A new year resolution is a popular tradition in January.

According to a report from Mind, around 30 million people in the UK set a new year resolution in 2023. The most popular subjects of these resolutions were:

• Health (28%)
• Money (27%)
• Family (24%)
• Self-improvement (21%)

If you’ve ever made a new year resolution, it won’t have escaped your attention just how tricky it can be to follow through with your plans and stick with it for a full 12 months. In fact, the report from Mind found that the majority of resolutions only lasted around seven weeks, and 21% didn’t last a month.

So, if you’d like to start 2024 as you mean to go on, here are five alternative new year resolutions for you to try, each with a bit of a twist.

1. Trade resolutions for reflections

It may seem counter-intuitive to spend the start of the year looking backwards instead of forwards. Sometimes, though, a little bit of reflection can be invaluable in understanding what you truly want from life.

Rather than rushing forward into new achievements and goals, take time to look back over your favourite moments of 2023.

• What was your proudest moment?
• When did you feel most at peace?
• What are you grateful for?
• What would you like to do more of?
• What would you like to do less of?

Questions like these can help you to think more deeply about what true happiness and contentment means to you. Instead of following the herd, looking inward might make it easier to focus on what really matters.

By understanding this, you can create a lifestyle you enjoy in 2024 and beyond.

2. Build positive new habits through stacking

Building a new habit can take a long time. Estimates range from 21 days to 66 days, and many insist it’s simply not possible to determine a time frame.

One theory that could help a positive new habit to stick more easily, though, is known as “habit stacking”.

Invented by BJ Fogg as part of his Tiny Habits programme, habit stacking sees you weave your new habit into an existing habit. For example, if you’re planning to eat more fruit in the new year and you usually make a cup of coffee mid-morning, you could plan to have a piece of fruit when you’ve made your coffee.

By including your new habit with an existing one, you make it far easier for the new habit to take root.

3. Choose a word for the year and use it to guide you

A word of the year can provide a helpful mantra to guide your decision-making throughout 2024.

Some examples include:

• Abundance
• Brave
• Calm
• Connect
• Focus
• Friendship
• Grow
• Learn
• Organise
• Simplify

When faced with a dilemma or big decision, your word of the year can help to remind you of your top priorities.

Say your friends invite you on a skiing holiday, but you’ve never been skiing before. You might feel nervous, but if your word of the year is brave, connect, friendship, or growth, you might decide to embrace the fear and do it anyway.

In this way, you can fill your year with things that help you to feel happy and inspired.

4. Work on learning to accept yourself as you are

New year resolutions are often about changing the parts of yourself that you consider to be lacking, for example losing weight or learning a new skill.

While self-improvement is a noble goal, there’s something that can be even more powerful, perhaps life-changing: self-acceptance.

It’s not easy to do, as we’re bombarded daily with ads and marketing that tell us to “buy this thing” to achieve happiness, success, or status.

If you can tune out this noise and focus on feeling content with yourself as you are, you could find peace and self-confidence throughout the year.

5. Reject the notion of new year resolutions altogether

New year resolutions can often place pressure on your shoulders. In fact, this could be the reason they are so hard to keep in the first place.

Psychology Today has reported that having a strong desire to achieve a goal, particularly one that requires self control, can make you less likely to succeed.

The report likens this to trying to fall asleep. If all you can think about is how much you want to fall asleep now – perhaps because you have an early start the next morning or an important meeting – the task becomes impossible.

So, instead of bowing to the pressure, why not reject the idea of setting a traditional new year resolution? Instead of setting goals or targets, vow to spend the year doing more of what you love or living according to your own rules.

Get in touch

Whether you’re setting yourself a traditional new year resolution or approaching 2024 with a more relaxed attitude, our team can help you to ensure your finances don’t hold you back.

Please get in touch and speak to us today about planning your retirement, organising your investments, or any other financial goals you have.