If you’re still stumped in the New Year’s resolution department, we got you.
Far from the typical ‘quit smoking/drinking/eating delicious but fatty food’ that many young professionals make (and quickly break), we’ve got nine notable suggestions you can – and should – definitely check off your list this year.
In just two days you’ll have a fresh 365 to accomplish them all. Go.
1. Make it a Point To Try a New Restaurant or Recipe Each Week
You call yourself a “foodie,” so you may as well act like one. While the post-holiday budget may not allow for the sampling of a different restaurant each week (but if it does, we highly recommend it), you can always try a new recipe on your own, even if it’s as simple as a new spin on your morning smoothie.
2. Go to an Event Alone
There are few better ways you can challenge yourself in the social department than attending an event solo. You’re forced to be confident, engaging, and to both network and make small talk with strangers (because you’re not going to be that person in the corner on your phone). If you need some added help, check out our tips for hitting a party solo.
3. Never Again Question How You Got Home
By all means, enjoy a cocktail or two on the weekend, there’s a lot to celebrate, after all. But getting blackout drunk may not be the best look for you anymore. There’s nothing fun about that feeling of waking up in your bed (if you’re lucky) and having no idea how to get there. Even after “sober January” is a distant memory, stay in control and make it a mission to never get to the blackout point of no return.
4. Improve Your Living Space Each Season
You change your wardrobe each season; this year, make a point to improve and change the look of an element of your living space each season. You never need an excuse to want to spend more time at home, after all.
5. Get in Contact with Someone You’ve Lost Touch With
We know how it is; you can barely remember to call your mom back (three days later), let alone maintain contact with all your friends throughout the year. For no other reason that hectic lives and demanding careers, we’re going to bet that you’ve lost touch with at least one person you’d love to re-connect with. Make it a point to do so this year before it’s too late.
6. Make a New Close Friend
Even if you can barely keep tabs with the friends you already have, make it a point to develop a new friendship this year (and make time for one) – whether within the office or with your new sister-in-law. You never know, you may have more in common with the friends you make as adults than the ones you’ve had since childhood.
7. Try Not to Look a Day Older by the End of the Year
Of course, everyone always has the typical New Year’s Eve resolutions to eat better, party less, and to hit the gym. Why not simply commit to try not to age a day by the time we ring in 2016? Doing so (hopefully) means that you’ll inevitably drink less, get more sleep, hit the gym, and cut out the fast food as a by product, but also become better in the face cream and sun screen departments. It’s time.
8. Do Something Career-Wise You’ll Remember Forever
We assume that you’ll enter the year with a handful of career goals anyway, but make it your mission to do something this year in your career that you will truly remember forever. This could mean anything from stepping out of your comfort zone and boldly asserting your opinion for the first time to volunteering to organize a team-building exercise, or perhaps just taking on an extra special project. Or it could even mean moving to a larger company all together.
9. Save to Splurge on Something
Of course, you can resolve to be better with your finances this year and to make a bigger dent in your savings account. But you can also make it a point to save for that big “extra” thing you’ve been thinking about – whether it’s a vacation, a motorcycle, or a pair of Louboutins. Set a date you hope to have enough saved by, and when that time comes, you can feel better knowing that you saved for it the way a kid would a toy – and that always feels so much better than an impulsive credit card splurge.
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