LIFESTYLE

By Matt Casadona

20 New Year's Resolutions

You Should Actually Stick to in 2022

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We all know how easy it can be to make New Year’s Resolutions and drop them after a few weeks. Whether it’s being more active, traveling or starting on a new project you have been holding off for years, we have all done it. Let’s make 2022 the year that we actually stick to our resolutions. Here are X New Year’s Resolutions you can and should stick to in 2022.

Baby Steps for a Healthier Living

“Let’s be honest, many of us are longing to live a healthier life but don’t know the proper steps to achieve that goal, or are making too high of a goal to start. Therefore, you must take time to implement mini-steps to achieve your overall New Year’s Resolution for a healthier life. For example, some of these baby steps can be seen as brushing your teeth twice a day, going on a walk every week, and trying to wake up on the first alarm without hitting snooze. By implementing these smaller steps, you are beginning to form them into a habit, from there you can continue with the same goals but add on to them. This can be seen as brushing twice a day and flossing, going on a walk 3-5x a week, or waking up earlier to give yourself a slow morning. Either way, your physical health is important, and taking baby steps to get to your goal will help you stick to your New Year’s Resolutions.”

-Aaron McWilliams, Director of Marketing at 1Dental

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Expand Your Knowledge 

“Take time this year to learn new skills that will help you at work. Buff up your knowledge in Microsoft Office, read books on a topic in your field, or attend seminars that will improve your performance at work. There are so many opportunities to learn and grow in your business niche if you keep an eye out.”

-Jacob Dayan, CEO and Co-founder of Community Tax

Promoting a Healthy Sleep Schedule

“Starting the new year off feeling rested and energized is key in helping you achieve all of your resolutions. Some helpful tips to ensure a good night’s rest is getting eight hours of sleep every night. When your body begins to sense a pattern it reinforces a consistent sleep-wake cycle. What you eat or drink before bedtime can also affect the way that you sleep. Make sure to avoid heavy foods and caffeinated drinks that can cause discomfort and keep you up for hours. Another way to ensure restful sleep is by creating an ideal sleeping space; whether that is investing in a mattress or pillow, shades to block out the light, or a fan to keep the room cool and create white noise. Lastly, incorporating some type of daily physical activity will ensure you’re tired when it comes to bedtime. Creating healthy habits is a great way to start promoting a healthy sleep schedule.”

-Gregg Dean, CEO and Co-founder of Layla Sleep

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Spend Time Alone

“As we continue to grow busier and busier with our ever changing lives, we often forget to slow down and take time to spend time with and take care of ourselves. This is why it’s important to make it a goal to spend even just half an hour of your day to pull away from everything and focus on yourself. This helps us to destress, refresh, and clear our heads to tackle the various challenges in our day-to-day lives. Some things I like to do during my alone time are going on walks, journaling, meditating, and pursuing my hobbies.”

- Sanem Aheam, Head of Marketing at Colorescience

Support Local Businesses 

“With the rise in online shopping and food delivery apps it is easy to forget about local small businesses. After the hard hit the pandemic took on small businesses, it is more important now than ever to take initiative and support your favorite local spots. This is a great community-building resolution that is easy to keep. It is also a great way to try something new! Whether it’s going out for lunch once a week or picking up a gift at a local shop once a month, supporting local businesses is a great resolution to keep this coming year.”

-Jeffery Pitrak, Marketing and Account Manager at Transient Specialists 

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Finish that Project You’ve Been Meaning to Get to

“2020 and 2021 were tough years, so it makes sense to have a few personal projects hit the backburner. But as we start to return to a sense of normalcy, start the new year off right by working to start and finish those tasks you have been eyeing for the last year. Whether it be a home improvement project, finishing up a certification, writing that book you’ve been wanting to write, or even starting that podcast on your passion, 2022 can finally be the year you get to accomplish that goal you’ve set for yourself.”

-Jason Brandt, Customer Success Director at Podopolo

Work with a Mentor

“Working with a mentor is life-changing because it helps you understand who you are and what you want to become. Choose mentors who will give you the best insight into your current phase of life or career level. Once they understand your skills and abilities, they may put you to work on a specific task to see how well you perform. The relationship between a mentor and a mentee must be built upon trust, honesty, and transparency. When you need someone you can trust, having a mentor as an objective third party is a great resource. After you've experienced life with them, you may want to share your experiences with others too, which helps you become a better leader yourself and provides you with a new perspective on life.”

