an app for that! SleepCycle (an app that tracks your REM cycle as you sleep and wakes you up at the time that is optimal for you), MyFitnessPal (a useful tool for tracking your progress towards your fitness goals) and Level (a mobile money tracker that takes the pain out of budgeting by automatically tracking your spending) are just a few of our favourites!
