Try a “resolution makeover” this year. Thinking outside the box can help turn old patterns around. Free your mind and lighten your life.
Lose Weight, Lose Worry
It would be a shame to join the thousands of people who make and break the “lose weight” resolution. So don’t. Instead, do the much harder work of making peace with yourself and your belly bulge.
Rather than vowing to kick yourself on the treadmill for that miserable half-hour, stop punishing yourself. Enjoy your life. Take a walk and hear the birds singing. Go dancing on a work night. Let go of the pain caused by worry. If you stop obsessing about the fat on your thighs, and live a good life, you’ll wake up skinny.
Get Out of Debt, Escape Materialism
Instead of focusing on that money you owe, change the way you live. Stop buying stuff. Groups of people all over the world have joined “compacts” agreeing not to purchase anything new for a year (with the exceptions of food and health items).
Why not join them? Stepping of the mill of materialism will allow you to re-evaluate the importance of “stuff” in your life, and help you understand the value of simplicity. You will also become more resourceful—because who needs to buy Tupperware if you can use your old yogurt containers? “Not Buying” is a greener way to live, and you will quickly recover a good amount of green.
Learn Something New, Learn to Forget
If you learn to forget, you will have a much easier time learning anything you want. Forgetting is not a “breaking down” in the mind, it is actually an active process in the brain. There is an enormous amount of extraneous information that the mind needs to let filter through.
Surprisingly, people who “forget well,” have the best memory. If the mind can learn to relax on the nitty-gritty stuff it doesn’t need to hold in—(you’ll have to let go of your trivia score, sorry)—the most vital information will settle in to stay.
Spend More Time With Family, Spend More Time Present With Family
How many families actually experience uninterrupted, quality time together? If you’re on the phone, on the ol’ webbernet, or watching TV, you are not present with the people around you. One hour of awareness is worth more than a day among self-absorbed or technology-focused people.
Instead of adding up the minutes, try being completely present with your loved ones, one second at a time. Give your family the gift of listening and seeing.
Quit Smoking, Start Hiking
If you have ever tried climbing a high mountain after smoking a cigarette, you know it feels like your lungs are on fire. It’s quite simple: smoking is bad for you, hiking is good for you. Do the good thing, and you’ll naturally feel an urge to stop the bad thing.
Can’t get to the mountains from your city loft? Biking, climbing stairs, or doing jumping jacks in your living room will teach you this same lesson: smoke does not belong in your lungs. So climb, and free yourself.