-Dhruv Sampat, Founder of Studypaq

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Include Your Dog in Your Exercise This Year 

“If you and your dog are both physically able, daily walks are a great New Year’s resolution. This is not only a great way to boost your cardiovascular health, it also does wonders for your dog’s physical and mental health too. Your dog may also want to spend some extra time with you now that you have returned back to your workplace as opposed to working from home.”

-Dr. Brian Evans, DVM, Clinical Director at Dutch

Use Less Social Media

“It is always right by your side, that trusty smart phone that gives you access to any information you want. There is an endless amount of social media platforms now and they can really suck the time right out of your day. Some platforms can provide entertainment and others can just make the user angry. Cutting out platforms such as Twitter and Facebook might actually make a person happier. Those platforms do a very good job at providing the user with what is going on in the world at every moment of the day, and to be honest, that can drive any person crazy. Try and take the time you would usually use on social media platforms and put it towards finding a new hobby. I think you will be shocked with how much more time you have on your hands.”

-Rich Rudzinski, Founder and Technical Strategist for Oversight.co and Tragic Media

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Manage Your Stress 

“Managing your stress is very important and something we often forget to stay on top of. One of the best ways to release stress is to write all of your thoughts out in a journal. Whether it be a list of things you want to accomplish during your work day or feelings you want to get out after a long day in the office, it is always important to release your thoughts so they aren’t jumbled up in your head. Be sure that you are always making time for personal hobbies that take your mind off of your everyday responsibilities such as yoga, breathing exercises, or going for walks. Remember as we enter the new year to go easy on yourself and make sure you are spacing out your day accordingly so that you can get each task done. Taking breaks are very important for managing your stress, and it never hurts to take a few minutes out of your day to relax!”

-Megan Jones, Community Outreach Manager for NutraSweet Natural

Creating a Budget

“A master budget compiles the individual budgets from every functional area of your company for the fiscal year, with most service companies operating on a monthly basis from Jan. 1 through Dec. 31. While some industry experts caution against adjusting budgets midstream, Powers says sometimes it’s absolutely necessary, such as when a global pandemic shuts down business, or as material shortages affect the supply chain. If your goal was to increase sales by 20%, and you’re only increasing by 10%, but spending and investing based on that projected 20% increase, your business can land in a world of trouble. A budget with specific goals keeps everyone on your team, including technicians, CSRs, managers, and more accountable for performing their jobs at the highest level. This accountability shows you when the team meets its goals, and identifies areas for improvement.”

-Chris Hunter, Director of Customer Relations for ServiceTitan

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Learn Something New

“Whether or not it’s related to your job or your business, it’s always a good idea to continue to craft new skills. The act of learning something new has many benefits that most people overlook. For instance, not only are you adding a new skill to your arsenal, but you are also, depending on your choice of learning, opening yourself up to the ability to meet new people, who could turn into new friends, new colleagues, or a new customer. Not only does this create fresh opportunities for you, but it helps you create a healthier work-life balance, increasing the odds of your business success. Learning something new adds more interest to your life, adds some spice to your day-to-day, and can help keep you out of falling into a rut.”

-Brandon Brown, CEO of GRIN

Stop Complaining 

“This is more of a New Year’s hack than it is a resolution but cutting complaining out of your everyday routine can help you tackle all the resolutions you want to achieve. Complaining is done by a person who feels they have no power to change the thing they want changed. When it comes to New Year’s Resolutions, you have all the power to get what you need done. So rather than starting another year of complaining, try your best to cut out all complaints from your vocabulary. Complaining means that you’re not staying proactive about the problem, where a person would rather complain about it than solve it. Complaining is a self-focused thought in which you are upset with the reality at hand. Instead of complaining, act. Speak to those around you for ideas or tips on how to solve your problem and show gratitude to those around you and for the things you take for granted. When you begin to hear other people complain come this new year, use it as a reminder of the goals you want to accomplish.”

-Brandon Hulme, Project Management Lead at Deputy

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Start Going Eco-Friendly

“It can be jarring to make a huge lifestyle shift to being eco-friendly, such as going vegan or going zero-waste, so begin with baby steps. Start with using reusable bags at the grocery store, donating and thrifting your clothes, incorporating plant based foods into your diet, and buying locally. Though these are small steps, they add up to contribute toward showing love to the environment.”

