“Be the change that you wish to see in the world.”
– Mahatma Gandhi
Did you know that new year’s resolutions are more likely to take you closer to your life goals if done the right way? New Year resolution ideas that you most likely will follow through with are the ones that excite you, are realistic, & help you grow towards the vision of yourself 5 or 10 years from now.
These resolutions are like mini-goals that you set for yourself, guiding your actions daily. They act as a compass for your efforts, attitude, & thoughts that set the pace of your life.
Here’s some research data supporting the relevance of new year’s resolution ideas:
- According to an article published in the Journal of Clinical Psychology [58(4):397-405], well-aligned resolutions can make you 10 times more likely to achieve your goals than if you don’t.
- There were a series of studies led by Ayelet Fishbach of the University of Chicago & Kaitlin Woolley of Cornell University published in Personality & Social Psychology Bulletin (43, no.2, 2017). These basically showed that immediate rewards or enjoyment help you be more persistent working towards your long term goals. This means, short-term goals like new year’s resolutions certainly have a role to play for contentment & success in your life.
- In her book, Michelle Segar, the director of sport, Health and Activity Research and Policy Center at the University of Michigan points out the importance of understanding that every little step towards self-improvement counts. For example, you can’t prepare yourself for a marathon in a day but becoming more physically active certainly counts as its a step in the right direction.
Resolutions can be made any day of the year. But new year’s eve sounds like the perfect time because it reflects the endless possibilities of a new canvas & the unrestricted potential of the first page of a blank notebook.
Sections/Navigation
- 40 empowering mini goals.
- How do you make a strong resolution
- Why resolutions usually fail
- Ensuring mini goals/New Year’s resolution are the right fit for you
- Inspirational quotes to keep you motivated
- Summary
40 Empowering New Year resolution ideas:
Here are some new year resolution examples to spark ideas that make sense to you, things that you value, and improvements that empower you.
1. Boundaries:
Work on your boundaries this year. It will make life so much simpler, enjoyable, & aligned with your life goals. Learn to say no the right way and at the right time. It will help you manage your time better, be more productive & trustworthy, and maintain a healthy work-home life balance.
2. Get over one limiting belief:
The thoughts that stop you from asking for help, doing something new, or aiming higher are limiting beliefs. They are beliefs about your capabilities, talents, emotional strength that are holding you back and limiting your potentials.
Pick one & work on it. It’s all about getting to the root, rephrasing those stories, & working on your self-worth. If you don’t know how to go about it, here’s some help.
3. More emotionally resilient:
Emotional resilience doesn’t happen in a single day but is possible when you make it a year-long goal. It’s about being able to face something that scares you with the confidence that it can’t break you.
When you handle stress effectively each day, you develop an inner strength that makes you emotionally mature helping bounce back from setbacks more quickly.
4. Better listener:
Become a better listener. Listening is a life skill that will take you far in both personal & professional life. When you listen actively, you make people feel understood, valued, respected & they respect you back.
Being a good listener will make you a more mature & evolved human being with a broader understanding of life.
5. Change your self-talk:
Make a point to talk to yourself the way you do to your best friend – caring, motivating, & forgiving. Your thoughts decide how your life shapes up, so be careful what you let into them.
Replace the “can’t do” with “can’t do yet”. It keeps the options open rather than putting a cap on your capabilities. The solution you give after the “yet” is the path you can follow if you want to.
6. Quality over quantity for sleep:
If you wake up in the morning feeling not completely rested it means you are not getting good quality sleep. It can affect both your physical & mental health. Good quality sleep is important for focus, learning, & long-term memory.
Plus, research has shown that sleep deprivation upsets the hormones that control appetite. You crave sweets & high-calorie foods ending up gaining unwanted extra pounds.
Don’t just aim for the usual 8 hours, but get into a bedtime routine that helps you get healing restful sleep.
7th/40 new year resolution ideas: Move on
It’s easier to stay wallowing in hurt & disappointment than in picking yourself up & moving on with life. Feel the emotions, learn your lessons, but then leave the bitterness in the past & focus on the positives that life still has to offer.
This year make a resolution to leave all the things pulling you down and step into the possibilities in front of you. Let the bridges you burnt guide you with their light to better decisions & happier relationships. Decide to move on.
