Discover Wellness

January 8, 2025

Happy New Year!

Did you make New Year's resolutions? Let's make 2025 your year with these goals that will help you look and feel your best!

I haven't made my 2025 New Year's resolutions yet. I will decide in the next few days. I have been thinking my previous resolutions to help me decide my goals for this year. I also have had numerous funny conversations with my friends about their resolutions and their stories behind them. Sharing your resolutions and progress with others is a good way to keep going. Some of my previous resolutions (and successful ones) were

1. Run at least 60 miles a month. I easily ran 720 miles a year. But my mileage was not consistent at all. I often ran 100+ miles a month, while I sometimes ran less than 20 miles. I wanted to have more consistent running patterns one year. But it is really hard when I am traveling a lot!

2. Play musical instruments every day. One year, I decided that I would play something even just for 5 minutes a day. If I didn't have any instruments, I would sing a song. Normally, once I start playing, I can't stop. But on busy days, it is hard to pick up a guitar or ukulele. And it seems my piano is permanently closed.... 

3. Read at least one book a month. The trick I found is to pick very popular books to rent from the Wake county library. You can check out books for 3 weeks and e-books for 2 weeks. Some popular books have an insane waiting time, so I made sure I would read them in one check-out. Otherwise, I would need to wait like 3 months to check out the same books again! Then, I am reading at least one book a month!

4. Keep a journal and write down one grateful thing every day. It was a nice way to end my day. Also, it was good way to recollect a day.

5. Clean my closet! Find one item every day to donate or throw away. There were many days that I found multiple items, but I made sure that I would find one item a day to get rid of. 

There were a lot of unsuccessful ones too. For example, I don't drink water enough and set a goal to drink at least 2L a day. I couldn't do it every day. Another one is to eat healthier (or cut back French fries!). I generally eat healthy, but there are many days that I just have to get French fries and donuts. One year, I decided to limit the number of days that I could get unhealthy snacks in a month. And, I miserably failed. 

I think the key is to pick something you can do easily - nothing too challenging.

Here are 7 tips to keep your New Year's resolution from an article published by University of California Davis. 

1. Be picky about your resolutions

We may want to lose weight, eat more vegetables, volunteer more, quit smoking and spend more time with family. But experts say that’s too many goals to set for a New Year’s resolution. Pick one, maybe two things you’d like to focus on and go all in. This sets you up to achieve specific goals instead of feeling like a failure for hitting none of them. 

2. Plan your resolution

It’s best to plan for your goal. Think through how you want to accomplish your resolution and how long it might take to reach your goal. For example, if your resolution is to quit smoking, research how long it takes an average person to kick the habit and the possible setbacks to expect. Proper planning will help ensure you can see it through to the end. 

3. Set very specific goals

Many of us will set a New Year’s resolution like “exercise more.” But what does that really mean? Instead, you should be detailed in your resolution. It could be “exercise 30 minutes daily.” This gives you a measurable goal to reach each day that you can check off your list. It will help you feel more accomplished. 

4. Don't take on too much

Start small. Avoid setting an overly high expectation of yourself. If you’d like to lose weight, pick a small but realistic weight loss goal. Maybe that’s 10 pounds in two months. Once you reach that goal, you can think about losing another 5-8 pounds. Setting small goals can help you achieve big results. 

5. Choose a new resolution

Avoid picking a goal that you’ve tried in the past but failed. You may set yourself up to fall into the same pitfalls that stopped you previously. Instead, pick something different where you can set up a better path to success. Or maybe you can modify a previous goal if that’s something you still want to accomplish. 

6. Identify accountability partners for support

Lean on people – whether it’s a friend to keep your exercise resolution on track, or a spouse to help with healthier eating habits. We function better with community around us, motivating and reminding us why we chose that New Year’s resolution in the first place. 

7. Give your resolution time to become a habit

New routines don’t just become habit overnight. A 2009 study found that on average, it takes 66 days to form a new habit. Be patient with yourself. If you have minor setbacks or don’t hit your goal one week, pick it back up the next week. Just keep working at your goal and eventually it can become second nature. 

Did you pick your New Year's resolutions? Please share your 2025 goals with your CIPM pals!

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