1. Learn something new

Think about a skill you’ve always wanted to achieve. Get some guitar lessons, or learn a new language. Ask someone to teach you to draw, or cook, take up ice skating or try teaching yourself web-design by watching youtube tutorials. Don’t overdo it. Pick one thing you want to learn and commit to it.

2. Get more sleep

You would not believe what getting enough sleep does for you. This is such a simple thing, but so many people (including me) cut short on sleep to catch up on work or to make room for all the fun activities they otherwise can’t fit in their day. But actually getting that sleep doesn’t only benefit your physical health, it also makes sure you can stay excited and productive during the day. You would be surprised how much more fun things are if you actually have the energy to actually experience and do them. Even if you think you run great on 4 hours of sleep, you really don’t.

3. Start saying ’no‘ more often

Stop saying yes to things because you don’t want to dissapoint someone, even if you absolutely hate doing it. Of course, sometimes you gotta suck it up and do something you actually don’t want to do, that’s life, but stop overdoing it. Stop loading so much work on yourself, that you start panicking about how to finish everything in time. Don’t say ‚maybe‘ when invited to an event if you already know you’re not going to go. Saying ’no‘ to things you don’t want to do will make you feel so much better in the long run.

4. Give out compliments you really mean

Tell someone if you think they look good in that shirt. Tell people if you adore how they tell really good stories, how you’re amazed by how good they are at something, or how smart; that you like how they’re always on time. Leave a nice comment on someone’s instagram or compliment your friend’s new haircut and really mean it. Not only are you probably making that person’s day, you will also soon feel a kind of positivity in your day-to-day life that will leave you more content and happy.

5. Stop procrastinating

Do things as soon as you have the time. Stop doing projects the night before they’re due, stop pushing deadlines. Stop thinking about how awful it is to do those things right now and think about how glad you will be they’re finally done and out of your way instead.

What are your new year’s resolutions? Are you good at keeping them? Leave a comment below and tell us what you think.

Foto: Bettina Bamberg