What do you want to do in the coming year? Would you like to focus more on your health and wellness? Eat more nutritious meals? Travel more? Spend more time with family and friends? Learn something new or pick up a hobby or interest you haven’t done in years? For many, the change of the calendar from one year to the next is viewed as the time to make a life change. There are benefits to making New Year’s resolutions for seniors to help them start a healthy lifestyle or reach their retirement goals.
Advantages of Making a New Year’s Resolution
Whether you achieve your goals or not, there are benefits to working towards them, including:
- Intention: Being honest with yourself about your current situation and your dreams for the future is key to making any improvement. Moving forward with clear direction and purpose will help boost your emotional and mental health.
- Hope and Engagement: Making a resolution is a hopeful and optimistic endeavor because you expect things can get better for you and those around you.
- Responsibility: Yes, resolutions are a great way to focus on yourself, but they can take on a broader responsibility and expand and multiply your positive effects to those around you.
- Inspiration: When you seek to be better, you can inspire others to make similar changes.
How to Make a New Year’s Resolution That Sticks
We’ve all made resolutions in the past, and then, as time goes by, not fulfilled them. But even in those little moments, you can see changes. To help you find a resolution that you’re more likely to fulfill, here are some suggestions:
- Check your willingness: Make a resolution that really matters to you and where you have a strong “why.”
- Focus: Instead of making multiple goals, choose one or two areas to invest your time and energy.
- Be specific: The seeds of not following through are planted in the vagueness of how you’ll achieve your goals. Choosing specific actions that align with your resolution in advance will make it more likely to stick.
- Make it easy: Think through how you can reduce distractions from reaching your goals.
- Track your progress: Write down the actions you take toward reaching your goals in your planner, on your calendar, or in a habit tracking app. This will increase your accountable and you’ll be able to see the daily steps you’re taking.
- Find support: When you just don’t want to make the right choices, knowing that someone else who cares is aware can really help.
According to The Danish Twin Study, only about 20% of your longevity is determined by your genes. This suggests that a large part of how you age is determined by lifestyle factors and behaviors like how you eat, exercise, think, and interact with others. So, it’s possible to influence your health through the kind of lifestyle you lead. Here are some key healthy aging tips:
- Cognitive: Cognitive health is one of the most crucial aspects to living a healthy lifestyle. Many professionals have found that keeping your mind challenged with puzzles, arithmetic or even reading each day can stimulate your mind and is beneficial in helping prevent memory loss. Senior living offers educational lectures, book clubs, and other types of mentally engaging activities.
- Social: Staying engaged with those around you — from family members to friends to neighbors — provides endless opportunities to seek out intellectual engagement and maintain a social network. Social isolation or loneliness can negatively impact your overall health. From meals, to classes, to happy hours, and outings there’s always opportunities to gather with friends at Santa Marta.
- Creative: Studies show that expanding your mind each day and allowing yourself to tap into your creative side reaps amazing cognitive benefits by taking an art class.
- Physical: It’s no secret that keeping the body active is a great way to promote a better lifestyle but that doesn’t mean you need to start going to the gym. At Santa Marta, we offer a variety of fun and engaging activities to promote senior fitness.
- Keep calm: Stress can have a negative impact on your health. Taking time out of your day to reflect or meditate allows for a healthier mind and body. Going on a walk, taking a yoga class, or enjoying some quiet time can help. Also know we’ll take care of all the indoor and outdoor maintenance gives you one less thing to worry about.
At Santa Marta, Our Focus is Senior Wellness
One of the biggest keys to enjoying life is being able to do what you want, when you want. That’s why our lifestyle is built around your overall wellness. To learn more about how we can help you reach your goals (no matter what time of year it is), contact one of our helpful senior living counselors.
