New Year's Resolution Tips

A new year means new possibilities, with plenty of opportunities for self-improvement awaiting us. Whether it's a health and fitness goal, a desire to learn a new skill or a determination to save more money, our resolve may be well-placed but might not succeed without some help. Find out how you can better meet your New Year's resolutions with a little help from P.C. Richard & Son.

Health and Fitness

At the start of each new year, our health and fitness resolutions kick into high gear with our determination to lead healthier, happier lives. From healthier diets to improved fitness and revitalizing recovery time, get the support you need to accomplish your goals.

Healthier Diets

Incorporating a well-balanced diet into your fitness regimen is the first step towards a healthier you. Combined with consistent workouts and adequate recovery time, eating well will contribute to gains in and out of the gym.

• Meal Prep: Meal prepping helps you become more disciplined. When you're preparing food in advance and portioning it out accordingly, you're less likely to give in to impulses and cravings throughout the week.
• Blenders: Blended drinks can help you consume nutrient rich, filling shakes in one convenient and delicious blend without losing the filling fibrous essentials.
• Juicers: If you find it hard to naturally include more greens and fruit into your diet, juicing your produce may be a good way to give yourself an extra boost of concentrated vitamins and nutrients.
• More Water: Hydrating and refreshing, drinking more water is a simple improvement that makes a big difference. Try water purifiers and accessories to improve your home water intake, and consider using a soda water maker to create delicious soda water as a treat.

Improved Fitness

Gym memberships increase at the beginning of the year, but by the end of February, gym attendance noticeably drops. While deciding you want to improve your fitness is an important first step towards actually doing it, there are a few things you can do to ensure your resolution succeeds throughout the year.

• Enlist a friend's help to create a sense of interpersonal responsibility and commitment.
• Use an activity tracker to monitor your vitals and fitness progression to track results and hold yourself accountable.
• Invest in home gym equipment for an excuse-proof way to commit to workouts.
• Keep yourself motivated during exercise by listening to your favorite music on wireless headphones.
• Invest in fitness recovery equipment to prevent fatigue and sore muscles.
• Additionally, it is important to slow down and allow yourself an occasional break. By taking extra time to recover between workouts, you are avoiding burnout and ensuring you can deliver the next day.

Better Sleep

Sleep is often lost in the conversation over health and fitness, but a good night's sleep goes a long way towards healthy living, and it starts with your mattress. If you're unsatisfied with your current bed, it may be time to find a new mattress better suited to your needs.

Choosing the right mattress can make all the difference in how well you sleep at night. From your preferred sleeping position to your preferred firmness level, learning what works best for you might help you sleep better, allowing you to recover well after a grueling day at work or a rewarding workout.

Embracing New Hobbies

A new year is the perfect time to make your long-sought-after hobby a mainstay in your life. Explore a few different hobbies you might want to pursue and how they can become more achievable.

Learn a New Language

With a plethora of free language learning services available, learning a new language has never been easier. Brush up on a language you already know to avoid getting rusty, or consider taking classes to fully immerse yourself in the experience. Planning a trip to a destination where the language is spoken can serve as a good motivator!

Expand Your Cooking Repertoire

Whether you're a novice or an experienced chef, adding things like food processors or air fryers, bread makers and other small appliances can transform how you conduct yourself in the kitchen and give you added versatility to create simple but elegant meals to treat yourself and your loved ones. And why limit yourself to indoor cooking? Expand your grill skills with smokers, pizza ovens and more, then explore sauces and rubs as well as more helpful tips for recipes and general upkeep advice to improve your BBQ prowess.

Figure Out Photography

Immersing oneself in photography is a good opportunity to create a deeper connection to the world around you. From day-to-day life to epic adventures across the world, investing in a new camera will motivate you to pursue your new skills, and a drone will give you a high-flying aerial perspective.

Saving More Money

It can often feel like many little expenses add up to real damage to our wallets, but it doesn't have to be that way. By following these tips and tricks for saving money and budgeting your expenses, you can be that much closer to taking better control of your finances.

Make Your Coffee at Home

Coffee at home seems like a cliche, but utilizing coffee makers and travel drinkware instead of daily visits to overpriced caf‚ chains will allow you to save plenty of money over the course of a year.

Movie Nights at Home

Digital movie releases are coming out faster than ever before, and even exclusive film festivals are doing virtual screenings. Home entertainment presents a more affordable alternative to going out to the movies. Find streaming media players or smart TVs to access thousands of films and TV shows from the comfort of your couch, with monthly subscription prices often comparable to a single prime time ticket at the movie theater.

Energy-Saving Appliances

Although the upfront cost may produce sticker shock, the long-term advantages of investing in more energy efficient appliances can be immense. Whether it's washing machines and dryers or kitchen appliances like refrigerators and dishwashers, save big in the long term with greener, more efficient machines.

Make a Grocery List

This may seem like a no-brainer, but carefully planning your grocery list and sticking to that plan will allow you to better control your impulse purchases. By carefully planning out your meals, you save on food waste, have little added grocery expenses, eat healthier, and feel more in control of your diet and your wallet.

Tips for Sticking to Your Resolutions

Resolutions are hard to stick to regardless of how committed we may be from the get go. But with some help, you can ensure that your commitment doesn't wane as the new year drags on and life starts to get more complicated.

Set Specific Goals

Why do you want to achieve your resolution? What are the steps you can take to ensure this realistically happens? For example, instead of saying you hope to save money, be more specific. Set short-term as well as long-term goals, and plan out how you will achieve your desired results by the day, the week and the month to track your progress as you go.

Plan for Incremental Results

If the goal is to run a half-marathon but you struggle to finish a mile, setting smaller milestones along the way can help you stay motivated and see better results. The half marathon may be six months away, but you can work to comfortably finish a mile, a 5K, or a 10K well before then.

Be Patient with Yourself

Setbacks happen, and that's okay. It's what you do when encountering a setback that determines if you will succeed. Ask yourself why the setback may have occurred and what you can do differently, and revisit your initial motivations setting your specific resolutions to get back on track.

A new year brings new opportunities and motivation to make long desired changes to our lives. From health and fitness resolutions, to money management and self-improvement, get everything you need to stay on track this year!