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Three takeaways:

Although it may seem counterintuitive, treating a New Year’s resolution as an exercise in self-control or willpower is a common misunderstanding. A well-selected resolution is grounded in activities or habits that you already enjoy.

Behavioral scientist BJ Fogg highlights the value of building on activities that already bring you satisfaction. For example, if the goal is to eat healthier, it’s more effective to focus on incorporating nutritious foods you already like rather than forcing yourself to eat ones you don’t enjoy. “Help yourself do what you already want to do,” Fogg says. “And help yourself feel successful.”

Along with selecting habits that already conform to your interests, these tactics can help you make sure these habits stick:

1. Get specific and plan for obstacles: “I want to get in shape” isn’t precise enough. Instead, set a specific resolution- to run 10 miles or to bench press an amount of weight by a certain date on the calendar. This forces you to get practical about how you are going to achieve the goal, providing a clear map on the road to making that goal a reality. Thinking practically about your goal will help you forecast– and then overcome– the logistical or mental forces standing in your way.
2. Use small, simple habits: When working to change your behavior, set the bar low to ensure the habit is easy to maintain. On days when you feel motivated, you can do more, but the key is to make the habit achievable every day. For example, commit to doing one push-up each morning at a specific time rather than aiming for 20.
3. Set routines with friends: Build a new habit with a friend or loved one to hold yourself accountable. Survey after survey has shown that taking on a goal with a partner leads to not only greater accountability, but greater overall enjoyment of that task.

By approaching goal-setting with mindfulness and intention, we can turn our New Year’s resolutions into lasting habits that provide lifelong benefits.

By Teddy Amenabar for The Washington Post
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Note: At the time of this posting The Washington Post requires an account to view the article.

Five takeaways:

These days leading into the beginning of a new year present an opportunity for thoughtful reflection and setting clear intentions. If you’re aiming to establish a stronger foundation for success in 2025 or considering a major career change, here are five ways to shape your vision and chart the best path forward.

1. Reflect: Be honest, but not too harsh, in looking back on the year gone by. Did you reach the goals you’d hoped to? What worked, and what didn’t work? What things made your feel motivated and excited– and what moments made you lose excitement or motivation?
2. Keep an eye on Jobs of the Future: The job market is a rapidly shifting sea. New industries are emerging constantly, and with them come new career opportunities. Look for areas of growth and increasing need, and – through industry research and self-assessment– pursue avenues where your skillset/experience fit into that growth.
3. Network: Whether in person, over the phone, or via email, the end of the year can be a good time to check in with colleagues, friends, or other business contacts about the year ahead. Be respectful of holiday schedules in interacting with others of course. Also– sign up for end-of-year industry events and industry news email newsletters.
4. Develop Your Skills: Take some end of year downtime to sharpen your core skills. With emerging tech standing to decrease the relevancy of our existing skillset, it is always a good idea to be diligent about improvement and development.
5. Take Time Off and Disconnect: Finally, use the holidays to rest and recharge after a busy year. Step away from work (emails can wait) and focus on yourself. Once refreshed, start applying these tips to work on your career, not just your job, in the year ahead!

by the Hays Career Blog
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Four takeaways:

While difficult to do amid the stress of our daily lives, making time for hobbies and activities that bring joy and fulfillment have been shown to reduce stress, prevent burnout, and enhance overall well-being. Long term neglect of these passions, however, may lead to boredom, dissatisfaction, and even depression.

Here are some key tips for making sure you make the time for your passions:

1. Prioritize Your Time– Look at your schedule for spots of 30 extra minutes or small windows where you might be able to fit in some time to read up on or practice your hobby. Look for meetings and weekly tasks that can be grouped or consolidated to free up time in your schedule.
2. Set Realistic Goals– Once you’ve found time in the schedule, do not waste it by setting unachievable goals. Start slow and do not expect yourself to master a hobby or passion overnight. Doing so will negate the positive effects of pursuing the hobby, and make it far more likely that you stop pursuing it in the long term.
3. Combine Your Passions with Other Activities– If your schedule is packed to the point of inflexibility, look for ways to bring your passions into other activities. Listen to audiobooks as you commute or do less mentally strenuous work. Incorporate your hobby into your social life, if possible– scheduling activities like group hikes or knitting circles.
4. Make Your Hobbies Portable– Bring your passion with you wherever you go. If you are an erstwhile writer or poet, bring a notebook with you. If you are a yoga enthusiast, be intentional about bringing your yoga mat with you on business trips, or to and from work– and then find a place to practice is that is easily accessible within your daily routine. This helps you maximize your opportunity to take advantages of small, but important windows in your routine.

Your hobbies and passions are an absolutely essential part of who you are. Making time for them is essential to your selfhood, and will have positive effects on all other aspects of your life.

By by Mindsol
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Five takeaways:

While New Year’s resolutions are important, it can be equally, if not more important, to sit down and review the things you’ve accomplished throughout a year gone by. What did you achieve? Have you done what you said you were going to do? What are the big and small wins? And most importantly, what have you learned?

Yeong suggests that you ask yourself three questions to adequately assess your year:

1. What went well? – List the things that you’ve accomplished in the past 12 months. Take time to scan your memory, making sure that you remember the small wins you’ve collected. Take a moment to be grateful for all of the good things that have happened.
2. What went wrong (or not as well)? – Explore the year’s setbacks, whether they are work related, relationship based, or based on missed benchmarks– listing them is therapeutic because you are acknowledging them. As you do so, do not forget that you were able to accomplish a lot of great things alongside- or despite– the things that did not to go plan.
3. What needs work? – Honestly answering this question reveals insights from past mistakes and uncover steps you can take to improve next year. This question is not meant to force you to guilt-trip yourself. It is about figuring out how to direct your improvement next year.

Yeong then provides two introspective exercises for assessing your year.

1. Turn your experiences into lessons and principles– Use the lists you’ve created in the first steps to form lessons and principles that guide your path forward. If you learned the previous year that counting calories was an effective weight loss technique for you, write down: “calorie deficit is the key to weight loss.” By turning your learnings into mantras, you make them more likely to sink in.
2. Rate different areas of your life to reveal hidden insights– Yeong breaks life into six components: work, money, fitness, relationships, learning, and hobbies. In this step, he suggests rating each of these areas of your life on a 1 to 10 scale. This provides clarity regarding parts of your life that provide you more satisfaction than others, or areas that need more diligent attention.

Once you’re done reviewing your year, take a few days to let things sink in. Reward yourself with good time off. Reach out to people who have helped you in the past and thank them.

By productivity and psychology expert Dean Yeong
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