Year after year, we tend to recycle the same resolutions — lose weight, save money, go to the gym — and often with little success. Instead of making broad promises that are nearly impossible to keep, this year, why not try a goal that’s a little more achievable? Here, health experts share the promises they wish people would make to themselves for the new year.
1. Be a little nicer … to yourself.
“Whether we are aware of it or not, we tend to be our own harshest critics,” says Jessica Matthews, director of integrative health coaching at UC San Diego Health. Shifting from negative self-talk like “I wish I was X” or “I’m not good enough” to positive internal dialogue, where you regularly try to acknowledge your own accomplishments and the attributes that make you uniquely you, can improve your health and well-being, she says. It can help to write those things down each day in a journal or just on sticky notes around your home or office (or to even say them out loud to yourself)….