Everyone loves to make resolutions for the new year, so today we’re looking into the ones we all need, no exceptions!
1. Eat Healthier
Don't frown just yet, it's not as bad as it seems. Eating healthier is a simple change of habit - it doesn't mean you'll have to change your entire diet or commit to an extreme one. In fact, the one resolution we will ALWAYS need is this: drink more water. That one thing is enough to get you on your way to a healthier diet.
Let's start with making drinking more water a natural habit. The rest will come naturally.
2. Have More Time for Yourself
And this includes some time away from your phone. Don't get us wrong, we don't think phones are bad and that technology is ruining human interaction - far from it. The problem is that nowadays it's too easy to get so caught up with it, you forget the most basic things.
So regularly, as much as you can, take some time off. Leave your phone in the other room, get away from the TV, forget about Netflix. Just for a bit. Allow yourself to just... be. You don't have to be doing anything. Just exist for a while.
Don't worry about breathing techniques or doing yoga. Just sit down, or walk down the street, or look at the horizon for a couple of minutes by yourself, with nothing to do.
3. Call Your Mom and Dad More Often
We never do this often enough. Every once in awhile, as often as you possibly can, you should call your mom and dad.
You don't need to have anything to say, or anything to ask them. Just call them, and ask "what's up?"
And let them talk for as long as they want.
4. Listen More
Even if you already listen more than you talk (which is good), it's still an important motto to live by.
Especially when you're talking to someone who knows more than you about anything, listen as much as you can. This will not only make you a more likable person in general but will also give you a lot more fuel for debates with what you learn. Never settle for not knowing, always challenge yourself with knowledge from all sides - it’s the most reliable way of crafting your own opinions.
Most importantly, remember you can listen to an opinion you don’t agree with without changing yours. Different opinions are never a good reason to start a fight, and yet, that’s what they always seem to do!
There’s always time for you to talk, as long as you listen first.
5. Give More and Expect Less
If life was fair, we would always get back exactly what we give to others, but that's not how it works - or nor should it. Understand that giving has nothing to do with getting something back. Life is not a business transaction.
In life, we give because we want to. If you try to do the math, it will always pull one way or another, but it shouldn't matter - you do the best you can and live on.
6. Learn to Love Progress
Regardless of who you are and what specific goals you have, they're often not something you can get overnight - otherwise, they wouldn't be a goal at all. We're usually talking about writing a book, getting fit, saving to buy something, finishing a project, and so on.
And those kinds of goals can be very intimidating. You want to write a book and in the first week, all you have are 800 words. You want to get fit, but after one month, you’ve only lost two pounds. The goal itself feels far away.
But the fun shouldn't be from the destiny alone - it should be from the journey itself. Running a marathon is the easiest thing a marathonist ever does - TRAINING to run a marathon, that's the real challenge.
If you can only make 1% of progress at a certain task... it's still progress. Celebrate! You're one step closer to your goal!
7. Take It Easy
Every year we have more plans than the last, and it seems the entire year is never enough to make it happen. We need to take it easy.
It's so easy to overwhelm ourselves with much more than we can take. And it's not that we don't have the skill or the will to accomplish these goals, sometimes we just don't have time and resources. But that's not bad! We can make it work.
It's the same principle that explains why multitasking doesn't work. If you try to do FIVE things at once, you'll end up making progress on each one, but not really finishing any of them. However, if you focus on only ONE thing at a time, you'll likely get it done on the same time it took you to make marginal progress on FIVE.
So let's plan better. Let's focus on less things and get them done before we move on to even more things.
8. Smile More
You'd be surprised how hard it can be for people to smile these days. And even though a smile alone is not a sign of happiness, it's an important first step to simply let yourself smile.
We're not talking about just showing teeth either, it has to come from inside. Allow yourself to smile! Embrace the silliness of a cat video, of the new meme, of a joke someone made at work, of simply walking down the street and tripping on the sidewalk.
What are your personal goals for 2017? You can let us know in the comments and follow us on Facebook for more articles every week!
