Forbes Top New Year Resolutions in My Age Group
Did you make New Year Resolutions? Did you start working on them?
I stumbled upon this Forbes article that identifies the top 14 New Year Resolutions by age group for 2023. I am piggybacking off this article and writing about how I am incorporating these healthy resolutions into my own life.
Here are the top 14 resolutions in my age category (can you guess my age?):
14 – Perform better at work
13 – Make time for hobbies
12 – Travel more
11 – Drink less alcohol
10 – Meditate regularly
9 – Improve work-life balance
8 – Learn a new skill
7 – Stop smoking
6 – Make more time for loved ones
5 – Improve fitness
4 – Improve finances
3 – Improve diet
2 – Improve mental health
1 – Lose weight
#14 – Perform Better at Work
In 2022, I finally pursued my long-time passion and started a health and wellness business. I love leading a healthy lifestyle and helping others do the same. I’ve always wanted to work from home and have a flexible work schedule so I can dedicate more time to my family and my hobbies.
Given that I am still working full time at my corporate job, leaving only lunch hours, evenings, weekends, and holidays for my business, juggling the two has been quite a challenge. My goal for 2023 is to learn how to automate my business. I’m very excited about the online training course that I enrolled in, starting next week.
My resolution is that by the end of the year I will be closer to saying goodbye to corporate and being a full-time entrepreneur.
#13 – Make Time for Hobbies
One of my hobbies is Iyengar Yoga. Iyengar Yoga is a system of yoga that is heavily focused on precise body alignment, timing, and the use of props to help the practitioner achieve perfection in postures. It is not the typical commercialized vinyasa power yoga that is most popular today. It is unlikely that you will come out of the class drenched in sweat.
Because of my time constraints as a full time single mom with a full time job, I have been opting for more athletic forms of fitness, including hiit and power yoga.
I have been neglecting my long time passion for the slower paced iyengar yoga classes, especially the once a month restorative week that involves passive deep stretching.
Lately, I realized that too much fitness puts my body in an inflammatory state. If I allow myself to slow down some days and take rest days, I am much stronger and my performance is much better on the active days.
My New Year’s resolution is to ensure I don’t put excessive physical stress on my body every day. I will take enough rest days, at least 2-3 per week, where I will perform deep stretching and deep breathing exercises from the Iyengar Yoga practice.
One of my favorite restorative poses is Prasarita Padottanasa (intense leg stretch)
– reduces depression
– Soothes the brain and the sympathetic nervous system
– Energizes the heart and lungs
– Reduces blood pressure
– Relieves stress-related headaches, migraines, and fatigue
– Tones abdominal organs
– Relieves stomachaches by neutralizing acidity
– Relieves lower backache
– Strengthens the knee joint and makes the hip joint supple
– Regulates menstrual flow
#12 – Travel More
Coming from the former Soviet Union where travel outside the country was prohibited for most, Soviet refugees and immigrants jumped at the opportunity to explore the world as soon as they could afford it. My parents and I took our first trip to Canada in 1989, shortly after we arrived in America. We traveled on an old broken car that lost a muffler on the way with a paper map. It took us 14 hours to get to Niagara Falls from NYC. Nevertheless, the adventure was magical and is still imprinted in my memory.
My parents and I took many trips and I continued the travel tradition and explored much of Europe after graduating from college. Once I had kids though, the zest to go on adventures was buried somewhere far away. The idea of packing, jet lag, cranky kids, and the pile of unattended to chores upon return scared the crap out of me.
Now that my kids are older, I am slowly starting to remember my long-lost passion for exploring new places. Along with a new-found love for hiking, I have visited quite a few gorgeous destinations within driving distance of NY. My resolution is to keep the fire burning, get out of my comfort zone, and start flying to places further away!
#11 – Drink Less Alcohol
This resolution is easy for me because I don’t drink alcohol. Surprised?
I know this is not an easy thing to do for many. Coming from an alcohol drinking culture, where refusing to drink a shot of vodka to someone’s heath is often viewed as a sign of disrespect, you need to have a very strong sense of will to stand your ground. The more people pressured, the more I refused. The result, over the years, people have learned to leave me alone and are now in awe of my no drinking policy.
Why and when did I say no to alcohol? I was never a heavy drinker. Having witnessed too many people in my immediate circle suffer and die from alcoholism and the effect it had on the alcoholic’s loved ones, I began to repulse alcohol from a very young age. I admit, I did experiment with a little drinking in my college years but, luckily, never took a liking to either the taste or the loss of self control.
Once I embarked on my heath journey in my early 20s. I learned that alcohol is nothing but empty calories that ramp up our appetites and that piece of information sealed the deal.
I do love home-made sangria so may have a few sips on extremely rare occasions. On some New Years, I may have half a glass of champagne. To put it in perspective, I had half a glass of sangria on 4th of July 2022 at a neighbor’s party. Before that, I had a glass of sangria on 4th of July 2020 at the same neighbor’s party. As you can see, I don’t miss alcohol one bit.
Here are some convincing reasons to cut down on your alcohol consumption:
– weight loss
– lower risk of certain cancers
– improved libido
– better quality sleep
– stronger immune system
– lower blood pressure
– improved brain function and mental health
– better liver function
– lower levels of triglycerides
– lower chances of heart failure
– younger looking skin
Are you convinced?
Tip: if you have a hard time saying no to pushy friends and relatives, take the alcohol and pretend like you’re drinking.
