Start Your New Year in a Goal-Oriented Fashion and Ready to Make the Most out of it(2021): Simple New Year's Resolutions to Help You Achieve the Earnestly Desired Goals.

Change is the only constant thing and while the entire world is fighting the pandemic, one more change is about to happen, i.e. another new year. Between the constant fear of newer strains of COVID-19 being found and more lockdowns happening in different countries, the hope of getting a vaccine and a cure for the deadly disease is also in the minds of everyone. While all this is happening, time wouldn’t stop, thus we are ready to embrace the New Year with a new zeal, fresh enthusiasm, more dreams, positive wishes, and more expectations.

Though you can make a resolution any time in the year on a special day like your birthday, your marriage anniversary, your spouse’s birthday, or any other specific day. Generally, people prefer making a New Year resolution as it’s been a popular trend for decades and gives you psychological satisfaction to start something fresh with the start of a new year. Moreover, you can take a few resolutions with your friends as well like joining a health club, starting a fitness regime, quit smoking, cut-off unwanted expenses, etc. This way, all of you can share the progress with each other, which keeps you motivated to stick to your resolution.

Let’s check a few of the simple New Year’s resolutions that can be taken in the coming year to have a better, healthier, and happier life.

Talking about simplification! Start with simplifying your life this New Year. The pandemic has given us a chance to understand the value of time, relations, and above all, the importance of life. Make your life easier by investing in some smart gadgets, kitchen appliances, and household appliances like smart speakers, smart switches, smart plugs, an electric Thermo pot, a robotic vacuum cleaner, etc. Donate unnecessary clothes, books, old electronic items, and clean the clutter to create more space in your house. Cut down the time spent on social media, reduce unnecessary screen time, cut down the negative talk, and try to be more disciplined.

This New Year, take the resolution to learn something new. It can be an old hobby which you may like to revive, learn a new language, a musical instrument, or cooking. You can also enroll yourself in yoga classes or join the nearby health club for learning aerobics, Zumba, or any other fitness regime. Also, if you are apprehensive of going out due to the pandemic, you can subscribe to online classes for learning something new. This would instill the much-required positivity and freshness, especially after a year in which the entire world stood still due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Humanity understood the importance of a clean and green environment when everything; every factory, vehicle, and industry were closed for months during the pandemic and we witnessed the clean, pollution-free, and fresh air for once in our lifetime. If you have a garden in your home, plant more oxygen giving plants like tulsi, snake plant, bamboo plant, and aloe vera, etc. You can also invest in plants that are used in Ayurveda and get benefitted from the medicinal properties. If you’re living in an apartment and don’t have access to a private garden, then you can do the same on your balcony in flowerpots. Moreover, taking a walk on a lawn is also a healthy way to spend some time with nature. This calms your mind and relieves you of tense thoughts.

While we talked about the environment, not only the factories and vehicles are responsible for the rising CO2 levels, but also the increasing use of plastic and by products made by plastic also play a significant role in polluting the landfills, oceans, and our cities. This New Year, you can take a pledge to use recycled or recyclable materials, use alternatives for plastic wherever possible, ditch the plastic cups, bottled water, bottled oils, or any other staples which come in plastic containers. You can also opt for a plastic-free kitchen by using containers made of stainless steel, bamboo, wood, and use earthen pots instead of the plastic fridge bottles.

Many people have become couch potatoes due to the constant lockdowns, work from home, and study from a home culture that rapidly took over our lives in just a matter of a few months. Cases related to physical and mental health have grown exponentially and many people are still apprehensive to visit doctors or join a health club due to the fear of COVID-19. You can take a bow to care for your overall health and well being by prioritizing your health. Take out at least half an hour from your schedule to do hands-free exercise, yoga, meditation, or you can also invest in some home gym instruments, if feasible. You need to be physically and mentally strong to fight during these tough times.

With companies promoting work from home and study from home culture, this seems like the new normal. Many are either working from home full time or they have to visit the office 2 -3 days a week. This gives you ample time in hand as your commuting time is saved. You can use this time diligently to spend with family, friends, and relatives. Strengthen the old ties, make new friends, and reignite the love between you and your partner. You can work on your relationship goals this New Year, look back and introspect, learn from the past, and also spend more time with yourself.

Many people have lost their livelihood, jobs, and business during the lockdown; and some are working on reduced salaries. Though things are improving quickly and life is getting back to normal, this year reminds us about the uncertainty in life. Take a resolve to save more for a rainy day by reducing unnecessary expenses, reduce the habit of using credit cards and small loans for petty things, and spend wisely.

Increasing use of gadgets is a major contributor to strained relations, eye problems, poor posture, neck ache, reduced physical activity, and limited use of our mental capabilities. So this New Year, one of the simple yet effective resolutions you can take is to reduce the use of gadgets including your smartphones, tablets, gaming devices, and laptop among others. Try to stay away from social media, emails, and apps for at least a day in the week and see how you can utilize that time for better things.

While we talked about work from home, spending wisely, and taking a gadget break; how about indulging in some reading! Instead of reading on-screen, go back to the old school style and read some physical books, newspapers, magazines, novels, or whatever you like. Social Media is anyways flooded with a lot of myths and fake news, so why not read the real story behind fake narratives. As they say, “Books are Man’s best friend”, and this makes more sense in today’s digital era when the line between truth and fake has thinned like never before.