8. Mindfulness:
In it’s most basic form, mindfulness is a great alternative for those who find meditation tough. It’s about being aware of what all your senses are experiencing during a certain action & also what you are feeling. For starters, begin with mindful walking meditation.
Mindfulness in its true form is much bigger than this, but this exercise is a good beginning point to experience the serenity, calm, & alert awareness that it offers.
9. Declutter your life:
Get your priorities in order. Remove all things from your life that either don’t help you grow or make you happy. Say yes to that much which you can realistically handle. Get your thoughts in order & goals written down.
When you remove all the clutter from your life, it becomes easier to see where you are headed & whom you want to take along. It makes all your actions more intentional.
10. Mindset:
This year, make a pledge to stick with a mindset that focuses on the positive & is open to learning. Sometimes we find ourselves totally pumped up about a situation & at other times it’s like you are dragging yourself to push the start button.
Promote the attitude that forces you to look at the possibilities more than the potholes. Keep doing this intentionally till it becomes a habit.
11. Smaller carbon footprint:
Try making a small carbon footprint this year. Opt to walk or cycle instead of using the car as much as possible. Recycle. Use up things completely before buying new ones to reduce garbage & your expenses.
There are loads of no-expense ideas to go easy on nature & environment. Get creative or search on the internet. Choose the ones that you like & sound like fun. They might turn out to be a good start to a very sensible lifestyle.
12. One global change you are passionate about:
Choose one global change that you would very much like to see in your lifetime. Find out what one can do to help that cause on a grass-root level. Start with that. Every bit counts when it comes to creating a tsunami effect.
13. Explore more often:
Exploring, adventures, & traveling adds so much maturity to our attitude & perspective.
How well do you know your neighborhood, city, state, country? There’s always so much to know about any place, so many ways to explore it. Go on different themed walking tours of your city every month.
Better still, set unique themes for every month according to what you like, find out what you can do related to that in the nearby places, & go on adventures that you have designed!
14. Make someone happy each day:
An unexpected ‘thank you’, a little courtesy, a smile can brighten up the day for someone. Choose to make one person happy each day. It’s something noble. But being the reason for someone’s smile will also add positivity to your outlook on life. The simplest way to make someone happy is to make them feel heard. And it doesn’t even take much –
- just your undivided attention, and
- giving the other person a safe space to express their thoughts without the fear of being judged.
15. Not take things personally:
Taking things personally too often isn’t good for our self-esteem, mental health, & potential in life. Not everything is always about ourselves. It can be about the person saying them, something totally not connected to us, or it might mean something very different than what we are imagining.
Work on your self-esteem this year & learn how not to take things personally letting them affect your quality of life.
16. Learn self-defense:
Learn any type of self-defense not only to feel safe but also more self-confident. Its a requirement, not an indulgence. All kinds of self-defense techniques help you become more focused, mindful, aware, & quick strategic thinkers. Those are a lot of pros to be ignored.
17th/40 New Year resolution ideas: Self-love
Be more forgiving of yourself this year. Try not to feel too guilty or beat yourself up over missteps, setbacks, & slip-ups. Learn from them & move on. Treat yourself with as much respect & love as you do your loved ones. It’s essential for your well-being & contentment in life. What’s more, use self-love to set goals that bring your fulfillment and satisfaction in life.
18. Gratitude journal:
Get into the habit of writing at least 3 things every day what you are grateful for in your life right now. It can be anything big, small, routine, or special. When you start focusing on the good things in your life, the negatives lose focus & fall back. It boosts a positive attitude in life & keeps you geared towards growth & happiness.
19. A no-complaints day each week:
Set a day each week to go without complaining about anything. It will boost your positive outlook & problem-solving skills. Complaints push us towards a victim mentality, excuses as easy escape routes, & negativity. It’s a character-forming exercise where we choose to find solutions & be more resilient
20. One thing you would like to improve about yourself:
It takes courage & insight to pinpoint something about yourself (not physical) that requires improvement. This will help you know yourself better, be realistic about your strengths & faults, plus add to your potential for happiness & success in life.
