If you’re like many people, as the calendar changes from the last day of December to the first of January, you may be making promises to yourself. Usually referred to as New Year’s resolutions, some of the more common ones include:
- Losing weight
- Exercising more
- Getting organized
- Saving more or spending less money
- Traveling more
- Spending more time with family
Of course, the hard part is keeping those resolutions. Many studies have found that less than half of us who set these goals will be able to maintain them throughout the year. And many won’t even make it past mid-February before giving up. But for seniors interested in how to age well, these suggestions could help.
Making your New Year’s resolutions to age well in 2021
Those who take the time to think about changes they’d like to make and plan how they will accomplish that tend to see better results than those who don’t.
If you’ve been thinking about getting in better shape or taking other steps that can help you to maintain optimal health, this is the perfect time to begin. Resolutions are specific to the needs of each individual but a great place to start is listing the top 3-5 areas that you believe could help you reach your overall objectives.
Choose 1-2 from your list to focus on at a time. If you’re able to create the changes you were looking for, you can always add another from your list. The key is to make positive movement.
Here are a few elements of how to age well for you to consider:
- Eating a healthy diet
- Becoming or remaining physically active
- Exercising your brain
- Maintaining a positive outlook on life
- Maintaining or improving your connections with others
- Discovering joy and meaning in your life
- Challenging aging assumptions and embracing this stage in life
- Lowering your stress
- Getting enough sleep
Creating your resolutions to age well in 2021 may be easy to do, but remember you’ll also need a plan for reaching them as well. Consider these tips:
1. Be realistic
While it’s easy to be enthusiastic when we’re planning changes to our lives, it’s best to also be practical. If you set goals that are almost impossible to reach, you’re setting yourself up to fail. Once you realize you won’t meet your goal, it becomes easier to give up.
2. But push yourself a little
You also don’t want to make it so easy that small or no change will occur. Most of us do well with a little extra motivation. For example, when deciding how many days a week you’ll exercise, consider adding one more or increasing your daily time.
3. Prioritize
You can’t change everything at once even if you feel that’s what is needed. Choose the most important factors and go from there. If you want to get healthy, you may decide to cut out sugar, eat more vegetables and combine it with an exercise program. But prioritize the general change that’s most needed.
4. Acknowledge past failures
If you’ve tried to lose weight or weren’t successful in being socially active, these same items may keep showing up on your list every year. Take the time to revisit what happened before and why you were unable to meet the goal. Consider what obstacles will likely present themselves and create a plan to overcome them.
5. Personalize your goals
Don’t choose resolutions that you have no interest in reaching. However, if there are steps you must take, decide how you can make it easier to accomplish. If you need exercise but can’t get motivated to go to the gym, try a dance class, playing a sport or working out with a friend.
6. Create a plan
When we’re making changes in our lives, we need all the help we can get. Don’t wing it and expect success. Schedule any new activities into your day and treat it seriously. Try your hardest not to cancel or put it off until another day.
7. Break it into manageable steps
After choosing your goal, break it into different steps so that you can recognize success along the way. If you need to lose weight, begin by committing to spending so many hours exercising or specific ways to change your diet. The end goal can be registered in lost pounds but appreciate the steps that got you there.
8. Check your progress
Be aware of your progress as you take action to meet your goal. If you are not moving in the right direction, it’s easier to make changes earlier on. If reducing anxiety in your life is your number one goal, check in every month and see if you’re feeling better or have had fewer instances of high stress.
9. Revise when needed
If what you’re doing is not working, stop and find out what needs to be changed. Make sure you’ve actually been following your plan before determining that it isn’t working. Were you too optimistic in what you could accomplish? If motivation is the problem, tackle that.
10. Allow for life to get in the way
Life has a habit of interfering in even the best made plans. Understand that there will be interruptions, days when you just don’t have the time or energy to follow through or you may even need to revise your plan. The important thing is not to let a setback stop you. Restart as soon as you can.
How Ingleside at Rock Creek Independent Living can help
If you decide to make your home in our community, you’ll discover that we offer many of the amenities that can make reaching your New Year’s resolutions much easier.
If it’s getting into better physical shape, you’ll appreciate our well-equipped fitness center.
Wanting to reduce stress? Try one of our yoga classes or spend time reconnecting to your artistic side in our studio.
Do you need to eat a better diet? We offer not only nutritious but delicious meals that will make eating healthy simpler.
And if friendships or social activities are missing from your life, you’ll find ways to make it happen in our community.
Along with your beautiful new home, we think you’ll find Ingleside at Rock Creek independent living a community that not only supports your goals but helps you reach them as well.
Please visit our website for more information. Call (202) 846-2651 if you have any questions or would like to schedule a personalized tour today.