For 2024, try one little word instead of resolutions

Did you keep your New Year’s resolutions in 2023? If you did, you’re among the few. Only about 8 percent of people who make resolutions manage to actually keep them.

Resolutions range from the financial (“I will save $100 out of each paycheck”), to the nutritional (“I will cut out refined sugar”) to the physical (“I will walk three miles every day”). There’s a lot of advice out there on how to make resolutions smart and achievable.

But these days, resolutions are out.

Words are in.

If you Google “words for 2024” you will be presented with lists and lists of possibilities to help you set a new year’s theme or intention rather than make a handful of resolutions. You choose a word of the year as your guide, your north star that you can return to time and again throughout the year to see whether your goals and actions align with it.

The word can feel comforting (peace, mindful), empowering (progress, today), challenging (activism, adventure) or even a little lighthearted (humor, silliness). It can be a noun, a verb or an adjective. Having gone through some significant life changes in 2023, I might consider“strength,” “hope” or “thrive.”

Your word focuses you on a core value rather than some hard-to-attain goal. It can be a powerful tool for change because it is forgiving and gives you room to explore and grow.

How do you choose a word that will embody your year? Start by looking back at 2023. What were your achievements and challenges, however big or small? What brought you happiness or pain?

Let’s say a loved one received a diagnosis of dementia last year, something that’s very difficult to deal with. Your word of the year might be “breathe,” “balance,” “peace” or “simplify.” (These are all just suggestions. Your word will be unique to you.)

The idea is to then build goals and activities around your word that support your intention. If your word is “breathe,” you may want to take a mindfulness class or practice taking deep breaths when faced with stressful situations.

If you want to have a healthier lifestyle in the coming year, you could choose “progress,” “discipline” or “movement.” Then, when you do something in support of your intention, you can congratulate yourself.

Keep track of your intentions and subsequent actions. What can you do every month in support of your theme? If your theme is kindness, for example, you might visit a lonely neighbor or take them out to lunch. If it’s generosity, surprise the person behind you at the supermarket by buying a small gift card and handing it to them, or pay for the person behind you in the Starbucks drive-through.

You don’t have to spend money to support your theme. “Activity” can just mean going for a walk. “Health” might just mean eating a fruit or vegetable every day. Whatever you choose to do will feed your spirit, which will make you want to do it again and again.

A spouse, neighbor or close friend might like to do this with you, which will make it more fun even if you are pursuing different themes.

When developing activities and goals, it’s important to leverage your own strengths, preferences and tendencies. For example, if one of your strengths is organization and you want to eat healthier, use that strength to reorganize the kitchen, find recipes and make a nutritious shopping list.

Working against your preferences and tendencies, on the other hand, makes it more difficult to achieve the goals behind your intentions. If your word is “healthy” and you tell yourself you’re going to eat five vegetables a day, but you don’t have a preference for vegetables… well, you can guess how that’s going to turn out.

Resolutions pressure us to check a box, and they are very either/or. (Either you lost that 20 pounds or you didn’t.) Choosing a word that expresses your intention, on the other hand, lets you look at yourself with love and make decisions that align with your inner self. It may well be that your positive intentions will have a positive impact on your overall health and well-being.

So this year, don’t be intent on your resolutions. Be resolute in your intentions. Give yourself grace if you fall short and celebrate when your 2024 word leads you in new, positive directions.

Happy new year, readers!

• Teri Dreher is a board-certified patient advocate. A critical care nurse for 30+ years, she is founder of NShore Patient Advocates (www.NorthShoreRN.com). Her book, “How to Be a Healthcare Advocate for Yourself & Your Loved Ones,” is available on Amazon. She is offering a free phone consultation to Daily Herald readers; call her at (312) 788-2640 or email teri@northshorern.com.