Choose the one which can show the most results, come up with a plan, & give your best to it. If you are really convinced about the need for improvement, this is one new year resolution ideas that are most likely to succeed & help you grow.
21. Daily stress relief strategy:
Make a plan to include some unwinding time in your daily schedule. It’s easy to get complacent & busy in our daily lives and let daily little stress build up. “Oh, it’s just a part of life.” But letting them pile up can cause paralyzing overwhelm & burnout.
To stay motivated & physically capable of giving your best every day, it’s important to set aside time to let your mind & body recharge.
22. Social media timeout:
Create & stick to a schedule for checking out updates, answering messages, & connecting with people on social media. Not first thing in the morning or last thing before going to bed. Plus, be careful what you fill your social media feed with.
Social media platforms can be good or bad for you depending on how you use them – whether conscientiously or addictively.
23. Procrastination action plan:
Pledge to be alert for any signs of procrastination like staying stuck in the planning stage, trying to perfect an already good plan, or finding reasons why it’s not the perfect time. Dig deeper whenever you find yourself hesitant to press the start & deal with whatever’s holding you back.
More often than not, it’s the fear of failure. “What if it doesn’t work out?” Make a mental note to focus on the positive possibilities & give your best. The perfect plan comes from tweaking your strategies and not from refining hypothetical situations or theories.
24. Mind maps for problem-solving:
Get into the habit of making mind maps to start making better & more informed decisions. Mind maps help you weigh the pros & cons of any situation. Plus you realize the possible solutions available & how those solutions might make you feel. It’s a great stress management tool & helps develop a problem-solving positive attitude.
25th/40 New Year resolution ideas. Develop perseverance:
Though it’s easier said than done, the key is to believe in the ‘why’ guiding your actions. Seeing something through to the end requires motivation. And motivation is something that’s hard to guarantee. But once you decide to put your effort into only those things that you truly believe in, perseverance becomes a permanent part of the journey.
26. More eco-friendly home:
This is something that’ll make you feel good because you aren’t only doing your bit for the world but also adopting a more conscientious lifestyle. Whether it’s switching the type of lighting you use at home, products you use, or the way you dispose off your garbage, there are lots of simple & cost-effective ways of making your home more eco-friendly.
27. Get organized:
Here’s another new year resolution idea – be more organized with your approach to life every day. Physical & mental clutter drain away energy. They cause confusion & disorientation. Clear up the clutter in your home, closet, office, & paperwork.
Make daily to-do lists & follow them. Get clear about your goals to streamline your daily actions. Check out Nadalie’s instant-access Slay Your Goals planner for effectively organizing your goals & action plan with guiding prompts, reflection questions, motivational nudges & more.
Start using a brain dump diary to see your thoughts written down & make more sense out of them. All in all, get control over what happens in your life.
28. Better time management:
Prioritize. Make that word your go-to mantra this year whenever it comes to committing your time. Be realistic about how much you can fit in a day, tackle tasks according to their priority, & always slot in more time than you think it’s going to take.
This is the mental shift that will make efficient time management a part of your personality over time.
29. Get your finances in order:
Don’t just make a resolution but chalk out a plan. Though it is one of the most common new year resolution idea, if getting out of debt means you can be free to do what your heart wants to, the chances of your going through with this become very strong.
Whether it’s a credit card debt, study loan, or home loan, make a plan with a timeline to get your finances in order & pay them off.
30. Turn your hobby into an earner:
A little bit of extra money never hurt anyone. Whether you have a full-time job taking care of your family or in an office, use your hobby to earn money this year.
It won’t only motivate you to spend more time doing what you really enjoy, but also take away any guilt of using up your time in doing something you enjoy when there’s so much to do. It’s good for your mental as well as financial health.
31st/40 New Year resolution ideas: Volunteer
Volunteer your time & effort for a cause that pulls at your heart strings. Not only is it good for society but it will also improve your overall feeling of wellbeing. When we help others it brings us happiness, satisfaction & a sense of purpose.
Studies have shown that people are more likely to do acts of kindness when they see others doing it. Your actions can have a ripple effect motivating others to do their bit in whatever way possible. That’s how changes are brought about in the world.
