New Year’s Resolutions Worth Thinking About

New Year’s resolutions offer us an annual opportunity to reflect on areas for improvement in our lives and change course for the upcoming year. While we should take pride in all victories over the past 365 days, many may struggle with maintaining their health going into 2023.

Instead of setting a New Year’s resolution that’s all about “avoiding germs,” “losing weight,” or “eating healthier,” this article will attempt to unpack why it’s so hard to translate those desires into New Year’s resolutions that stick with you all year long. 

Thinking About Your New Year’s Resolution 

Public health experts recently released a report commenting on how many individuals view health as an end, not a means. Instead of allowing ourselves space to nurture and care for our bodies, we tend to think of health as one more thing on our to-do list, telling ourselves that we’ll get to it once other to-dos get checked off the list. 

This is especially true during the holidays when 38% of people report they feel more stressed than at other times of the year. This stress and sleep deprivation are known to weaken our immune systems. This suggests that we’d get sick less often as a society if we were better at taking care of our bodies. 

As we think about what this health recommendation reflects about our health as a society, one powerful area of much-needed growth is the need for a paradigm shift in how we think about our health. 

Don’t Forget Your Overall Health for your New Year’s Resolution

If you want to make your New Year’s resolution stick, do something that isn’t just for you. Model the kind of behavior you’d like followed by someone you love. 

Washing your hands regularly is excellent. When you can’t, keep hand sanitizer on hand for when soap and water aren’t easily accessible. 

Your efforts to improve your health and well-being should involve more than your efforts to avoid illnesses and germs. This year, make a paradigm shift in how you think about your body and choose to care for and nurture it. 

Sleep matters just like nutrition matters. If you are choosing a piecemeal approach to your health, or if you catch yourself thinking of health as an end, not a means, then take a step back, reflect on why that is, and make a change. 

You can practice these healthy habits and learn how to travel consciously or be a little better about avoiding germs as you go through your day-to-day.