It’s 2022! Happy New Year to all you lovely ladies and welcome back to Girl Talk!

Every single year I make “New Year Resolutions” and guess what? Every single year, those new year resolutions are forgotten and tossed aside, never been done. I asked myself why and that’s when I realised those resolutions were not realistic.

So, before making a new year resolution list, ask yourself if it is something within your reach, is it something doable. A new year resolution doesn’t need to be “write a novel and complete it in 12 months” it can simply be “start writing a page a day”.

I’m going to share with you a few practical ideas for New Year Resolutions:

1. Drink more water. Simple right? A lot of us want to drink more water and then don’t, or we don’t even like water. I’m someone who absolutely LOVES water. I carry a water bottle with me everywhere I go. My tip for you, always have a water bottle with you, by your bedside when you go sleep, with you when you’re on the go, in this way you are drinking more water and keeping yourself hydrated, this is hundred percent beneficial for your health, skin, memory, etc.

2. Make healthy food choices. This one I have not done personally, I am someone who always craves hot chips and sweets, something lekker salty, but this is really not healthy. It is true that “you are what you eat” what you choose to put in your body can make a difference in your overall health and how you feel about yourself. That being said, make healthy food choices by choosing to eat more fruits and veggies and less cheap chips and fast food. Incorporate veggies in your diet plan, always make sure there is vegetables to eat and if possible a fruit a day. Buy fruits on the stands as you walk to school or work instead of R1 chips as a snack.

3. Exercise – do exercise while watching TV, this makes your time useful instead of just sitting watching shows, now I am not saying work out throughout your TV time, but at least 30 minutes of depending how much TV you actually watch. Do stretches, leg exercises, skipping, squats, push ups, making this a habit you’ll end up noticing the difference after a while.

4. Limit your screen time. Certain phones have an app limit, you can set this time limit and if you go over time, that’s a boundary for yourself to do something else and get off WhatsApp (I’m guilty of this too, don’t worry).

5. Read more books. I’m sure this is a goal most people want to achieve, but end up never doing it. People always say “My goal is to finish 5 books in a month” but end up finishing 5 pages in a month… set a goal to read at least a page a day, you will finish that book sooner than you realise if this is your target. Put books in visible places so that you will see it, pick it and read it instead of leaving it amongst other piles of things.

6. SAVE. SAVE. SAVE. I cannot emphasise how important having a saving plan is. This is very exciting, because it is always good to have money on the side if in need of an emergency or you simply just want to go out with your friends and you need extra cash. Depending on what you earn, put at least 10% aside and do this consistently every single month or week depending on when you get paid. If you aren’t working, save whatever money you do get, maybe by doing choirs or odd jobs here and there, put at least a R10 away of every R100 you get. It might seem little, but all that saving adds up for sure, sis.

7. Learn to say no. Saying yes to everything can add stress to your life, you need to know your limits and boundaries you cannot take on every single task thrown at you, you must learn to say no to things that you’re not comfortable with, this includes saying no to friends who request or demand things from you.

8. Take time out to rest. As busy as life gets, rest is important for your overall health. Put the phone away an hour before bedtime, this gives your mind time to calm down from the busyness of the day.

9. Don’t let your phone be the first thing you check in the morning. Give yourself at least 15 minutes to wake up properly. What I do is, I pray in the morning before starting the day, this sets the day for me. What you can do is reflect on what it is you need to do for the day, write it down, take time to breathe, don’t just jump straight to the social media.

10. Cut out the toxic friendships. Somehow there is always a snake in the field. In other words, you will encounter fake friends. If you’ve picked up fake and toxic vibes between you and someone, don’t bring that person into your 2022, you need to surround yourself with people who care about your well-being, not users and abusers.

11. Build genuine connections with people, unfortunately COVID-19 has limited our ability to see people face to face, so social media is our main source of building connections, use Facebook and actually leave a genuine comment on your friends pictures they post or a status, this builds human interaction and might even be the start of a good friendship. Show people that you care even if you can’t be there physically.

12. If you are someone who struggles with time management, set appointments in your calendar 15 minutes before the actual appointment, you can even set your watch 5 minutes before the time. This will help you learn how to manage your time effectively.

13. Make it a daily habit to write every day, reflect on the day, write your thoughts, feelings and emotions, writing is a beautiful tool to express yourself and to reflect on the day, have a “grateful” list and write down a thing you’re grateful for everyday at the end of the week or month read that list and you’d be surprised at how many things there is to smile about.

14. Live in the present. It is very tempting to wait for this and that to happen first before being happy and content. Live in the moment, enjoy your family while they’re still alive, life is very fragile and short, tomorrow is not promised so embrace the day and live in the moment and present, being happy today and not waiting for tomorrow.

Happy New Year, sis. Stay safe out there and remember you’ve got this!

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As part of the tips, cutting out toxic friends is a great new year, new year strategy, read all about it here

Tell us: Which of these tips are you going to do?