A new year brings a fresh slate. A chance to reflect on the previous year while thinking about the year to come.
Many of us may set resolutions for the new year, or a list of goals we want to accomplish. The idea of new year’s resolutions isn’t new. It can be traced all the way back to the Ancient Babylonians who created new year’s pledges.
New Year’s resolutions are personal. Some resolutions, such as losing weight, are more common but you can choose anything to be your resolution for the new year. There also isn’t a set structure that a resolution must follow. Some people choose a word or a theme for the year, such as “health.” Others set more formal goals, like “lose 10 pounds.” The choice is yours!
The possibilities can be overwhelming. With so many options, it can be hard to know where to start. Let’s look at some ideas for resolutions, how to set them, and ways you can follow through to make sure you meet your 2025 goals.
Types of resolutions
It can be helpful to start by thinking about your goals for the new year in broad categories, like “health.” Then, you can think about more specific goals you want to set for each category, like “lose 10 pounds.” This is a great way to not only decide on your goals, but also to figure out how you will do it, such as “exercise 3 days a week.”
Health and Wellness
This is arguably the most popular category of new year’s resolutions. After indulging in all the sweets over the holidays, people frequently decide to focus on their diets. Weight loss is one of the most common goals set as a resolution, and it isn’t uncommon for someone to start dieting or going to the gym. Health and wellness resolutions aren’t just about weight loss, though. It could include things like cooking more meals at home or getting more steps each day. Both of those are also great ways to spend more time with loved ones by preparing meals or going for walks together. Other ideas for health and wellness resolutions could be increasing strength and stamina, improving balance, getting better sleep, or reducing stress. For adults over 55, downsizing and moving to senior living can be a great way to reduce stress and improve health and wellbeing. At many senior living communities, you no longer have to worry about house maintenance, landscaping and snow removal, cleaning, or cooking. If you’re a caregiver for an older adult, reducing stress may be a particularly important resolution to prevent caregiver burnout. Some ways you may consider reducing stress as a caregiver include finding community-based resources that can offer support or looking into respite care.
Finances
This is another popular category for resolutions. There can be a lot of goals related to finances, and many of them change depending on your stage of life. You may want to earn more money by going back to school or starting a new career. You may also be thinking that 2025 will be the year you retire. Finance-related resolutions could include things like buying a house or a car, paying off a mortgage, reducing debt, or increasing retirement savings. You may also want to set a resolution to save money for a bigger expense, such as a vacation. Moving to a senior living community may also be part of your financial resolutions for the new year. You might assume that senior living is expensive, but many times older adults can save money by moving to a senior living community, especially when things like utilities are included. Depending on the type of community you are considering moving to, you may also be preparing financially to pay an entrance fee.
Time
You’ve heard the saying that we all get the same 24 hours in a day, it’s just a matter of how we choose to use them. It should come as no surprise that how someone spends their time tends to be a common type of resolution. To set a resolution related to time, think about how you spend your time and the things you want to do more or less of. You may want to spend less time working and more time with family and friends. Maybe you want to spend less time on things like home repairs and mowing the lawn and more time relaxing. This is another great reason to consider a senior living community if you’re over the age of 55! Other popular resolutions in this category include spending less time with technology, more time outdoors, and more time doing hobbies such as reading, crafts, or woodworking.
Setting Resolutions
Now that we have an idea of some of the types of resolutions, let’s look at ways you can set your resolutions.
Stop, Start, Continue
As we’ve seen, many resolutions are things we want to do more or less of. Sometimes resolutions don’t require us to change anything though. It may be helpful to think about your resolutions in terms of the things you want to start, stop, or continue.
For example, you may want to stop smoking. Once you’ve decided that it’s something you want to stop, you can make a plan for how you will do it, such as using nicotine patches or signing up for a smoking cessation class.
You may decide that for the new year you want to start sewing (or another hobby or pastime). Just like with things you want to stop, once you’ve decided on something to start you can make a plan for it. If your goal is to start sewing, your plan may include watching online tutorials, attending an in-person class, or getting the tools and supplies you need. If you live at a senior living community, or are planning to move to one, you can find out if there is a group of residents who have the same interest. You can either learn together or they may be able to help you learn!
Just because many resolutions focus on things you want to start or stop doesn’t mean they all have to focus on change. Sometimes you may already be doing something, and your goal is to simply continue doing it. For example, you might currently go for a walk 3 times a week. If you want to keep walking 3 times a week in the new year, you can set it as a goal for yourself when you make your resolutions. Setting goals for things you want to continue doing can be a good way to know what your priorities are and create a sense of accomplishment when you achieve them.
Following through on Resolutions
Setting resolutions is great, but they’re only effective if you follow through and achieve the goals you set. As common as it is to set new year’s resolutions, it can be just as common to give up on them. Planning ahead for success can make you more likely to achieve the goals you set for the year.
Plan Check-Ins
If you want to meet a goal, no matter how big or small, it’s important to regularly check your progress. If your goal is to lose 10 pounds, it won’t happen overnight. It also likely won’t happen in the first month. But, sticking with it and losing a little at a time, eventually you will hit your goal. You may decide to set a smaller goal, such as losing 0.5 pounds a week for 20 weeks to reach your goal. You may also plan to achieve your goal by a set date, such as June 1, and work towards that as your goal. No matter how you approach it, periodically checking your progress will make you more likely to stay committed and know if you are on track to achieving your goal or not. This applies to more than just weight loss goals. If your resolution were to start sewing, you likely wouldn’t sew an entire quilt on January 1. But, if your goal is to sew a quilt in 2025, you can work towards that goal a little at a time. You may start by working on your sewing skills, then choose your pattern and materials, and then sew your quilt square by square. By breaking the project down into smaller steps, you can set goals you will be more likely to achieve and still work towards your bigger goals of making a quilt and learning to sew.
There are endless possibilities for setting new year’s resolutions. There are no bad resolutions, and no right or wrong ways to set or follow through on a resolution. It’s all about what’s important to you and what you want to accomplish for the year. These ideas are just the tip of the iceberg. Setting resolutions should be more about looking at your priorities than completing a task. Even if you don’t complete one of your 2025 resolutions, you can learn something from the process of trying and come away knowing more about what you value and what’s important to you.
Are retirement or senior living in your plans for 2025? If so, we’d love to talk to you! The Ohio Masonic Communities offers three senior living communities across the state of Ohio – Browning Masonic Community in Waterville, Ohio, Springfield Masonic Community in Springfield, Ohio, and Western Reserve Masonic Community in Medina, Ohio. If you are interested in learning more about one of our communities, give us a call at 1 (877) 881-1623 or contact us here.