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Time To Check In With Your New Year’s Resolutions

By The Rescue® Team
Team RESCUE®

How long do you think the average New Year's Resolution lasts?

The second Friday in January is endearingly known as 'Quitters Day', as it's often when people ditch their New Year goal.

While you might have resolved to eat less chocolate or read more books this year, life doesn't always lend itself to making significant lifestyle changes straight out of the hectic holiday period. If your resolution is looking a bit ambitious, you don't need to think of yourself as a quitter. If trying to cut back on the takeaway food isn't working out for you right now, it's okay to try again later or seek some advice or support in making healthy changes.

There are, however, certain goals that should be on our radar each day of every year. Here are our tips for how to prioritise what matters most for your health all year round. Our top two goals for overall well-being are…

Sleep and balance

You don't need to wait for the new year to roll around to shift habits or improve your mental health! There are some natural ways to improve your sleep and find some extra balance that you can start trying on any day. 

Tips for better sleep

Switch up your mentality

Ever heard of 'revenge sleep procrastination'? This is a term that refers to staying up later simply for the sake of 'claiming back' hours in your day to spend however you like; it's particularly common among full-time workers who may feel that the bulk of the day isn't their own time. 

Revenge sleep procrastination is an exercise in a 'quantity over quality' attitude. Sure, you may be spending more waking hours doing as you please, but this can come at the cost of the quality of those hours. 

Sleep deprivation can make you irritable, reduce productivity, negatively impact mental and physical health, and generally impair what you can get out of each day. There's an argument to be made that spending less time awake but feeling great is more worthwhile than spending more time awake but feeling distracted and cranky. 

If you're staying awake for the sake of it, try to let yourself off the hook and allow yourself to switch off a bit earlier. If you struggle to calm that mental overactivity while trying to fall asleep, RESCUE Sleep® can help you wind down and aid better rest, naturally. 

No screens before bed

The longer, the better, but aim to ditch the screens at least 30 minutes before you want to fall asleep and aim to work up to 2 to 3 hours if you can. Exposure to blue light can reduce the amount of melatonin, a sleep hormone we produce, meaning you feel less tired and take longer to fall asleep. 

Limit your blue light exposure during the day by dimming your devices or investing in some blue light glasses. Try replacing screen time before bed with reading a book, meditating, listening to music or stretching.

Extra tips for better rest

  • Avoid afternoon caffeine
  • Aim to go to bed and wake up at the same time each day. Routine can help trigger a release of hormones at the right time. 
  • Exercise

Tips for a more balanced lifestyle

Prioritise balance

Perhaps easier said than done, balance needs to be a priority of its own. That means prioritising other areas of life with balance in mind and being mindful of too much of a good or bad thing.

Be wary of blanket statements; yes, exercise is a good thing, but if you're training seven days a week at the cost of family time or downtime or not fuelling your body with enough food for that amount of activity, it can become too much. Yes, an entire tub of ice cream a night could be bad for your health, but enjoying a bowl or two when it feels right isn't a bad thing (especially if your diet is balanced out with enough nutritious foods). 

Guide yourself toward inner balance with help from RESCUE Remedy® – flower essences for natural stress relief. RESCUE Remedy can assist with patience, focus, comfort and composure.

Practice saying no

'No' can open doors. There may be connotations around the word ‘no’ as being negative, or unenthusiastic, or boring – this is not the case. 'No' can be an exercise in honesty, setting boundaries, and honouring your priorities; 'no' can open up doors to time better spent and time better enjoyed.

Start your more balanced life today

You deserve quality rest and inner peace day in and day out. Don't wait for January 1 to roll around again to make changes for a calmer life – start tonight. New habits don't come instantaneously; they take time, dedication, and often a few false starts. Allow yourself to prioritise your well-being, starting now. Why wait to welcome your best self?

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