New Year’s Resolutions: Some Practical Ideas For 2014

Another year will soon be coming to an end and we are all planning on enjoying the festive season. The silly gifts, fun times with family and the inevitable over-indulgence are quite simply impossible to avoid. Small wonder then, why people will try and reverse the trend as the New Year rolls in. Yes, 2014 is on the way.

New Year’s Resolutions are a noble tradition, generally geared towards getting away from vice and moving towards virtue. This makes us feel better about ourselves, obviously, but it can also really impact our longer term prospects in relation to health, well-being, financial stability and even general happiness with regard to the relationships we have with people.

So let’s look at some of the most popular choices for New Year’s Resolutions – and maybe some of the more unusual ones too – to get some idea of what to plump for come January 1^st. There are some crazy, and ambitious,  New Year's Resolutions like breaking into the Guiness Book of World Records - but these are much more achievable.

Live Healthy

It’s fair to say that over-indulging from time to time is quite an easy thing to do, especially around the holidays. As a result, it’s quite understandable that people feel somewhat stuffed when it comes to January and really want to shed those few extra pounds or give their liver a rest. Living healthy is a very popular, and beneficial, thing to do for a New Year’s Resolution.

It makes sense doesn't it? People want to feel good, they want their bodies to  be healthy so that they can get more done in the year ahead. But where do you start? What's the end game?

Think about what it is you want to do, whether it’s losing a couple of pounds or lowering your cholesterol. Set a goal and try and keep to it. Losing weight is a popular choice, so why not join a gym – or perhaps even ask for an elliptical trainer from Santa. 

Drinking less is also a very popular choice come the new year. Drinking and being merry goes hand and hand with the holidays, but why not limit yourself to one or two days a week around the weekend once they’re gone? 

Quitting smoking is another popular option. Smokers might enjoy the brandy and cigars of the holidays, but it’s always a good idea to quit – so order yourself some nicotine patches and slap them on when January arrives.

It’s a good idea to team up with a friend when undertaking these kinds of resolutions. See who out of your friends wants to achieve a similar thing and suggest going for it together. It makes it a lot easier to do, as you have the support of someone else in the same situation.

Get Some Cash!

The nature of money is that it is spent. It seems very easy to indulge yourself in the latest products just for the sake of it. But if you do away with the non-essentials you can really save some serious cash that could be used for solid investments. If you have something big you want to buy, like a car or a deposit on a house, then a new year is as good a time as any to start saving and taking yourself down the road to financial liquidity.

If you go to work every day and buy your lunch out, then consider making your lunch at home the day before. This is a great way to cut costs. Of course, you still have to pay for the food you make at home – but it’s comparatively cheap when looking at the crazy profits that the local sandwich shop or office canteen is making. The mark-up from cost price is quite considerable, so why not take that mark-up and keep it in your pocket? It’s less convenient, sure, but if you get into the habit of preparing the next day’s lunch when you make your evening meal then it will be a lot easier and will become part of your daily routine.

Other non-essentials could be things like satellite T.V. subscriptions. If you have a package with all the channels, why not cut back and save a little each month? Ditch sports or movies and reduce your overall bills. If you like sports, you’re probably paying for a lot of stuff you don’t watch – so think about just going to a bar with your friends and catching the big game from time to time, as opposed to sitting in your lounge. It all means you’ll have a little more cash sloshing around your bank account by next year.

Learn Something New

Well this could be pretty much anything I suppose. Think about something that you’d like to do and resolve to do it. It doesn't matter how weird or wonderful it is. This type of resolution is great for expanding your mind and improving your skills. You’re making yourself better.

Think big, and don’t get put off. Have you always wanted to be able to juggle? Then get yourself some balls, follow some tutorial videos on the internet and keep practicing. Did you imagine yourself playing the cello when you were little? Buy yourself one and keep practicing until you’re playing really well. You could even book a few lessons to help you along the way should you so desire.

What about combining this resolution to learn something new with your resolution to be healthy. Learning a sport can be a great way to improve your skills, and be very healthy too. Have always dreamed of throwing punches in the ring? Then sign-up to a boxing or jiu-jitsu class. Prefer something with a bit more inner peace? Then why not yoga. Learning and being healthy can go hand in hand.

Is there something you used to do that you gave up on in your youth? If so, then why not pick up where you left off and make yourself proud that you’ve finished the thing you started. This could be anything from learning Spanish to learning how to knit! This is a really fun resolution, if you choose the right thing, and it doesn’t involve the same sacrifice that other resolutions have so it could be a good option.

Do Stuff For Others!

This really is one of the most rewarding resolutions you can undertake in terms of improving the way you interact and relate to people – and it might even teach you something new about yourself. If you’ve got a big family, then you could aim to see them more often and be more helpful to them. You could help out an elderly relative a couple of times per week, or even volunteer to babysit any nieces and nephews you might have. This is widely considered a very important New Year's Resolution.

You could also volunteer. Helping out in whatever way you can at a charity is a great way of doing this, and it really helps people who are in need. You could look up your local homeless shelter and call them up asking if they would like an extra pair of hands when they’re next serving lunch. It’s a wonderful way of doing your fair share, and you can really impact the lives of others in a very positive way. You could also take part in an event for charity. Find a cause that you’re interested in and see what fundraising events they have that you could get involved in. There might be a marathon, bike race or even a just a walk that you could go along to in order to help raise funds. Undertaking a charity challenge can be very rewarding and will really make a difference to people in need.

Keep At It

Whatever you decide to do this New Year, make sure you really stick to it. This is probably the hardest part, but if you really stick to it then you can do wonders for your sense of self-discipline. This is obviously easier with some goals than others, but just try and let your friends, family and colleagues know what you’re trying to do – they should be very happy to offer any words of support should you need them.