For those of you who are like us and had to wait for a Monday to start your New Year’s resolutions or if you want a "redo" because you have already decided the original resolutions you chose won't work, we’ve compiled some ideas to consider for the New Year.

We’ve found resolutions can range from lifestyle changes, to new ways of thinking, to goals, to tasks you would like to complete in the New Year. However you choose to approach your resolutions, we’ve found if you start by shifting the way you think about resolutions, you will be more likely to feel positive about them and eager to achieve them.

New Ways of Thinking:

Start by shifting the way you think about resolutions. Focus on the positive. For instance, rather than telling yourself you need to stop doing something, change the resolution to something you want to do more. So, rather than, “stop watching too much tv,” focus instead on an activity you want to do more of, like “take more walks with friends.” It is also important to reorient your resolutions from something like “workout more to lose weight” to “workout more because it makes me feel good.” Similarly, while many of us could benefit from a digital detox, it may be easier to focus on “spending more time outside” than “stop checking my phone every 2 minutes.”

Some ideas we found for focusing more on the positive include:

• See life as a collection of moments to experience and enjoy

• Keep a gratitude journal as a reminder of everything for which you have to be thankful

• Create/recreate your bucket list. Include dream travel destinations, exciting activities you want to try, new skills you want to learn, and fun/new/exciting experiences. Then choose a few to start planning!

We’ve found linking the changes with the desired goal and related tasks, makes a more comprehensive resolution, which may make it easier for you to follow through. For instance, this first list includes some common resolutions:

• Meet new people

• Learn something new

• Become more active

• Spend more time with the people who matter

• Spend more time outside Improve your self-confidence

• Broaden your view of the world

If you augment this list by connecting the goal with the concrete tasks, you may find it easier to put your resolutions into action. For instance:

• Maybe your goal is to meet new people > take a class, volunteer, join a club

• Ditto for learn something new > take a class, volunteer, join a club

• You can spend more time outside by walking, gardening, participating in sport/athletic activity

• Maybe your goal is to do a better job managing your health. One way to start, may be to book all of your doctor’s appts for the year.

• Take the goal of becoming more active and put it into action by doing any or all of the following regularly > walk with friends, walk to work, walk to pick up your kids, walk to get your morning coffee, take the stairs, park further away

• If your goal is to declutter your home, to make it manageable, you can start with putting one thing away each day (something other than what you normally have to deal with on a daily basis – meaning laundry and dishes don’t count.)

• Maybe your goal is to spend more time with the people who matter > Plan a vacation, schedule a monthly potluck at your house, participate in a group like the Neighborhood Project, or start your own book club.

• If your goal is to preserve family memories > Schedule time to work on your kids’ photo albums; join a scrapbooking club

• To better understand and preserve your family history > Begin to research your family genealogy

• If your goal is to make more time for yourself and teach your family how to be more responsible for themselves > Don’t do other people’s chores

• Maybe your goal is to stay in touch/connected better > schedule regular video calls, write a letter, draft weekly e-mail updates, start a group text

• Maybe your goal is to improve your home environment > buy a plant, begin a compost system

• To broaden your view of the world > visit someplace new, try a new activity

Additional Tips: Avoid resolutions that require someone else in order for you to achieve them because you cannot control someone else’s actions. Also, avoid resolutions that require sudden, drastic changes in behavior because you are unlikely to be successful with these types of goals. Check out this article for the top 10 things to avoid when setting your resolutions. https://www.forbes.com/sites/brucelee/2020/01/08/top-10-common-but-really-bad-new-years-resolutions/#6c0180dc2b7a

Some of our favorite ideas of specific changes people think about incorporating into their lives at the New Year include:

Lifestyle changes:

• Take a class

• Join a club

• Volunteer

• Cook something new once a week or once a month

• Try a new type of exercise

• Meditate

• Build mental toughness

• Incorporate more reading for pleasure into each day

• Draw/ color/ make something crafty

Daily goals:

• Acts of kindness

• Compliments

• Smile

• Have a conversation

• Spend time outside

Change how you schedule your time:

• Schedule me time

• Do nothing more often

• Schedule time for doing the crap you don’t want to do

• Schedule time for doing the stuff you really want to do!

Best of luck and following through with your desired goals!

Please share your resolutions below.