7 Resolutions You’ll Want to Keep

Sure, you can vow to work out, eat more vegetables and quit smoking in the coming year. Those are proven ways to help you reach your long-term health goals. You can also make a promise to yourself that you can enjoy for years to come — to prioritize your overall wellbeing. Your wellness includes emotional stability, gratitude, intellectual curiosity, a sense of purpose, and a feeling of belonging.

1. Learn how to do something.

Learning a new skill, hobby, craft, game, language, intellectual exercise, or physical activity is good for your brain health. Establishing different ways of thinking or perceiving things, while using your mind and body in novel ways, helps create new neural pathways — keeping your brain quick and nimble. For every interest imaginable, there’s a YouTube video tutorial, online course, Facebook group or local meetup to help you get started.

Need some ideas to clear the cobwebs?

• Pick up a new instrument or learn to play a new song.
• Take an intro course on traditional photography or digital photo editing.
• Study and practice speaking another language (on apps, in local language clubs or with your grandmother).
• Learn how to cook your favorite dish.
• Start practicing yoga or join your city’s running club.
• Take a shot at retiling your kitchen backsplash or refinishing a piece of furniture.
• Get obsessed with a new card, video, or boardgame or sport (join the pickleball craze).
• Study a subject you’ve always wanted to understand (like world history, astronomy, personal finances or coding).
• Learn to make a mocktail version of your favorite cocktail.
• Teach yourself how to hold a handstand, ride a skateboard or shuffle dance.

2. Get outside more often.

Spending more time in green spaces is associated with lower blood pressure, reduced anxiety and a lower risk for Alzheimer’s disease and depression. Some of these findings are tied to physical activity enjoyed outside. There’s also an undeniable connection between being in nature and improved mental and physical wellness. You don’t have to trek into the mountains to feel the benefits of the great outdoors. Plus, you can enjoy these often free activities alone, with a partner or friends, the dog and your kids.

• Allow your eyes to see sunlight as early in the day as possible.
• Stroll or jog through an urban park; picnic at a park or beach; find a nearby walking, hiking or bike trail; visit any waterways where you can safely traverse in a kayak, canoe or innertube.
• If you’re able to travel, be sure to check out a nearby state/national park, botanical garden or pedestrian-friendly treelined neighborhood.
• Go camping.
• When weather permits, eat meals in your backyard.
• Watch the sunset at a dog park, the beach or from your back porch.

3. Prioritize your sleep.

Getting enough sleep is undervalued. Waking up refreshed is not only a better way to start your day, it also improves your mood, makes it easier to make decisions and helps you avoid accidents and injuries. Being well rested helps stabilize your blood sugar and appetite, so you don’t seek out excess caffeine, calories and sugar. Long term, insufficient sleep is associated with an increased risk for cardiovascular disease and Alzheimer’s disease.

Falling and staying asleep gets easier if you consistently follow a few sleep hygiene guidelines:

• Don’t eat at least two hours before bedtime.
• Recognize that alcohol, like caffeine, can interrupt or delay sleep.
• Stop all mentally and physically stimulating activity at least one hour before bedtime (avoid email, intense TV shows, heated conversations and thinking about your to-do list).
• An hour before bed, prepare your house for sleep: make it darker, cooler and quieter.
• Put your children to bed with enough time for you to unwind before it’s time for you to sleep.
• Do your bedtime routine (oral and skin care, etc.) at least 30 minutes before you get into bed.
• Try meditating, box breathing exercises, or listening to relaxing sounds/ASMR to lull you to sleep.
• Avoid daytime napping and hanging out, watching TV or eating in your bed. Get in bed only when you intend to sleep.

4. Make time to socialize.

This year, don’t just say, “we should get together sometime.” Loneliness and isolation can trigger and worsen depression and anxiety. Spending quality time with loved ones can deepen your relationships and connections, lower stress and distract you from ruminating about work and other obligations.

• Make time to regularly and authentically connect with your friends, extended family, colleagues and/or neighbors.
• Find a community of like-minded people who share your interests.
• Expanding your social network can expose you to other cultures, experiences and perspectives.
• Men, in particular, often find that maintaining friendships requires more effort and can become more challenging with age.

5. Create, build, and make.

Committing to making, building, creating, or fixing something will not only give you an activity to look forward to, it’s productive. Give yourself the gift of purpose and pride with a new project, hobby or creative endeavor.

• Make art or start crafting (scrapbooks, collage/decoupage, mandalas, adult coloring books, origami, calligraphy or digital art).
• Build a backyard deck, a coffee table, a cozy reading nook or a treehouse for your home.
• Write a poem, personal essay or short story based on a memory, photograph or your favorite story to recite to friends.
• Build a terrarium in an old jar.
• Make music (write song lyrics or use software to produce a song).
• Plant an indoor herb or backyard vegetable garden.
• Reorganize your garage or home office to be more ergonomic and efficient.
• Plan that trip you’ve always wanted to take.

6. Realize you’re not alone.

Losses and hardships are human experiences. No matter how many healthy resolutions you live by, everyone encounters challenges, setbacks and painful experiences at some point in life. This universal truth can be a helpful and comforting reminder when times get tough. Someone in your life or in your community can relate to what you’re going through, and maybe you can turn to each other for support and guidance. They can lend their ears when you need to talk without feeling judged, and you can be a shoulder when they need someone to lean on. That’s what friends and neighbors can do for each other.

• When you’re dealing with an issue, avoid isolating and hiding it from your friends, family and other people in your life. Someone who cares about you wants to know what you’re going through and to be there for you.
• If you or a loved one is facing a serious medical diagnosis, take advantage of the social services, mental health counseling and support groups offered by your doctor or medical facility.
• In most cities, community-based support groups are accessible to people experiencing every medical and mental health condition, including grief, addiction, neurodivergence, abuse and phobias. If the support you need isn’t available near you, seek out online national support groups.
• If you or someone close to you is thinking of self-harm, call the 24-hour National Suicide Prevention Hotline at 800-273-8255 (available in English and Spanish).

7. Calm your mind and boost your mood.

Being able to regulate your mood and mental state is an invaluable skill. You can’t always control your reactions to events and people in your life. But, you can practice a few techniques to help you slow your heartrate, center your mind when stressed or distracted, and add a dose of joy to an otherwise dreary day. 

• Physical activity is good for the body, mind and spirit. You don’t need to hit the gym to feel the difference. Take a long walk, go bike riding, do yoga at home, go for a swim or dance around the living room. Twenty minutes later, you’ll feel better.
• Journal as an act of self-reflection, self-expression and relaxation — forget about grammar and sounding “right.”
• Focus on your breath. You can meditate while seated, lying down, walking, running or swimming laps. Try an auditory app or YouTube videos for guided visualization exercises, calming nature sounds or white/brown/pink background noise.
• Rediscover a singer, band or musician you haven’t listened to in years. Dive deep into their albums, watch their concerts on YouTube or attend a live performance, if possible.
• If you’re up for a challenge, try a cold plunge to ease muscles and reset your mind. It gets easier and more beneficial the more often you do it.
• Change your style to change your mood. Try on another style of clothing, makeup, haircut/color or accessories. Be creative with what’s in your closet or a local thrift/vintage store.
• Rewatch your favorite comedy. Smiling and laughing are known to release dopamine in your brain’s reward center, lower blood pressure and temporarily reduce stress.

Written by Dana Kantrowitz, a contributing writer for UHealth’s news service. Medically reviewed by E. Robert Schwartz, M.D., FAAFP, a family medicine physician with the University of Miami Health System.

Tags: creative projects, Dr. E Robert Schwartz, emotional support, healthy habits, skill development, social connections