32. Reduce negativity in your life:
Resolve to cut out negativity from your life as much as possible. Negativity adversely affects our motivation, energy, emotional stability, potential, health, happiness, & overall wellbeing. It can come from your self-talk, from the information you expose yourself to, from the people you let in your life.
Be mindful of what information you expose yourself to including local or world news. Follow people on social media who inspire & motivate. Mute update from contacts who bring out negative emotions in you. Remove negative people from your life who keep pulling you down. Surround yourself with supportive people who make you happy.
33. Healthier lifestyle:
Don’t just go for a crash diet. Instead, pledge for a healthier lifestyle. Eat a well-balanced diet & get physically more active. Skip the elevator & use the stairs, cycle instead of drive the care, proteins over trans-fats, healthy snacking over fast food, fewer cups of coffee & more water.
From being physically more active move on gradually to a regular exercise routine. Researchers at UC Irvine have found through studies that it can even improve our memory. Exercise can help keep your brain, body, confidence, & self-esteem well tuned.
34. Intentional lifestyle:
Make a mental note to be more intentional in whatever you do. For example,
- Buy only those things that you need & not what you want.
- Switch off the lights & water tap when not in use.
- Use the car only when needed. Walk or ride the bike if that’s an option.
- Take the stairs instead of using the elevator/escalator.
- Donate what you don’t need.
- Eat healthy and have cheat days to indulge yourself.
- Create daily to-do lists aligned with your life goals.
An intentional lifestyle isn’t only good for our physical, mental, & financial health but is a very effective way to make the most of our life.
35. Learn something new & different:
Make a habit of learning something new. When you are done with one, pick something else. This will help you keep your brain younger & increasing your brain’s capacity in a fun way.
Research has shown that when a part of brain is stimulated while doing something new, that part shows growth because new actions require new neural pathways for understanding & adapting.
Get creative & have fun. For example, learn to cook. It will add to your healthy lifestyle, is good for you financially, & is a great stress reliever.
36. Fall back in love with your life:
Make a plan to fall back in love with your life this year. Count your blessings each day whether big or small. Do at least one thing that will take you closer to your dreams, towards doing something that you love to. Surround yourself with supportive & positive people. Work towards a healthier lifestyle. Add more for each month of the year.
When you focus on the positive in your life & start enjoying it, the negative things keep getting pushed to the back burner. That’s how you fall back in love with your life.
37. Quality over quantity for family time:
It’s not the amount but how you spend your time with your loved ones that matter. Sitting in the same room but busy in your own individual worlds & smartphone doesn’t count as family time.
Remove all distractions. Ask what they are up to and actually ‘listen’. Get excited about their wins & offer support for setbacks. Share how your went. That’s how strong bonds are created – by showing each other that you really care..
38. Be open to asking for help:
Asking for help isn’t a sign of weakness but of being realistic & courageous. Being strong is good, but so is being aware of when you are stretching the limits too thin.
Break the mindset this year that connects seeking help with shame. Get up & ask for it when you feel a helping hand can get you over the hill. It could be from friends & family, a group of like-minded people who have been through it before, or professional counseling.
39. Slot in self care/time alone:
Prioritize yourself & start scheduling in some time alone every day. During that time do something that makes you happy, relaxed, & refreshed. Or, explore your thoughts, feelings, &ideas to know your changing likes, dislikes, & preferences.
Spending time alone will keep you connected with your true self & guide your actions well-aligned with your vision of the future.
40. Get inspired (TED talks):
Boost your life with inspirational thoughts. Include something motivational each day in your life whether it’s a TED talk, some inspirational story, a motivation book, or even a positive reminder from the quote pinned on your refrigerator.
Stay inspired to make the best of each day, celebrate the small things while reaching for the stars, and to find out what’s one step beyond “that’s it”.
How do you make a strong resolution & come up with new year resolution ideas:
The one essential thing for a strong resolution is emotional connect, your conviction in the ‘why’. When it connects with you on an emotional level, when you visualize yourself transformed & it puts a smile on your face then it is more likely to succeed than any other.
The emotion can even be anger. If something makes you really angry, you’d go the extra mile to see the thing through, right? It will boost you to get past problems & hurdles along the way.
