Your New Year’s plans for 2021 were probably a lot different than normal. However, it’s still tradition to decide on a few New Year’s resolutions. This year, a renewed focus on your health may be top of mind. Or, you may be tired of thinking about meals or your waistline, in which case you’ll turn your sights on your mental health, or your sleep routine, or the mess in your living room — or the mess of your closet!
If you haven’t given resolutions a thought at all, here are a few ideas to take into consideration that are great ways (and easy) to get your year started in the right direction:
*Cook one new thing each week. Everyone wants to eat healthier in the new year, but you should also try to eat more diverse foods.
*Read more books. January is the perfect time of year to check out a new book. Local public librarians can offer suggestions for books you may like.
*Eat veggies regularly. Whether you’re slimming down or just staying healthy, vegetables are your friends. (I keep telling myself, anyway.)
*Take the stairs. Take 10 minutes to run up the stairs in your office or home.
*Drink up. Drink more water and stay hydrated.
*Volunteer. Research shows that pitching in regularly can lead to less stress and lower blood pressure.
*Decorate with family history. In happy and long-lived cultures, people often display items from their families’ pasts.
*Sanitize your phone weekly. Like, now! We check our phones a gazillion times a day, and if you’ve taken yours into the rest room lately, you’re not the only one.
*Explore new hobbies. Whatever is fun.
*Take more walks. Even if you can’t keep track of a new fitness routine, keeping yourself moving on a simple walk around the neighborhood is a must.
*Finally, ease stress with kindness. Kindness towards yourself! Recent research shows that practicing self-compassion slowed people’s heart rate and sweating which are two symptoms our bodies produce when under chronic stress.
This year, fill your resolution list with easy, good-for-you goals. Find those easy ways to squeeze a little more of what you enjoy into your busy days.