As 2024 comes to a close, it’s time to talk New Year’s resolutions. Every December, overly ambitious plans on how to completely reinvent yourself flood many people’s minds. The mood boards are crafted, the bulleted lists are made — run a marathon, gain 30 pounds of muscle, become a millionaire — the list goes on. Many of these resolutions quickly fail, because motivation is a fickle thing and setting overly unrealistic goals are just that: unrealistic.
Having resolutions and goals to better yourself is amazing, and there is nothing inherently wrong with that. However, I believe the key to having a sustainable, healthy lifestyle is not charging at it headfirst on the first of January, only to fizzle out before March.
With that being said, here are my five realistic, sustainable New Year’s resolutions that everyone can follow.
Limit screen time
I know, I know — we’re all sick of hearing about how phones and social media are harmful. I think everyone is guilty of accidentally spending hours at a time scrolling through Instagram feeds, but just because it’s normalized, doesn’t make it healthy. Having a high screen time negatively impacts your productivity, mood and overall mental health. What better time than the new year to work toward improving your health by reducing your screen time?
I’m not saying you can never open TikTok again but just try uninstalling the social media apps for one full week. I can guarantee you will experience more mental clarity. And, if you still need to scroll, I highly recommend replacing TikTok or Instagram with Pinterest. While Pinterest is still technically social media, it is far more calming and positive than the alternatives.
An obvious suggestion is to just place timers on the apps you spend too much time on. When I did this, however, I just simply turned off the timer once it alerted me that my time was up. Instead, my sister and I are swapping our phones and creating timer passwords for each other, so that we can’t just bypass our own limits. If you have a friend or loved one who’s also trying to reduce screen time for the new year, I recommend trying this.
Revisit childhood hobbies
When I was in elementary school, I always had my nose in a book. As I got older, this hobby became a rarity, but I’ve recently gotten back into reading. I forgot how relaxing a good book can be, and how beneficial it is for stress relief. I think that my younger self would be proud of me.
I advise you, too, to think about what hobbies you had when you were young. Whether it be soccer or coloring or anything in between, getting back in touch with what you enjoyed doing as a child can evoke nostalgia and joy, as well as being the perfect replacement for the aforementioned doom scrolling.
Start any form of exercise
In my opinion, having a workout routine is one of the best things you can do for yourself. As well as helping prevent diseases and increasing your life span, working out consistently can also provide you with the perfect outlet to relieve stress and clear your mind.
The key to working out regularly is to find something that you actually enjoy doing, instead of forcing yourself to do exercise that you hate just because it’s the new year. For me, I love going to the gym and lifting weights, but if that’s not your cup of tea, there’s a million other forms of exercise you can try, such as swimming, Pilates, running, dancing and plenty more. Working out shouldn’t be something you dread!
Explore more
In the cold winter months, it can be challenging to get out of bed and go outdoors. School becomes more stressful and motivation plummets. As we get back to our routines after winter break, I encourage you to get out of your comfort zone a bit and go somewhere new.
It can be as simple as walking an extra block to a new coffee shop or getting on the bus and taking it across town to go window shopping. Getting out of your own space and exploring is very doable; you just need to put your shoes on, step out of your door and go. Who knows what you might find?
Practice gratitude
Lastly, becoming more grateful is something I think we can all work towards. It can be so easy to get caught up in everything going wrong in your life, but focusing on the negatives is only going to make it harder to see the positives.
In October, I woke up and got out a Post-it Note and jotted down a list of what I’m grateful for. I’ve done this every morning now as soon as I get out of bed (and after I do the New York Times Games), and I can say it has really helped me start the day off on a good note. The list can be as big or small as you want it; some of my points have included phone calls with my parents, a great pump at the gym and Gouda cheese. It can be anything.
The point is, actively appreciating what you are grateful for can train your brain to look at the positives in a situation which leads to having an overall happier day, happier month, happier year and happier life.
As the new year approaches, I encourage you to stick to at least one simple resolution that will improve your life and avoid the stress of creating a million stressful ones. Let’s all start 2025 on a great note.