A study published in Psychological Science by Henk Aarts of Utrecht University, Netherlands shows that though anger is a negative emotion, it activates the positive emotions related left side of the brain. According to Aarts, “People are motivated to do something or obtain a certain object in the world because it’s rewarding for them. Usually, this means that the object is positive and makes you happy,”
Come up with unique new year’s resolution ideas based on what matters to you, what excites you, & what’s truly aligned with the future you envision for yourself. Is it learning how not to take things personally, or working on your mental health, or maybe learning to manage your time better? It can be anything as long as it makes sense to you.
Understanding the reason behind ‘I hate new year resolutions’:
New year’s resolution ideas are famously infamous for rarely ever meeting a happy ending. And that’s true because studies have even shown that more than 60% of them don’t survive past the first 6 months.
I even tried reverse psychology on my resolutions. See, I wanted to get in the habit of studying in the morning but never could wake up early enough. And so I cleverly made the resolution to never study in the morning, hoping it would fail. And guess what? It stuck!!
So you see, the problem isn’t with “new year’s resolution ideas” per se. It is with your conviction in the ‘why’ behind what you choose as your point of transformation. When the end result doesn’t emotionally excite you, motivation to carry on with efforts thins out pretty soon.
Any positive change requires persistence & without enough motivation, they are bound to fail. As a result, our brain makes us stay away from making resolutions in the future to keep us safe from getting hurt with failure.
Most new year’s resolution ideas fail because they are –
- Unrealistic.
- Demand immediate extreme change.
- Not seen as habits to be developed that require time & persistence.
- Seen as opportunities of failing & we go along with the excuses our brain throws up to take us away from possible disappointment.
- Sometimes achieved momentarily & we get complacent, not working on them anymore.
- Prone to not work out from time to time & we take that as a signal of failure.
New Year resolution ideas – How do you create a successful New Year’s resolution:
Your conviction in them is essential for your resolution ideas to be successful. And once you come up with some meaningful & creative new year’s resolutions here’s what to do –
- Consider its pros & cons for you.
- If the benefits are more, come up with a goal that’s realistic.
- Plan out your actions. Start slow & slowly build the momentum up.
- Track your progress.
- Don’t beat yourself up for slip-ups.
- Restart every time you fall off the wagon.
- Find an accountability partner or announce it to family & friends. This will keep you motivated to see things through to the end.
Inspirational New Year’s Resolution Quotes:
1. “What great thing would you attempt if you knew you could not fail?” – Robert H. Schuller
2. “Approach the new year with a resolve to find the opportunities hidden in each new day.” – Michael Josephson
“The secret of change is to focus all of your energy, not on fighting the old, but on building the new.”
– Socrates
4. Though no one can go back and make a brand new start, anyone can start from now and make a brand new ending.” – Carl Bard
5. “One resolution I have made, and try always to keep, is this: to rise above the little things.” – John Burroughs
“This year, be structured enough for success and achievement and flexible enough for creativity and fun.”
— Taylor Duvall
7. “There are far, far better things ahead than any we leave behind.” – CS Lewis
8. “Character is the ability to carry out a good resolution long after the excitement of the moment has passed.” – Cavett Robert
“We will open the book. It’s pages are blank. We are going to put words on them ourselves. The book is called opportunity. And it’s first chapter is New Year’s Day.”
– Edith Pierce
10. “Let our new year’s resolution be this – we will be there for one another as fellow members of humanity, in the finest sense of the world.” – Goran Persson.
Cookie-cutter resolution ideas don’t work & they are the reason why new year’s resolutions have earned such a bad reputation. The top 10 most common new year’s resolutions like eat healthy, exercise more, & save more money work only for those who find their heartstrings pulled by the transformation. Choose a mini-goal or result YOU value and see how differently things work out when you genuinely care about the results.
New Year’s eve is symbolic of fresh new beginnings, of hope, & of possibilities. Make a wish, take a pledge, or set yourself a challenge and believe with all your heart that it’s going to work out just fine. It’s not wishful thinking but a reaffirmation of what you know in your heart you can absolutely do.
“This post was featured by Twinkl in their list of 35 + Unique New Years Resolutions to Try in 2022.”
