12 Things to Do This Year For a Happier, Healthier Life

There’s something appealing about fresh starts

If you are enjoying breathing the air of a fresh, new year and happy to leave the old one behind, you’re not alone. It may be just another date on the calendar, but there’s something appealing about fresh starts. Newly sharpened pencils, a blank page, a new day dawning — it feels as if anything is possible.

Whether it’s the first day of the year or the first day of a new intention to live a happier, healthier life, here are 12 things we may want to do:

Plant a garden.

Nurturing something outside of ourselves can be a powerful way to practice self-care. Science has also shown that gardening has been linked to measures of greater happiness.

After the last year, I no longer believe in having a green thumb or not having one. Learning to nurture plants has little to do with innate skill and everything to do with taking the time to learn.

I spent the last year nurturing an indoor and outdoor garden, and it has easily made me feel happier and healthier. In fact, in times of stress, you’ll likely find me caring for one of my plant babies to feel better.

Identify our people.

Identifying which people in our lives make us feel the most supported and ourselves is a powerful practice. It’s never a good idea to include everyone in our inner circle. Some people belong in the outer circle — or outside the circle entirely. Determining the people who champion and celebrate our growth and investing in those relationships can be a huge stride toward greater happiness.

Shop at local farmer’s markets or co-ops.

This isn’t just about stimulating the local economy, although that is important. When we regularly shop from local markets, we’re more likely to eat the fruits and vegetables that are in season. It’s better for our bodies and the environment.

Check to see which farms use eco-friendly, sustainable methods, and then go hog wild! It may cost a little more, but it could contribute to better health while supporting small businesses.

Soak in nature.

We don’t just need the benefits of sunshine. We also need time in forests and time spent enjoying the natural beauty of our surroundings. For urban dwellers, finding a local park can help with the natural reset provided by the world around us. While I occasionally love to soak up a big city vibe, there’s little better for our wellbeing than regular exposure to the great outdoors.

Enjoy some alone time.

This may seem counterintuitive for anyone who feels isolated right now, but I’m not talking about loneliness here. I’m talking about beautiful, delicious, intentional solitude. This kind of alone involves asking ourselves how we want to devote our time and then doing that.

My alone time might look like a leisurely morning reading over coffee, a hike at a nearby trail, time on the lake, or curling up with a favorite movie before taking a long bath. It doesn’t have to be extravagant. It just needs to be meaningful to us.

Celebrate others.

Does this seem like an odd thing to make the list? Too often, we suffer by comparing ourselves to others, particularly on social media. But if we shift our mindset to celebrating others, it’s a whole different experience. Someone took that trip we’ve been dying to take? Cheer them on!

One day, it could be us, and we wouldn’t want anyone raining on our parade out of envy and resentment. Learning to celebrate other people rather than competing with them will contribute to our happiness.

Give ourselves permission for self-love.

There’s this stupid idea that the most desirable woman is the one who doesn’t know she’s desirable. That’s a load of patriarchal garbage, and it just doesn’t hold water. We get to love ourselves. We even get to feel attractive without being ashamed of it. Giving ourselves permission to celebrate our favorite features or our accomplishments adds joy to our lives. In fact, higher self-esteem and self-efficacy are directly linked to happiness.

Wear a mask and social distance until the CDC recommends otherwise.

If we want to be healthier, we need to start by listening to public health experts. When they tell us to drink more water and eat more fruits and vegetables, we don’t argue with them about whether their advice impinges on our freedoms. We follow that guidance because they are the ones educated and trained to know what is good for us.

So, when they tell us to wear a mask to protect others and to practice social distancing, we need to treat that as sound health advice and not a personal affront. By seeing it as a public health initiative rather than a political statement, we show kindness to our communities and improve our own health, too.

Laugh more.

This can be challenging in difficult years. I used to practice making my children laugh every single day of their lives. But the last year was a tough one. It was hard to follow through on my commitment on the days I was barely holding it together. As the year drew to a close, I forgave myself for not being able to laugh as much as I would have liked with my children, but I also recommitted to finding more reasons to laugh in the coming year.

It may involve watching favorite shows, being more playful, and taking the time to search for the humor — even on the most difficult days. Laughing is said to be the best medicine, and it really can’t hurt — unless, of course, we laugh too hard.

Create a better environment.

This one has layers. Yes, we can clean house for cleaner, healthier homes, but a better environment involves making our homes more cozy and welcoming. It doesn’t have to come with a price tag. It can be clearing clutter, having vacation photos printed to hang as décor, or even just moving furniture for better energy flow in the room.

Creating a better environment also involves making sure that we aren’t spending time with toxic people. It’s taking a hard look at toxic work environments and family relationships and realizing that we have choices — however hard they may be. Want to be happier and healthier? Then we’ll need to clean up the people, place, and things we surround ourselves with.

Live an active life.

Whatever our health or level of mobility, we need to embrace living as active a life as possible. That level of activity may be mental, spiritual, emotional, and/or physical. We can have rich emotional lives, cultivate deeper spirituality, embrace lifelong learning, and even strengthen our bodies.

Being sedentary ages us. Not being engaged in outside interests wears down our bodies and minds. Staying active helps us to be happier and healthier.

Love someone well.

Being loved unconditionally is a powerful, beautiful experience. Every day, we have the opportunity to gift someone else with that kind of love.

We can tell our children and pets how much we love them — tying no strings to the idea of it. We can choose to love our partners for all of their flaws and messiness and complications — allowing them the full experience of humanity we allow for ourselves. We can reach out to family and friends and express love for them. We can be loving to strangers.

We can live in love, and express that love well. If we fail to express it well because of our messy humanity, we can try again — endeavoring to love others well every day for the rest of our lives.

I’ve no idea what the year ahead will hold, but I do know that we have an infinite number of choices as to how we’ll spend it. Every day, we can make choices that will contribute to a happier, healthier life. Consider our slates clean.

Now let’s get to work!