10 Most Common New Year's Resolutions
We make these optimistic annual promises to ourselves with all good intentions, but did you know that on average, we only stick to our resolutions for five months, while 11% last less than a month and just 16% go the whole year?
Research has shown that every year we set the same new year’s resolutions, so this list of the most common should look pretty familiar to you:
1. Exercise more
2. Lose weight
3. Get organised
4. Learn a new skill or hobby
5. Live life to the fullest
6. Save more / spend less
7. Quit smoking (or another habit)
8. Spend more time with family and friends
9. Read more
10. Travel more!
This time around I’m making my goals even more specific by elaborating on them, planning for them, and scheduling them into my year. Here are my tops tips to sticking to your 2024 goals, if you have any of the above on your list too.
To exercise more doesn’t necessarily mean doing a gruelling training split at the gym. It can mean dancing to your favourite music or trying something you’ve always wanted to try. For me it’s been keeping up my daily yoga practice, spending time on the mat most mornings, going for a weekly swim and steam, learning to samba, and finding a local aerial hoop class to build my strength. If you love the outdoors as much as I do, plan weekend hikes around the UK and places in Europe. Also consider including active days into your trips. You don’t have to go whitewater rafting, kayaking, or paragliding. It can be something as simple as a guided walk around a new area to explore its hidden secrets or places only the locals really know.
Pick a hobby or new skill to learn that really excites you and will change your life in some way. I’m becoming fluent in Spanish this year to be able to communicate with my other half in his mother tongue.
Getting organised is a muscle you have to train. Having endless to-do lists or just thinking you’ll get more organised just won’t cut it. Carve out time in your week to plan how you’ll be more organised. Having an idea of the things I want to achieve each week but most importantly the single most thing that will bring me closer to my goals really helps me, in my personal life and in my business. Learning how to prioritise, not allowing myself to get distracted by all the things (social media and my phone pinging) and knowing when to graciously decline when my plate it too full has been an absolute blessing.
To live life to the fullest, looking after your physical and mental health as well as making time for yourself is what’s going to make the most difference. Think of a time when you felt light, joyous, and carefree. What were you doing? Who were you with? Pinpoint what made this a standout memory and find ways to incorporate more of those sunrays into your life.
I love to read, and a lot of my earlier travels were inspired by books I’d read, but if asked how I managed to read so many books in 2023, I’d say it’s this – I always read several books at a time. I always choose one travel book, a personal development title and a novel based on fiction, so I always have something to read that fits my mood. One thing I’d recommend if you have any upcoming trips already planned is to read something set in that destination before you go or choose something written by an author from that country.
If there’s just one book you read this year about living your best life, it has to be Your Best Year Ever by Micheal Hyatt. It completely changed my life for the better.
Spending more time with family and friends is a matter of following through, especially in our busy lives. Every day I make sure to cook a family meal that we eat together. We talk about our day, and various topics that come up. That time spent together we’re constantly learning about each other, and I cherish that. I also keep a weekend day free so we can plan to do something together that we all enjoy. Sometimes it’s walking, visiting other family members for a meal and a movie, and other times it’s playing video games together or going down to the go-karting racetrack. I’m lucky to have a bunch of friends that are just as spontaneous and up to try new things as I am, so I always make an effort to see them whenever I can.
Try co-ordinating your time off and planning a trip with your friends but take the hassle out of the minor details by picking an organised group tour. That way there’ll be a range of activities included for everyone, you’ll get to experience a new place together and meet new people too. Also check out my “Annual Leave Hacks for an Epic 2024” blog post to maximise your leave while taking less days off.
Save more and spend less is never one of my personal resolutions because of how I view money. I think that mindset around money is incredibly important, especially in business, but that’s a topic for another day.
I’ve often been asked how I’ve managed to travel to as many countries as I have so far, and to be honest it’s really just these four simple things: I think ahead about where I’m interested in going to next and research early, I think about which destinations are up-and-coming (so better prices before everyone else catches on), I use my industry savvy to get myself great deals (exactly what I do for all of my customers), and I always book my trips on a deposit so that I can spread the cost throughout the year.
Since airlines this year were super keen and started releasing their sales just before Christmas, I’ve been combing the deals, checking for flight upgrades, and rebooking my clients, sending out personalised emails where I’ve seen price reductions on destinations, I know my clients are thinking about for this year.
If you’re in the 77% of people who said they expect to spend the same or even more on travel in 2024 my top tips to save more are to plan and book early, get unbiased advice from someone in the know, don’t miss out on genuine sales (especially this month), and keep in touch with a personal travel consultant who has your best interests at heart.
For help and advice with your own travel resolutions, please send me an email or give me call.
Wishing you all a Happy New Year!
