A Twist on New Year's Resolutions

By Jenny Johnston

Many New Year’s resolutions seem to revolve around stopping a bad habit or some kind of negative action.  The common resolutions – quit smoking, quit drinking, lose weight, get out of debt – are also the most broken resolutions. Instead of focusing on removing the negative in your life, start the New Year by adding the positive to your life. Here are some optimistic resolutions for you to try that will hopefully improve your overall happiness and quality of life.

1.  Start a blog. It’s free, simple and takes little time to create and update. The best part is, you can blog about whatever you want – cooking, entertainment, sports, your personal life – and it doesn’t have to be public for the whole world to read. Blogging is a great way to relieve stress by writing out your feelings and frustrations without harming others. There are no rules to blogging so you can update as often as you wish and write as little or as much as you desire. Plus your previous posts can be really fun to read down the road.

2. Volunteer. Giving back to the community can be rewarding in so many ways. However, even the most compassionate among us can fall back on our commitments. The main reason why people don’t volunteer is lack of time. People don’t realize there are many opportunities to help others that won’t add extra stress to their already hectic schedule. Does your child play sports? Volunteer to keep score, help coach, referee the game or take pictures.

3. Get a new hobby. Don’t confuse this with another commonly broken resolution – learn something new. Learning something new sounds ambitious but most people don’t follow through with it. They’ll try to learn a new language, play a new instrument, master the art of cooking, and it will quickly fade once they think it’s too hard or too time consuming. Instead, get involved in new activities that you don’t have to rediscover. Do you love football? Join a fantasy football team. Do you love to read? Start a new book series or join a book club. Love to socialize? Attend your neighborhood or church social events – wine tastings, restaurant reviews, boutique crawls, etc.

4. Spend more time with family and friends. No one can argue with this one. It’s true, everyone is busy these days, but there is no excuse for not spending time with the people you care about and having a good time. Plus, the list of things to do is endless – see a movie, have a game night, go shopping, explore the attractions, enjoy happy hour with your best friends. It just takes a car crash, cancer diagnosis or sudden heart attack to take away our loved ones. Life is short, so don’t put off your family and friends ‘til later.

5. Get a Facebook and Twitter account. Yes, you read that right. Being connected with social media has an infinite number of benefits. In addition to following your friends and family, social media has infiltrated the business world so you can now follow your favorite businesses, organizations, causes, groups, etc. Many companies and non-profit organizations have social media pages that it’s considered detrimental if a business doesn’t have one. Businesses use social media to offer up-to-date news, daily promotions, exclusive giveaways and information on upcoming events, products and services. Many public figures like talk show hosts, commentators, political figures, celebrities and athletes also have social media accounts. Social media allows you to stay up to speed on just about everything including U.S. news, world politics and the status of Kim Kardashian’s marriage.  

6. Exercise. Don’t mistake this resolution for buying a gym membership that you’ll use three times a year, or feeling the need to pump iron and get a body like Jillian Michaels. Exercising doesn’t have to be a dreadful activity. There is no need to torture yourself to stay healthy. The best exercise for your body and overall health is walking. It’s safe, simple and doesn’t require practice. According to the Mayo Clinic, walking can help you lower your blood pressure, reduce your risk or management of type 2 diabetes, manage your weight, reduce your low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (the bad cholesterol), raise high-density lipoprotein (the good cholesterol), improve your mood and stay strong a fit. Research also shows that regular, brisk walking can reduce the risk of heart attack by the same amount as more vigorous exercise, such as jogging.

7. Eat healthier. After consuming eggnog, cheese balls, mashed potatoes, chocolates and other fattening foods during the holidays, it’s natural to want to stop eating all the bad stuff. We make resolutions to go on a diet, only eat healthy foods, quit drinking pop and alcohol and switch to an organic, fresh food regimen. It all sounds so good and possible on January 1. However, it’s pretty much a guarantee that by St. Patrick’s Day, we’re indulging ourselves in hot wings, nachos and pancakes. The problem is that people force themselves to be miserable by going on impossible diets cutting out all foods they love. There is nothing wrong with eating those unhealthy foods as long as it’s in moderation. You should at least attempt to eat healthy for the sake of your overall health and well being, but reward yourself every now and then. Hence, this resolution is to eat healthier.