Say No to New Year’s Resolutions: 6 Healthy Habits to try instead

new year's resolutions

Say No to New Year’s Resolutions

Are your social feeds flooded with people bragging about their New Year’s resolutions? We’re an entire week into the new year (time flies!). So chances are that most of these posts will fade out soon as motivation slowly but surely dies down. The key to not failing your new year’s resolutions? Don’t make any! Read on to learn what you can do instead to set yourself up for success and kickstart 2021!

Why so many New Year’s resolutions fail

The change of the calendar brings hope and motivation: we make endless lists of goals and dreams, and naively believe we’ll stick to them throughout the year. Dreams and goals are wonderful and necessary for a happy life, so they’re certainly not the problem in itself. But many of us expect too much too soon. We imagine the outcome, but don’t plan the way to get there. If we run into an issue or a setback, we tend to just give up altogether. We want a quick fix, and we don’t want to put in too much work. And lastly, the number 1 reason why about 90% of New Year’s resolutions fail is that we don’t know our WHY: What is the reason that we want to achieve something? Read on to learn how to tackle all these issues and get some ideas about what to do instead.

How to form healthy habits that you can actually stick to

Slow and steady might not be as sexy a strategy, but it’s a lot more effective than the “I want it all right now!” mentality. Same goes for how you phrase your goal: the more specific the better. Set yourself up for success by thinking not just about the goal itself, but about all the ways that lead you to that goal. Create small steps that you can integrate into your life. And by small steps, I mean so small that they’re too tiny to fail. Say what now? Let’s break it down with an example: health.

Better health is one of the most common goals and motivations for the new year. And while there are a million ways to take care of your health, you might want to start with small changes. We have created a list of healthy habits that are easy to integrate into your life. Pick one to start with and focus on that.

6 healthy habits to kickstart the new year

  1. Breathe. It sounds too easy, but breathing deeply and mindfully is the best antidote for stress. Take just 5 minutes of your day to focus on your breathing and feel your heartrate slow down. Can’t stay focused? Try a guided meditation or breathing exercise.
  2. Hydrate. All day long. Mental clarity, focus, energy: we don’t need to tell you that drinking lots and lots of fluids is important. Make it a habit to start your day with a big glass of water (or two!) before you consume anything else. Especially coffee, as it does the opposite. Take a water bottle everywhere. Keep it by your desk. If you keep forgetting, set a timer every hour to drink a glass of water. Create a habit.
  3. Nothing. That’s right. Even if it’s just for a few minutes, try to do absolutely nothing. No phone, no book, no talking. Have a cup of tea or stare out the window. You’ll be surprised how good nothing feels!
  4. Stretch. While we’d love a full length yoga class every single day, it’s not realistic for many of us these days. Instead, take just 5 minutes every day to move and stretch your body. Do it in the morning to shake off sleep and stiffness. Or pick the afternoon, that one specific moment where you just know you always have a dip in energy. Wake yourself up by moving your body.
  5. Walk. No need to run or fill your week to the brim with workout classes. Simply aim to take more steps. Find small ways every day to get your steps in: we love a good lunch time walk around the block. Just a few minutes of fresh air will clear your head and feel rejuvenating.
  6. Cold showers. We can hear you roll your eyes at this last tip, but there’s a solid scientific background to the benefits of cold showers. Start slow by ending your shower with 10 seconds of cold water and build your way up from there.

There you have it, 6 easy healthy habits to kickstart the new year. They might seem too easy, but that’s exactly the point: you’ll be much more likely to stick to your new habits if they’re easy. Once you feel good about one, add another. Let’s make 2021 the year that we take really good care of ourselves!