We are into the first month of the new decade and New Year, how has your year been so far and what are your plans for 2020? Whether you plan on adopting a healthier lifestyle, increasing your income, expanding the family or travelling more, remember that it will begin only when you take the first step. Here are 3 must-know tips to jumpstart your 2020 to make this year your best one yet.
- Reconnect and refresh
No matter how many ambitious goals you set or how successful you are in achieving them, it is all for naught if you don’t have anyone to share your achievements with. This year, take the effort to reconnect with long-lost friends and acquaintances through a leisurely lunch or over drinks at the hottest nightspot; make it a point to keep in touch with them regularly. In addition to being able to catch up with old friends, you never know when it might lead to new job opportunities or even a new romance.
If you have been seeing your family only on rare occasions recently due to work commitments or live in a different city altogether, make 2020 the year that you spend some precious family time with them. In this digital age, it is so much easier for us to reconnect with loved ones via video calls and to keep one another updated on our daily lives.
- Be more organized
If you are an avid Pinterest or Instagram user, you might have noticed that “bullet journaling” is all the rage these days. So just what is this bullet journaling? According to its creator, Ryder Carroll, it is an analog system that is meant to help users “track the past, organize the present, and plan for the future”. In short, it is a system that will allow you to plan your days to keep you meticulously organized.
This planning can help you in these ways:
- Keep negative influences at bay – take note of the people who leave you feeling discouraged after you have spent time with them, and places and environments that seem to zap the optimism out of you;
- Remove clutter – plan all your necessary appointments for the year including doctor and dental visits so that you can put those concerns aside in order to focus on other things;
- Monitor your progress – if you have set a goal for 2020 that you plan to achieve by the end of it, journaling is a great way to monitor your progress as you record the steps that you have made daily in working towards your goal.
- Live healthier
“Long-term consistency trumps short-term intensity” – this is extremely true of health goals and it is important to remember to take baby steps when working towards your objective.
- For instance, if you plan to lose a targeted amount of weight, stay clear from crash dieting or diet pills, and focus on shedding a couple of pounds every month until you reach your goal.
- Do you want to eat more fruits and vegetables? Before taking the leap into an entirely meatless meal right from the get-go, focus on adding small amounts of veggies and fruits into your diet to allow your body to better acclimate to this change.
“You are what you eat” – we have all heard this adage and while most of us try to live by it, it is undeniably difficult to do so when we all caught up in the hustle and bustle of everyday life. However, to start your 2020 on a healthy note, it will pay off in the long run to start paying more attention to what you eat. For instance, incorporate more nuts, fruits and vegetables into your diet to lower the risk of heart disease, liver and kidney related illnesses and to keep diabetes at bay.
Exercising may sound like a dirty word to most, but it truly does not have to be. All it takes is some planning, a little time set aside and selecting the right community and physical activity that suits you. There are a myriad of fun activities in and around communities that make it easy for everyone to start living healthily such as swimming, basketball, tennis, jogging and badminton. Not only will you get to jumpstart your 2020 on a healthy note, you will also make yourself new friends along the way!
