New Year’s Resolutions that Prioritize Mental Health

Have you thought of a New Year’s resolution for 2023? The beginning of the year is invigorating and refreshing. What better time to assess your habits and invite new, healthy behaviors? Now is the time to set positive intentions, make healthy changes, and approach the new year with a sense of hope. At the same time, resolutions that crop up at the beginning of a new year are difficult to maintain. It can become tiring or tedious to hold strict rules, and sometimes, a resolution that feels inspiring in January can feel like a burden a few months later. Let’s face it: change is tough to maintain. The flipside of New Year’s resolutions is surprising - many resolutions can intensify feelings of anxiety, depression, or insecurity when a person cannot stick to them. Creating a resolution can be a trap that sets a person up for failure. Most people give up on their New Year’s resolutions for several reasons – but that doesn’t mean there is no value in setting positive intentions for a new year.

For children and teens, resolution season can feel like a blur of messages from pop culture and social media telling them to look a certain way and to achieve a version of success that may be unrealistic. Try making resolutions together rather than exposing children to the internet’s version of intention-setting for the new year. Helping young people identify one or two goals that matter to them can help them feel a sense of purpose and pride over time as their goals come to life. Here are some additional ways to approach 2023 resolutions that prioritize mental health and balance:

1. Hone in on one specific resolution. Telling yourself that you want to “lose weight,” “be healthier,” or “be more social” are goals that would feel difficult for anyone to commit to. When you can’t measure your progress on a goal, chances are you won’t make progress. Instead, commit to a certain amount of time spent exercising each week or a nightly bedtime to ensure you get healthy amounts of sleep. Young children need clear goals. To simplify things, try considering daily habits as goals they can aspire to take on with more independence, such as cleaning up after themselves, brushing their teeth, or eating a new healthy snack every month.
   
   
2. Know your habits and give yourself leeway. Everyone has habits – from our food and beverage choices to the first thing we do when we return home from a long day to the amount of time we spend looking at screens. Forming new habits takes work – however, integrating a few positive habits can change your life. Start by practicing something every day for just a couple of minutes. If you can keep this up for a few weeks, you can probably make the habit stick. If not, don’t be discouraged – things that block a person from their desired habit take time to sort through. Give yourself the time and attention you need to understand what is preventing you from integrating new habits. What is holding you back? How might you make space to try new things?
   
   
3. Express gratitude for the little things. If setting a long-term goal feels overwhelming, it also might trigger feelings of inadequacy or anxiety. As every gym and health food store will remind you, the New Year is often a time for body-shaming disguised as “building healthy habits.” Anyone with body image issues – particularly women, teenage girls, and young people with a pattern of self-harm or disordered eating – can feel targeted by messages encouraging people to trim their waistlines in the new year. While healthy habits are always a positive focus area, it is worth being particularly sensitive with weight-sensitive people around resolution season. If body image issues affect you or someone close to you, choose a gratitude practice instead. Gratitude is a powerful tool and a quick and easy thing to integrate into daily life. Start by keeping a notebook or mental note of things you are grateful for daily. Over time, turn to gratitude when you’re tempted to compare yourself to another person or replace negative self-talk with thoughts of thankfulness.
   
   
4. Take good care of yourself. For adults and young people alike, screen time has become a significant factor in how we communicate and stay informed. Whether or not your 2023 intentions involve cutting back on screen time, it is worth carving out a few simple moments each day to be offline, perhaps during dinnertime or in the hour leading up to bedtime. Consider reserving your evenings for activities that promote sleep, like enjoying a book, stretching, or snuggling with pets or family members. Many smartphones give you options to turn off notifications during the evening and night so that you and your family members are not tempted to catch up on messages and other pings during your daily wind down.
   
   
5. Decide how you’ll measure your progress. As mentioned, resolutions need to be specific and involve habits that you can comfortably add to your day-to-day life. In addition, plotting your resolution over the coming year will help you understand when you’re making healthy progress. This does not mean that you need to schedule every hour of your time – instead, think of small wins you can make that are related to your broader goal.
   
   
6. When things go well, reward yourself! Try having conversations with your family members about their New Year’s resolutions to find ways to reward one another when you follow through. These can be simple boosts like a high five, verbal praise, or something you celebrate with a special reward. On the other hand, when a resolution falls by the wayside, don’t be too hard on yourself. Sometimes, life gets in the way, no matter how good our intentions are. It’s essential to cultivate resilience, forgiveness, and a sense of humor around the things that go wrong. 

 At Maryvale, we consider a child’s entire family when providing mental health support to ensure that their whole experience is as healthy, positive, and nurturing as possible. We believe in creating support networks for children, teens, and families dealing with anxiety and mental health disorders. Learn more about how we provide holistic care to those who need it most.