Just like that, another year has come and gone. Goodbye 2021! Hello 2022. With each new beginning, a time of reflection, healing and hope for the future naturally occurs. That is why New Year’s resolutions are so common. New Year’s resolutions started back in Roman time and have never lost popularity. Have you made any resolutions this year? If so, how is it going? Have you already given up? Hopefully not. In any case, we’ve provided a few New Year’s resolution ideas specifically geared for Seniors and some simple advice to improve your resolution success rate. Leave us a comment below. Share your resolution(s) with our readers and/or let us know what you are doing to maintain success.

Improve Resolutions Success Rate

New Year’s Resolutions commonly fail.  Why? Because most resolutions require us to make behavioral changes and we don’t think of a clear path to achieve them. Therefore, they become more like wishes. For example, we tend to resolve to ‘lose weight’ instead of ‘lose 1 lb. each week.’ The goal is the same but the approach is completely different. Our recommendation will change all of that!

First New Year’s Resolution

To accomplish your 2022 New Year’s resolutions, we propose that the first resolution be to carve out 10 minutes each day to focus on the resolutions at hand. This is the key to success. Once a behavior becomes routine, we are more likely to do it. Make your resolutions come true by devoting 10 minutes each day to accomplishing something on your list. Let us know how it goes and remember this, we are all in this together!

New Year’s Resolution Ideas for Seniors

Give Your Brain a Workout

The more you use your mind, the better it will work. Reading is a good choice. Doing crosswords, playing cards, or learning something new. Even socializing is a great boost for your brain! (source) Implement this new resolution each day by spending 10 minutes with a good book, on the phone with a friend, playing cards or taking a course online.

Activate Your Muscles

Spend 10 minutes each day doing something for your body. If you can’t walk, spend the time sitting up straight and stretching. If you can walk, walk! Do some household chores, any sort of activity will improve your balance, posture and mood.

Reduce Your Intake

Alcohol, sugar, you name it, we all have vises. Consider this, excessive amounts of alcohol and/or sugar can make you feel depressed, cause trouble sleeping and contribute to other health problems. Alcohol can interact with medications and increase your chances of falling. Spend 10 minutes a day not partaking in your usual serving. For instance, if you usually pour a drink at 5 pm., wait until 5:10 pm. and ask yourself if you still want it. If you usually have desert after each meal, wait 10 minutes and evaluate your craving for it. Chances are, its subsided. If so, skip it for the day. Or reduce your typical amount by half. Even small reductions a few times a week will have a big impact on your health overtime.

Get Help

If you are having trouble feeling happy, its time to speak up about it. According to the experts at HealthinAging.org, 1 in 5 older adults suffers from depression or anxiety. Some possible signs of depression can be lingering sadness, tiredness, loss of appetite or pleasure in doing things you once enjoyed. You may also have difficulty sleeping, worry, irritability, and wanting to be alone. If you have any of these signs for more than two weeks, talk to your healthcare provider and reach out to friends and family. Let this be the year that you find your joy again.

Audit Your Budget

Either create a monthly budget or audit your existing budget. Find ways to live on less or simplify. That way you will have some freedom and flexibility to do something nice for yourself and reduce financial stress. Download a printable budget worksheet for senior citizens here. Investigate senior discounts and call you utilities provider, ask for a budget-billing plan, which keeps utility bills the same each month. Instead of paying higher monthly bills during certain times of the year due to increased energy usage for heating or cooling, the cost is spread evenly over 12 months. Doing small things to manage your money will have a big impact over time.

Connect with Resources

The California Department of Aging has a website with several resources for aging individuals. Check it out: www.aging.ca.gov. Also, check out our local connection points. There is help available 24 hours a day, seven days a week by calling the numbers below:

Placer Country – (833) 342-5211

Nevada Country – (833) 342-5211

Washoe Country – (866) 535-5654

Nurture Your Relationships

Spend 10 minutes a day nurturing a relationship. Whether you make a phone call, send an email or write a letter to someone you know or reach out and talk to someone new, relationships matter. Friends, even small social connections prevent loneliness and give you a chance to offer and receive companionship. This will play a significant role in promoting your overall health. The Mayo Clinic reports that relationships can:

• Increase your sense of belonging and purpose

• Boost your happiness and reduce your stress
• Improve your self-confidence and self-worth
• Help you cope with traumas, such as divorce, serious illness, job loss or the death of a loved one
• Encourage you to change or avoid unhealthy lifestyle habits, such as excessive drinking or lack of exercise

Adults with strong social support have a reduced risk of many significant health problems, including depression, high blood pressure and an unhealthy body mass index (BMI). Studies have even found that older adults with a rich social life are likely to live longer than their peers with fewer connections. (source). So, make a new friend this year and tend to your existing relationships.

Check out Sierra Seniors’ Emergency Preparedness Guide for 2021/2022

Sierra Senior Services is the local Meals on Wheels provider covering the Greater Truckee/Lake Tahoe region. We provide home-delivered meals, and can make referrals for additional support services that empower seniors to continue living independently. Sierra Senior Services is a California 501-(c)-3 Non-profit Corporation · Tax ID 68-0484075 Contribute today!