Check out these 70 ideas for achievable resolutions that you can set for yourself this year to improve your life. Stop making resolutions that are too big and use these simpler goals to help you take more effective steps towards your dreams.
I love to set goals for myself throughout the year.
Whether it’s for a more official event like the New Year or whether I’m just feeling a little stagnant and want a change, goal-setting is one of my favourite things to do!
But sometimes it can be hard to come up with ideas that aren’t about going to the gym or flossing more.
You end up in a rut because you can’t think of new ideas that you might like.
Or, even worse, the goals you come up with are way too lofty that you’re bound to fail.
This list has lots of suggestions to help you come up with achievable resolutions that will actually help you improve as a person.
Whether you choose to set your goals in December, February, or June, these ideas can help you come up with something good!
I’ve separated the list into different categories.
Sometimes I’ll just choose one goal to work on, but other times I like to pick two or three.
When I do that, I prefer to choose a resolution from different categories so that I’m improving multiple areas of my life.
These categories are social, financial, academic, mental health, physical health, and spiritual health.
Related Post: How to Set Goals You Can Actually Achieve
Important things to remember before you choose a yearly goal to set
Before you choose from this list of achievable resolutions, it’s important to know a few things that will help bring you motivation and success in your journey.
Your resolutions need to be within your power to achieve.
You’ll notice that I don’t have anything on this list that is largely outside of your control.
For example, I will have a goal that says ‘create a budget’, but I won’t have a goal that says ‘get a raise at work’.
This is an important thing to understand when you’re creating achievable resolutions; if you create a goal that is not fully in your power to achieve, you are not going to be able to motivate yourself enough to try for that goal.
Creating a budget, regardless of what you earn, is completely within your power to achieve with a little effort.
However, no matter how hard you work, it might not be possible to get a raise at work.
Knowing that will make the resolution frustrating and will not actually help you to improve.
Related Post: 7 Reasons You’re Failing Your Goals you can Fix Now
Your Goal needs to be clear.
The resolution ideas in the following list will be worded clearly, so you will have a good guide to help you.
But if you decide to make your own goals, remember that you will need to make sure that you have defined your goal well enough.
A well-defined resolution makes it easy to tell when you have achieved it, so it will be much easier to strive for.
Related Post: Plan for success: How to Prepare for new goals
Success is not necessarily about achieving your goal- your progress matters more.
The point of a resolution is not to make it and forget about it three weeks later, but it is also not about achieving the goal every time.
It’s important to try to make achievable resolutions, but fully reaching that goal is not the only thing that matters.
What matters most is that you took the time to take a look at your life and reflect on what things you want to improve and that you came closer to the life you want throughout the year.
As you’ve read before on this site, we are aiming for progress, not perfection.
Related Post: 7 Reasons Quarterly Goals are Magic for Personal Growth
Now that you’ve got a better idea of the types of yearly goals to set, check out the list and let it inspire you to reflect on what types of things you might want to improve in the future.
70 Achievable Resolutions you can set any time of the year!
Social Resolutions
- Text _______ once per week to keep in touch
- Call _______ once a month to keep in touch
- Join a support group at church
- Join a club or group based on an interest you have (ex. Chess club or knitting group)
- Assign a date night once a week and honour that time with your significant other
- Make a new friend this year
- Decide if you have any toxic friends that you should let go of
- Learn how to set boundaries that will help you develop healthier relationships
- Show gratitude to at least one person every day
- Do an act of kindness at least once per day
- Write a letter to a friend once a month
- Join a club with a friend or family member
Financial Resolutions
- Learn how to make a budget
- Create your own budget and stick to it for three whole months
- Tithe your money every month
- Create a system to record your receipts
- Do an audit of your bank and decide if you want to choose a new one or stay where you are
- Learn about investing
- Invest a portion of your money
- Start a savings account
- Do a “no spending day” once a week
- Find three ways that you can save money this year and try it
- Get rid of ten things that do not add value to your life
- Try a DIY project to save money
Academic Resolutions
- Set aside 15 minutes each day to practice a new language
- Assign 3 hours each week to start learning a new skill
- Join a class to learn something new
- Choose a subject you think you’re bad at and try to learn something about it once a week
- Read 5 non-fiction books before the end of this year
- Learn a new productivity method (ex. Pomodoro technique, Flow State, Unitasking)
- Complete one creative project by the end of this year
- Create a habit to write 100 words every day
- Learn a new trivia fact every day (a great goal if your friends love trivia nights!)
- Try to master a challenge in a skill you are already good at
- Watch a documentary once a month, and follow the viewing with research (documentaries are biased, so you need to view all perspectives rather than taking every opinion the documentary has)
- Learn a new word every day
Mental Health Resolutions
- Create a morning routine that makes you feel good
- Create a night routine that prepares you for the next day
- Choose a bad habit and work on replacing it with a good habit
- Practice morning pages 4 days a week
- Do ten-minute stretches every morning
- Meditate three times a week
- Eat something that’s good for brain health every day
- Start working with a therapist or a mentor
- Schedule one hour of personal time every day and honour that time
- Get 6-8 hours of sleep every night
- Write one thing you like about yourself every day
- Start a gratitude journal and write in it five days a week
- Buy something to care for and give it attention daily (a plant or a pet)
- Do a digital detox once a month
- Create a restorative shower routine and try it once a week
Physical Health Resolutions
- Take a 30-Minute walk four times a week
- Make an extra effort to eat mindfully three days every week
- Develop a consistent skincare routine
- Build a daily habit that will improve your oral health
- Drink enough water daily
- Swap out a bad eating habit for a healthier one
- Reflect on a health problem you’ve been having and develop a habit that will help that problem
- Swap one hour of television for one hour of exercise, or learn exercises you can do while watching television
- Learn a new sport or athletic skill
- Join a gym class and attend once a week
- Find three ways that you can walk more each day and make them a habit
- Learn how to do self-massage
Spiritual Health Resolutions
- Memorize a new Bible verse once a month
- Create a prayer journal and use it at least once a week
- Designate one day a week as a Sabbath/Rest Day and honour that day
- Read one book of the Bible each month or do thirty minutes of Bible study every day (let me tell you right now, reading the Bible in a year is not terribly realistic. It’s a huge book, and some of it is slow-going. Settling for one book a month is more reasonable for most people)
- Set aside thirty minutes every day for time with God
- Find one way that you can get involved at church and sign up for it
- Find a spiritual mentor and meet with them once every two weeks
- Take a class in theology
- Learn about a religion that is not your own
- Join a volunteer program
- Reflect on what you think your spiritual gifts are. Pick one and find a way to use it this year in a way that will serve God and the people around you
- Let your ‘yes’ be ‘yes’ and your ‘no’ be ‘no’. Practice saying what you mean and keeping your word
Were you able to get any inspiration from the ideas I had for you?
I hope so!
I want to encourage you this year to stay away from the cliche goals like ‘getting fit’ and ‘eating healthier’.
Take a look at your life and your priorities and make achievable resolutions that reflect something that you care about.
If your life is even a little better because of it, then it was worth it!
And remember, it’s not about making all of your New Year’s resolution ideas happen perfectly- aim for progress and you will be much better for it! Good luck, and happy planning!
How often do you like to make goals and resolutions? Do you have any suggestions for some achievable resolutions to try?
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