The holiday season is here—a time to unwind, enjoy well-earned days off, and connect with family. While we may be in relaxation mode, it’s also the perfect opportunity to start envisioning our goals for the new year.
As 2024 comes to an end, we're already brainstorming ways to improve our day-to-day for 2025. If you're stuck on ideas, Ambassador Cohnan Kotarski is here to give us his top seven habits to adopt for the new year.
Jump to:
- Learn a New Skill
- Be in Nature
- Sleep Well
- Exercise Three Times a Week
- Prioritize Recovery
- Dopamine Detox
- Eat Quality Food
1. Learn a New Skill
Cohnan's first goal for the new year is to learn a new skill. The ambassador emphasizes that in a world of chaos, competence cannot be overestimated.
Learning a new skill is a great way to begin the new year on a note of personal growth. Adding new skills to your repertoire can help you both personally and professionally. While the skill itself is valuable, the process of learning something new pushes you out of your comfort zone while providing something to put your energy toward. This can instill a sense of purpose and feel quite rewarding.
The good news with skills is that there are a plethora to choose from. From learning how to use a new software for work to picking up a new instrument or sport, the possibilities are endless. Learning new skills can give you a sense of accomplishment, a creative outlet, and a way to spend your time productively. What better way to kick off 2025 than with a new trick up your sleeve?
2. Be in Nature
This should come as no surprise—the next habit to master in 2025 is spending time in nature. Nature is healing in so many ways—aside from the physical health benefits of sunshine, oxygenated air, and spending time outdoors, nature can ease the mind and provide a sense of peace and mental clarity.
It's the perfect detox from our busy world and isn't as difficult to accomplish as you may think. Whenever you need an escape, nature is always there. As Cohnan quips, 20 minutes a day keeps the doctor away.
3. Sleep Well
We're going back to the basics with this third habit, because you truly can't accomplish anything without it. We're talking about sleep of course. Getting sufficient sleep is something people often strive for but end up neglecting due to other priorities. Now, we know you're busy, and getting into bed on time is a struggle. But the benefits you can reap from sleeping well day to day are quite extraordinary.
Aside from long-term health benefits and connections to longevity, even in the short-term, getting sufficient sleep allows you to conquer your day so much more effectively. With the ability to increase energy, enhance mood, and sharpen your focus, sleep is that magic fix we've all been looking for.
4. Exercise Three Times a Week
Next up is another essential: weekly exercise. Now, ideally, getting physical activity every day will allow you to feel your best and reap the most health benefits. With that being said, if you're not accustomed to daily physical activity, start off small by getting exercise three times a week.
Cohnan explains that incorporating exercise into your routine will help you build stronger habits, and this is a habit you'll definitely want to bring with you into the new year. While the physical benefits of exercise may seem obvious, getting consistent physical activity can also help significantly with mental health.
Exercising can reduce stress, improve your mood and sleep, and can even enhance mental clarity. There are endless benefits, all leading to a healthier and happier you.
Additionally, exercise and sleep work in tandem by influencing each other.
For more on this relationship, see our article:
The Two-Way Relationship Between Sleep & Exercise
See how sleep and exercise influence each other, and how to reap the benefits from both.
5. Prioritize Recovery
As important as it is to push yourself, it's also vital you take care of yourself, which brings us to our next habit: prioritizing recovery. Recovery here refers to mental and physical recovery. This means giving your body and mind time to rest and doing things that promote that.
For example, getting a massage or using a sauna provides physical recovery for your body, as well as mental relief for your mind. Unfortunately, recovery is a step that can be easily forgotten in our busy lifestyles. However, Cohnan emphasizes making time in your schedule to take care of your body and mind because it's necessary for growth.
The ambassador reflects that mental and physical growth often happen in silence, but when you do put in the work and prioritize self-care, the results will speak for themselves.
6. Dopamine Detox
Next on Cohnan's list of habits to master this year is detoxing from dopamine. The ambassador explains that we live in a world of "fake dopamine", meaning constant stimulation that provides temporary bursts of dopamine, but not actual satisfaction or happiness. One great example of this is social media.
For the new year, Cohnan advises putting down the phone. This will help you be more present in life and remove yourself from those addictive tendencies that are harmful to well-being. Instead of relying on these short bursts of dopamine, focus your efforts and mental energy on endeavors that will actually improve your life, allowing you to reap real satisfaction.
7. Eat Quality Food
Cohnan's final habit to master as we enter 2025 is eating quality food. Getting healthier is a common New Year's resolution, and for good reason—it's essential for general health and well-being.
Eating well is a necessary part of achieving specific fitness goals like losing body fat and building muscle, but is also something that will make you feel better throughout the day and in the long run. This habit is something that will always be important as we go through life, so we might as well start now, right?
Take Home Message
Carving out your New Year's resolutions can be daunting—if you don't know where to start, Cohnan's list of habits to master provides a great foundation for your personal goals.
They may seem like obvious tasks, but incorporating even just a few of these habits can have a great influence on your well-being and happiness. Start improving now and it'll be your best year yet. You got this.
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A Rutgers University Honors graduate, Jamie grew up on the Jersey shore and double majored in Comparative Literature and Anthropology in college. Jamie is an experienced writer in the health and wellness, biotech, and eCommerce fields. She loves writing with a purpose and has even written for the Department of Justice.
Jamie became drawn to exercise during her time in university and began to notice the physical and mental benefits of moving your body daily. Today, Jamie enjoys Pilates, light weight training, and going on long walks in nature daily.
Jamie is also passionate about eating right and prioritizing gut health and immunity. She is always trying the next innovation in health and wellness. When she’s not writing articles, Jamie enjoys reading, playing guitar, and finding dogs to play with.
