Every year we usually make a New Year resolution. This resolution is often well forgotten about by the end of January. Instead of making a one-time resolution, start now and create healthy habits that you can implement in the new year and beyond. In this post, I’m sharing with you five HEALTHY habits to carry into the new year to help get you started.
1. Write down daily intentions
There was a time in my life where one thing could go wrong and it would ruin my whole day. I was able to turn my mindset around by writing down daily intentions and speaking affirmations to myself.
Here are a few that help get me going:
- Today I will remain positive and find the silver lining.
- I will work to be a little more patient with myself.
- Today I will allow myself the room to breathe.
- Each “bad” moment is just that, a moment in time, that will not affect the overall outcome of my day.
- Today I will practice kindness in all things.
By setting daily intentions, I create a narrative of how my day will go. For more ideas on daily intentions, check out my daily intentions and affirmations Pinterest board.
2. Journal at least twice a week
An easy way to get into the habit of journaling is starting out by doing it once or twice a week. Sunday and Friday (or Saturday) are great days to do this. On Sunday, you can journal and set the tone for your week and at the end of the week, you can reflect and document how it went. Journaling can tremendously help your words to easily flow. Once finished you may feel lighter and have more clarity on your journal topic.
This list of prompts will help to get you started:
- What do I need to get off my chest today?
- Are there things that made me smile today?
- What were my highs and lows today? Why?
- Did I learn something new today? What was it?
Your journal could simply be a spiral notebook or a journal like the Growth Journal offered by one of my favorite artists, Addie Rawr. Her journal provides you with journal prompts and activities. If you’re new to journaling or you would like more prompts, I’ve saved quite a few to my journal prompts board on Pinterest.
3. Set healthy boundaries
Boundaries are important to living a healthy, happy life. Setting boundaries is a healthy habit to have because it allows you to say “no” without feeling bad about it. It also allows you to effectively communicate how you’re feeling. Boundaries help you understand when you need a break and what situations (or individuals) are unhealthy for you.
Making a list of the things you know you can tolerate, or find acceptable, and identifying what makes you stressed, or uncomfortable, is a great first step in knowing your limits. Knowing your limits is crucial when it comes to setting boundaries. These limits inform you of when a boundary has been overstepped.
If you ever feel you need a break or a boundary has been overstepped, be direct and assertive. Let it be known how you are feeling without placing blame or coming off as threatening.
4. Bet on yourself
Simply put, take more chances. Recently I had been really down about not working a “real” job. However, I was reminded that there are so many talents that I have. I just haven’t tapped into them yet.
If there’s something that you’ve always wanted to do but have been keeping yourself from doing, I challenge you to step out of your comfort zone and go for it. I know this may seem easier said than done but remember, nothing will ever happen if you don’t start.
For starters, you can make a list of things that you want to do. Under each item, make another list of small steps that you can take to do them. Each day, work on a step. Some progress is better than no progress and eventually, all of the small steps that you took will result in something big,
5. Love yourself, unconditionally
One of the most important healthy habits that I believe you can have in the new year is to love yourself unconditionally. This is one that I’m still working on every day. However, learning to love yourself deeply will allow you to have a better grip on not only this year but life in general.
Loving yourself unconditionally allows you to do all of the things that I’ve said in the first four healthy habit suggestions with ease. Loving yourself helps you to understand what you need. That could be what you need from yourself or what you need from others. However, getting to the point where you TRULY love yourself unconditionally takes time and work.
Here are some things you can do to help get you there:
- Forgive yourself for your past mistakes. It’s easy for us to dwell on what was but we must realize that there are things in our past that we just can’t change. Forgive yourself for those things that cannot be changed and work on those that can.
- Do something you’re good at and do it often. This doesn’t have to be anything huge. Find one thing that you’re really good at, no matter how small it is and just do. It could be something like cooking, writing, painting, or even something like swimming. If you feel you aren’t really good at something, practice it daily.
- Talk to yourself like you would a friend. Our friends usually give us positive reinforcement, congratulate us on our success, and point out the good in us. A GOOD friend would never talk down or shame us. So the next time you’re speaking to yourself, do it in the way you would a friend.
- Surround yourself with love. Being around people who genuinely love you for who you are will surely help you see that deserve love. Not just from them, but from yourself as well.
We are all in different places in our self-love journey and there may even be an occasional feeling of being “less than”. I’m here to tell you that you are not! You are powerful beyond measure and are capable of love and being loved. Start with loving yourself.
This year for me will be one lived intentionally and I hope that you consider doing the same. Forget the run-of-the-mill resolutions that we tend to make year after year and instead work toward implementing healthy habits that you can carry with you this year and for years to come.
I hope that you’ve found this helpful in identifying at least one healthy habit to have in the new year and if there are others that you have in mind, let me know down in the comments!
