The Best New Year’s Resolution for 2024—IMHO

As a life coach specializing in helping people achieve and maintain their desired weight with ease, I felt compelled to write a post about resolutions.

I went to Google and searched the term "New Year's resolutions," expecting the top results to offer dismal statistics supporting the notion that New Year's resolutions are rarely successful.

To my surprise, the top results were mostly about ideas for resolutions.

Among them, Good Housekeeping offers a list of 65 Achievable New Year's Resolutions for Building a Healthy, Happy Life. The Pioneer Woman tops that with her list of 70 Best New Year's Resolution Ideas to Inspire You in 2024.

The ideas run the gamut and include visiting a new-to-you state, joining a book club, cooking something new each week, sticking to a cleaning schedule, and building a better budget.

I found the Google search results surprising because, personally, I've never been at a loss for coming up with ideas for New Year's resolutions. For many years, my resolution was always the same—lose weight. Even now, many years after checking that one off the list for good, I still have no problem coming up with an annual goal or desire to go after. Quite the contrary, my list of desires far exceeds what I could possibly accomplish in this lifetime.

All that being said, I'd like to offer a suggestion for a New Year's resolution you might want to consider: be happier.

Happiness is at the core of any resolution you're considering, including all those in Google's search results.

Sure, traveling to a state I've never been to before sounds fun, right? That'll make me happy. But sticking to a cleaning schedule or building a better budget? That doesn't sound the least bit enjoyable. However, the reason we desire anything is that we believe we'll be happier once we get it.

Imagine how it would feel to come home to a clean, organized home each night. That would feel good, right? What about having a presentable home when the neighbor stops by unexpectedly? Confidently inviting them in for a cup of coffee would feel amazing, right?

While it may not seem obvious, since pushing a mop around and scrubbing the toilet are not typically at the top of the fun list, the reason you would set a resolution to stick to a cleaning schedule is ultimately to feel better (i.e., be happier).

The same goes for losing weight. The reason you desire a lower body weight is that you believe you'll feel better when you achieve it.

So, why not cut to the chase and make being happier your resolution for 2024?

An easy way to go about creating more happiness is simply by setting an intention each morning upon waking to find more happiness.

Your brain is a master at finding what you tell it to look for. Skeptical? Try a little experiment. Set the intention each morning of seeing a butterfly—not very likely this time of year if you live in a climate similar to where I live in the Midwest. I promise that if you do this in earnest, it won't be long before a butterfly of some kind appears in your awareness.

Once convinced of your brain's amazing capabilities, put it to work finding happiness.

If you set the intention each morning to find happiness, I am confident that by the end of the year, not only will you feel happier, but you will also have achieved some of the other things you desire. I'd even be willing to bet you achieved those desires more easily than you had imagined.

How might your life be different at the end of 2024 if your resolution is to literally make it a Happy New Year?