We all have heard the infamous saying, “New year, new me.” While having goals and positive visions for the new year is important, it is also important to create realistic expectations of yourself and your capabilities.
New Year’s resolutions are extremely personal. Some people may want to change internally. For instance, they may want to work on becoming more positive or friendly towards others. While other people's aspirations may be rooted in the external, like money or physical appearance. Having your New Year’s resolution focus on mental health and wellness is a great place to start to set the intention for a year of positive growth.
Anchor Therapy is a counseling center in Hoboken, NJ with psychotherapists specialized in helping children, teens, adults, and couples with anxiety, depression, relationship issues, trauma, and life transitions. Anchor Therapy is accepting new clients and is now providing in-person sessions and telehealth (video/phone) sessions to residents of New Jersey and New York.
The New Year and the thought of creating a resolution can be very exciting and empowering to think about having a fresh start. Unfortunately, many of our resolutions tend to subside within a few weeks into the new year. If you are thinking about setting a New Year’s resolution surrounding your mental health, read this article for some tips!
If you want to support your mental health, it is important to set realistic goals. Your focus should be on positive, steady progress instead of instant change. In theory, it is easy to set idealistic resolutions but, many times, our goals may be difficult to put into practice.
Some common New Year’s resolutions include:
Lose weight and get physically fit
Make more money or develop a “side hustle”
Spend less time on your phone
Travel to new destinations
Many popular resolutions involve external changes rather than focusing on internal welfare. While eating healthier and partaking in regular exercise are admirable goals, it can be nice to shift your focus away from the scale and towards how working out and eating healthy makes you feel. In other words, try to place your attention on how you feel versus how you look.
So, why do people have a hard time achieving their New Year’s resolutions?
Punishment:
Many people tend to punish themselves when they do not meet their goals in the timeline that they envisioned; however, this is counterproductive. For instance, you may feel like you fall off the wagon in regards to your eating habits by deciding to eat a cookie. Instead of feeling guilty about the cookie, enjoy it and notice how it makes you feel. Try to be more mindful of your hunger cues and don’t punish yourself for enjoying a satisfying portion of a tasty food.
Emphasis on the goal:
When you set a goal, it may be easy to become obsessed with the outcome instead of simply enjoying the journey. More often than not, when you want to make a meaningful change, it is not a quick fix.
Vague goals:
In some cases, you may not be specific enough with your goals. For example, you may decide to save more money each month, but you fail to state how much money you will set aside. When you have a particular measure in mind, it is easier to meet your goals because they are better understood.
Unrealistic expectations:
When you set unrealistic expectations, it can be viewed as setting yourself up to fail.
If you are looking to improve your mental health in 2022, it is crucial to set realistic expectations.
But, how do you know what is a “realistic” goal?
Relevant:
Your goal must have meaning to your life. Your goal should be focused on you, your health, and your happiness. Therefore, do not try to adopt someone else’s wishes for you.
Be specific:
If you want your goal to be realistic, you have to be specific. Instead of simply stating “I will be less anxious next year”, put a plan into action. For instance, you can begin to research ways to reduce anxiety or even seek the help of an anxiety therapist. If you are interested in anxiety counseling, read our blog “How You Can Treat Your Anxiety Using CBT.”
Measure your progress:
While it may be easier to measure your progress with a goal like weight loss, you can still analyze your growth with your mental health goal. For example, you can record the number of panic attacks that you have each month and see if your anxiety-reducing techniques are working to decrease them.
Create a timeline:
A major component of New Year’s resolutions is setting a timeline for when you will achieve your goal. While it is nice to have an idea in mind for when your wish will be obtained, you should create an end date with caution, especially when your goal is related to mental health. Mental health is an ongoing process. That is to say, you will never be completely absolved from taking care of your mental state.
Contrary to popular New Year’s resolutions surrounding weight loss or the growth of money, mental health-related goals allow you to emphasize progress. Mental health goals are internal which helps set you up for success.
The following ideas can assist you in successfully achieving your New Year’s mental health resolution in 2022:
Practice Gratitude
It has been proven that practicing gratitude can increase happiness. When you continuously focus on what you have to be grateful for, you are silencing the negative thoughts and turning them into positive thoughts. Simply practicing gratitude can better your mental health, and is relatively easy to achieve.
Some examples of practicing gratitude include:
List 3 things that you are grateful for in your journal every morning
Thank the supportive people in your life
Think of 5 things that you are grateful for as soon as you wake up
2. Self-Talk
Unfortunately, we tend to be our biggest critics. Challenging negative thoughts can be difficult since it is not an overnight process. Luckily, you can take several small steps towards achieving this noteworthy goal of creating more positive self-talk.
Affirmations are a great way to alter your mind’s negative thoughts about yourself. You can look in the mirror every morning and repeat an affirmation 3-5 times.
Some helpful affirmations include:
“I’m allowed to take up space.”
“I am strong enough to make my own decisions.”
“I deserve to feel joy.”
3. Social Media
Social media is a dominating force in many people’s lives. While social media does offer people the chance to connect with millions of individuals from different walks of life, it also serves as an opportunity for constant comparison which can steal away your happiness. An excess amount of time on the Internet can leave many people feeling like they are not enough as they are, increasing isolation, depression, and anxiety.
You can set down specific times to take breaks from social media platforms. If you want to detox or help someone detox from social media, make sure to check out our blog “How To Help Your Teen To Social Media Detox.”
Overall, the most important step in creating your New Year's resolution is to set a realistic goal. Once you set a realistic goal, you are building the foundation for your success in 2022. As long as you remember that mental health is about progress, not perfection, you will succeed!
Victoria Scala
is the Social Media Manager at Anchor Therapy in Hoboken, New Jersey. She is currently an undergraduate student at the Honors College of Rutgers University-Newark, looking to study Clinical Mental Health Counseling at the graduate level. As a Social Media Manager at Anchor Therapy, Victoria is committed to producing content for and managing the office’s social media presence and blog.
