Nudging your way to a better New Year, one elbow at a time
Rather than New Year’s Resolutions, which are bound for failure, here are a few nudges to help 2021 and beyond be more fun, fruitful and fulfilling.
They’re entirely idiosyncratic, in no particular order and shamelessly drawn from others’ experience and wisdom. They also work and are mostly achievable.
Above all, they are simple and short in number and shouldn’t be too challenging to start, although they will take resolve and time to bear fruit.
You can choose as many or as few of these actions as you like or add your own at the bottom. The key is to turn them into everyday life habits, which thanks to repetition, should not require too much effort.
My only advice is to start now. As FiftyUp Club members, most of us have skin in the game and wish to live healthy, secure, productive lives for as long as we can.
Better diets, less smoking, medical advances etc mean we may be living longer, but as COVID-19 has revealed, there are few certainties in life, so it’s best to reduce risk.
These goals are not a list of the usual suspects including losing weight, drinking less, making/saving more money etc. The obvious ones are on many other more predictable lists.
To do more of:
Cultivate good posture by sitting and slouching less: Poor posture can restrict proper breathing, affect balance and cause chronic joint pain.
Take time: Be grateful for the gift of time, use it wisely and don’t believe yourself and other’s claims to be too busy. Prioritise what is truly important to you.
Be kind to yourself: we can be our worst critics, which limits us finding our real purpose in the life we have left to live.
Take chances and embrace novelty: Routine has its cosy place but being stuck in the safety of the past is a dead end.
To do less of:
Comparing others: Electricity prices are one thing, but our lives and its achievements and shortcomings are one-offs. We defy comparison so stick to weighing up apples and not others.
Accumulating stuff: Books, music, bikes, shoes, you name your weakness. Enough already. There’s more to life than decluttering.
Avoiding the work: Not paid work but the effort that living wisely and wonderfully inevitably entails such as looking after our health, strengthening our relationships, being more social, taking your turn etc. You name it, it’s all work.
For some, they might not be specific enough and seem too woolly. To others, mostly irrelevant.
OK, but what would you put on your own shortlist of ‘nudges’ for the New Year?
Until then, all the best - chin up and head up.
Any information is general advice, it does not take into account your individual circumstances, objectives, financial situation or needs.
