New Year – New Me: 5 Things You Need to Change in Your Life

By Peter Minkoff

Yes, we all tend to make a small wishlist of things we want to achieve in the year to come and optimistically title it “New Year’s Resolution List”. But how many of those resolutions do we actually fulfill in the following year? Probably around 30-40% (let’s be honest, once February comes knocking at our door, we forget everything there is about the resolutions we made and go back to our old selves). Also, that resolution list somehow gives us the option of skipping a couple of wishes, since we cannot feel motivated to change ourselves 365 days a year. However, the New Year is practically a great way to start with big changes. Use the “fresh start” effect, make yourself a nice motivational board that will always be in a visible place, and tick all the things that you did, making it important to cross everything off. Also, don’t overdo it – just choose a couple of items and make them a priority for the following year. Here’s our idea what every person should change, so you could start with these.

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Yes, we all tend to make a small wishlist of things we want to achieve in the year to come and optimistically title it “New Year’s Resolution List”. But how many of those resolutions do we actually fulfill in the following year? Probably around 30-40% (let’s be honest, once February comes knocking at our door, we forget everything there is about the resolutions we made and go back to our old selves). Also, that resolution list somehow gives us the option of skipping a couple of wishes, since we cannot feel motivated to change ourselves 365 days a year. However, the New Year is practically a great way to start with big changes. Use the “fresh start” effect, make yourself a nice motivational board that will always be in a visible place, and tick all the things that you did, making it important to cross everything off. Also, don’t overdo it – just choose a couple of items and make them a priority for the following year. Here’s our idea what every person should change, so you could start with these.

Don’t waste your time

More often than not, we utter the sentence “We only have one life”, but most of the time, we say that when we give a piece of advice to our best friend. Perhaps it’s time we started thinking about the truth in that sentence. Surely, there is only one life, so not wasting our time on the things we don’t like and avoiding doing the things we love due to a “lack of time” should be our imperative in the following year. If you’re not satisfied with your job – find the job that will make you happy and do whatever you can to get it. If you cannot go to the gym because you have a lot of work, consult a time manager app on your smartphone and squeeze that workout in. It is very important to fill our lives with positive things that we love, and may the next year be the one for that.

Live healthily

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Let’s admit it – we always want to change our diet, but if you just love, love, love junk food, it might be a bit hard. You can’t expect everything to change in a day, so make sure to focus on what’s important. First of all, commit yourself to getting eight hours of sleep every night. If you need to wake up early in the morning for work, get to bed a bit earlier and get the most sleep you can get. Secondly, try to cut down as much junk food and sodas as you can – if you’re a junk food addict, give yourself a promise not to eat junk more than once a week. Finally, make a meal diary and give yourself a task to eat more healthy fats and fibers such as nuts and seeds.

3. Leave your comfort zone

Living in your comfort zone can be very satisfying, but you will be missing out on so many great opportunities. Even though it’s smart to play it safe, it’s actually a great thing to step out of your comfort zone once in a while and experience new things. It can be leaving your job, facing your small fears, or doing something you’ve wanted for so long but never had the courage to. Try with something very small at first and see how you like the feeling, but promise yourself you’ll at least try this in the following year. Try to chase your dreams and make them a reality.

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4. Concentrate on love

Love should play a major part in your life. If you’re in a healthy and happy relationship, prepare small surprises for your partner – you will not only make him happier, but you will also feel better about yourself. Moreover, that could turn out great for you – constantly showing and expressing your love can make your relationship only stronger. If you’re single, focus on the positive things in the people who approach you. If you need some extra encouragement in this department, you can always count on some first date tips – don’t be afraid to ask people for help.  Don’t be too judgmental or picky, but rather get to know the person before realizing they’re not for you. However, if you enjoy being single – you go and do that! Always do the things you love.

 

5. Say goodbye to toxic relationships

Little do we know that we become like the five people we are surrounded with. Because of this, try to cut down on all the people in your life that are negative, regardless of how much you love them. Concentrate on positive people and positive thinking. If, by any chance, one of the people very close to you is negative, first of all, try to change their point of view and their mood. However, since this is very difficult to achieve, stop spending too much time with them. If you limit the time you spend around negative people, you will be happier.

Make these five changes your priority in the year to come, and stick to them. Making a visible motivational board may help you a great deal in achieving this. Somewhere in April, try to remember this, and, if you’re lost, get back on track. Good luck!