Honestly, why make New Year resolutions and not accomplish even one single plan? This New Year, instead of writing a thousand unrealistic goals in your diary, how about shaking things up a little?

This year, consider working with a resolution board. Zero down on ten things you want to improve or change and hang your board in a place you can see it every morning. This will help you actualise these resolutions easier. 

Here is a list of tips to help you plan your year better. These tips leave room for customization, according to your personal goals and aspirations.

1. Focus on passion

Find out what exactly it is that you enjoy doing and focus your energy there. Sometimes, we find ourselves doing certain things because we know people who have succeeded at them, but not everyone is good at the same thing. If you consider yourself a highly creative person, maybe a career in interior design or the arts would be ideal. Just because an acquaintance is flourishing at accounting doesn’t mean you will do the same. Find yourself, and what it is you love to do and offer it as a service or product.

• Prioritise alone time for reflection

For the past years, some of the most popular New Year resolutions have been about weight loss, getting off alcohol and the like. The things we look at as small are what actually make major impact in our lives. Spending time alone in nature for example will give you the ability to reset, evaluate yourself and re-calculate your moves. It offers you time to think of other perspectives and thus a new way of thinking.

• Give social media a break

75% of suicides in the United States of America have been linked to mental health issues resulting from social media use. Give your phone a break. If it requires deleting Tik Tok and Instagram for you to actualise the break, then go ahead. You should be able to spend a day without cluttering your mind in social media conspiracies and misinformation. Just let your brain have some time to figure things out without google. You may be pleasantly surprised about what your mind can achieve.

• Work out to feel good, not to lose weight

While it may be tempting to see the numbers go down on the scale as a source of motivation, this may trigger anxiety and impatience. Instead, consider focusing on how good you feel after a workout session and see the weight go un-noticed.

• Practise kindness towards yourself

Remember, it all starts with you. Often, we are nice to the people around us and scold ourselves at possible wrong doing. Look at kindness as a currency; when you are kind to yourself, it’s easier to transfer it to others and to receive it back. In the same spirit, do more acts of kindness this year.

• Read or listen to podcasts

Never stop seeking to grow your knowledge and improve your skills. Books are the best places to acquire knowledge which is why it should be developed as a habit. This year, spend a bit more of your time reading to broaden your knowledge base. Alternatively, you may choose to listen to audio books or podcasts if books are not an option. As an added challenge you may choose to ensure that you add a new word to your vocabulary every day.

• Travel to a new place

Go somewhere new and do something daring. While it may be challenging to step out of a comfort zone, new places are an opportunity to learn a new language, meet and make new friends but also experience different cultures and food. A new environment is good for the soul and will enable you unwind and receive some kind of motivation and inspiration to be better at this life journey.

Finally, there is lots of things you can include in your New Year resolution board, but prioritise positivity and growth this 2024. Human beings are all different and have different views of life, which is why it is important to set realistic goals that you can actually achieve. The advantage of a resolution board is that it keeps you accountable.