-Adrian Pereira, Co-Founder at Eco Pea Co.

Practice Mindfulness

“Having mindfulness means being aware and present in the current moment, giving our thoughts clarity helping you build both resilience and positive energy. Being mindful can help you in every facet of your life, both personally and professionally. At the center of every goal there lies one constant; the desire to live a happier life. Mindfulness can bring you happiness and positivity, allowing you to focus more on the details of your resolutions rather than focusing on trying to make yourself happy. Stress is inescapable, especially when it comes to personal goals, and practicing mindfulness helps you develop the awareness of yourself and feelings that are causing you to be stressed about. Mindfulness can assist you in achieving anything. It brings you clarity, making you aware, and awareness lets you manage your thoughts and behaviors to move towards your goals. Lastly, mindfulness teaches the mind and body to slow down, keeping the pace of your life at a level that you can experience and enjoy.”

-Kate Lipman, Sales & Marketing Consultant at Embrace

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Be Honest with Yourself and Others

“This is definitely one of the hardest New Year Resolutions that I feel everyone on this planet should work on. However, honesty is a virtue that every individual should convey AND receive, and I feel in this day in age, it isn’t valued anymore. One way to start a road to being honest is to look at yourself in the mirror first. Are you honest with yourself? Are you asking yourself the important questions? Do YOU think you’re honest with other people? Are you honestly doing your best? Having clarity and understanding with yourself is key and must be done in order to interact and be honest with your friends, family, classmates, and any person in general! Do you really think that if you’re not honest with yourself, you can truly be honest with anyone?”

-Alex Bell, Outreach Specialist at 1-800-Pack-Rat

Cook at Home More Often

“Eating out is significantly more expensive in the long run than cooking at home. Not only is it cheaper, but it’s healthier. Cooking at home will allow you to use the freshest ingredients, and you can make sure your food tastes exactly how you like it. If you have any food allergies or restrictions, you can also be in control of what exactly is going into your food. Yes, it can be hard to quit eating out, however, there are some ways you can make the transition easier for you. I’d recommend starting out by getting the basic kitchen equipment, and then following simple one pot recipes so you don’t have to wash a lot of dishes.”

-Daniel Ward, Editor at Invoice2go

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Try a Company-wide Meditation BEFORE Work!

“This year, meditation could be just the thing you and your coworkers need to reduce stress in your work lives! Combating burnout and work-related anxiety without taking away from resources and work time can be almost impossible. The solution? A 10-15 minute guided meditation once or twice a week before the work day starts. Mediation can help get rid of stress and anxiety, clear your mind, and increase productivity. If you are on a budget, there are tons of guided meditations on YouTube that can be accessed for free. This can also be done remotely over Zoom if your team is working from home. Don’t forget, meditation also improves with practice so the more often your team is meditating before work, the more effective it will be!”

-Himanshu Agarwal, SVP of Solutions for WorkBoard

Create New Successful Habits 

“Whether it’s working out more, waking up earlier, writing things down in a planner, prioritizing exercise, committing to learning something new, or being more giving, it is healthy to create new successful habits as the new year rolls around. Writing down and setting goals is an important step in growth, and the new year is a great reminder to challenge yourself in positive ways. You never know what might come out of a new habit, but pushing yourself a little out of your comfort zone allows you to gain a new perspective. Routine is a great way to make new successful habits stick, and I would even recommend having personal monthly check ins on how you are achieving your goals and creating new successful habits.”

-Tom Mumford. co-founder of Undergrads LLC

Reduce Daily Expenses 

“A common New Year's resolution is spending less money – and this one certainly has a good chance of succeeding! After all, who would want to spend more than they have? All kinds of people come up with ideas on how they can spend less: buying cheaper brands; cooking at home instead of going out to eat; taking public transit instead of driving a car, etc. The ones who have been successful in this resolution have done it in a very simple way: they reduce their daily spending habits. For example, if you save $200 by buying cheaper brands and cooking at home for a year, that $200 can go to a dedicated savings account that you can use to buy something important later on.”

-Rick Orford, Author of The Financially Independent Millennial

Whether this year’s New Years Resolution targets your professional, personal, or health goals, remember to set yourself up for success with realistic and attainable objectives. Remember to take it one step at a time and don’t be so hard on yourself with those inevitable slip ups. With these tips in mind, you should be able to check off your New Year’s Resolution for the first time and get into good habits for the years to come!

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