The year is coming to an end. The cold, winter breeze is flowing through the bare trees, and soft snow is falling upon the frozen soil. The Christmas cheer has come to an end but there is one more thing left—New Years. You know what happens then. A New Year’s Resolution. But what should you do? Every year, you think to yourself, “new year, new me”, and start a journey to becoming the best you there can be. It works out for a week or so, but it all falls down. The goals are too far and that phone is too close and it seems so much easier to be the person you were before rather than the person you can be. But don’t worry, this year will be different. Not just because it’s what you say every year, but because you have me, to give you the only New Year’s resolution ideas for teens.
Why Have a New Year’s Resolution as a Teen?
New Year’s resolutions have been around for some time, and haven’t got the best history. We always want to start something, but never seem to get it done in the end. It’s especially hard for us teens, because anything but thinking about the future seems appealing.
However, it’s really important to have these resolutions, because we all need goals in life. Not only for our future, but for our mental health. We have enough stress from academics and extracurriculars. We need to focus on our mental health. As teens, we are quite susceptible to mental illness, with 1 in 7 teens globally having already experienced mental disorders. We can use New Year’s resolutions to make healthy goals. These goals will help us outline our coming year in a way that makes sure our mental wellbeing is not left behind.
New Year’s Resolution Ideas for Teens
You know why you need New Year’s resolutions. They should be ones that are achievable and taking into account mental health. But what can these be? Here are 10 great New Year’s resolution ideas for teens you can implement this year!
#1 : Practice Gratitude Daily
Gratitude is a subject that is over-repeated in our lives, but so incredibly important. Being grateful benefits your mental health more than you can imagine, which you can read about here in my article on practicing gratitude.
Make a goal for yourself. Get a notebook out, or the Notes app on your phone, or even just your mind and practice being grateful for just 5 minutes a day. It’s not a big commitment. It’s super easy to finish anytime you want, whether it’s in the morning, on the bus, or just before bed. There’s no reason to skimp out with this New Year’s resolution idea, because it’s hardly any work for so much to get in return.
#2 : Limit Screen Time
We all know how bad screens are for our health, especially our mental health. Our phones are so cleverly designed to steal our attention for hours without us noticing, allowing us to waste away our potential scrolling through social media. Hey, social media does have some positives, but it’s negatives are chipping away at our mental health.
This year, make it a goal to lower your screen time. And it doesn’t need to happen all at once. Set short term and long term goals that’ll slowly lower your screen time. Let’s say you have 8 hours of screen time and you want to bring it down to 2 hours. For the first month, spend 2 of those hours doing something else, like homework, drawing, or the many activity ideas you have on this list. Then, over the next few months, slowly take down those hours and convert them into time spent outside of the screen. Soon, by the end of the year, you will have reached your goal!
Now, I know. This is one of those goals that people often fail at. But don’t let yourself fail. Remind yourself of all the things you could do that would be so much better for you than scrolling on your phone. The more you do them, the more fun they will be, and the less fun your phone will be. Everything takes time, and you have to give your time and effort if you want to achieve your goal. So, don’t forget this New Year’s resolution idea, because it’ll be more than beneficial for your mental health.
#3 : Take a Mental Health Day
Sometimes, we forget about our mental health, and let the stress of life drive it into the ground. And that’s okay. We all need time and ability to recognize when we need to take a break, and readjust ourselves. We can do that through a Mental Health Day, which you can read more about here in my article all about Mental Health Days.
So, make that a goal this year. Have yourself be able to recognize when you need a day off, and bravely take it for your mental health. It’s a great New Year’s Resolution idea because it lets you take the initiative to care for your mental health when you otherwise may not have. It is pretty achievable too, as it is only a few times, and if you read my article on Mental Health Days, you’ll have everything you need to know to take one.
#4 : Start Journaling
Journaling is a great habit to start practicing for your mental health. It helps you get your emotions out in a healthy manner, allowing you to process those feelings and understand yourself better. This is all essential to progress yourself as a person and improve your mental health. If you want to learn more about how you can use journaling as therapy, check out my article, which talks all about it!
Journaling is also a pretty achievable goal. All you really need is a pencil and notebook, which you probably have lying around somewhere anyway. Just tell yourself to sit down for 10 minutes everyday and write. About what? That’s completely up to you. You can vent, write stories to express yourself, or just describe the normal aspects of your life. The most important thing is to stay consistent, and that would be your goal with this New Year’s resolution idea.
#5 : Spend Time in Nature
Being in the outside world is so much more important than our society knows, and everything seems to keep us from being there. Nature is an incredible method of improving mental health. In fact, a study conducted to find natural treatments for ADHD found that spending time in nature proved to be an effective method of coping, for many more mental illnesses next to ADHD.
How do you do this? Well, it is quite simple. Take a walk outside for even just 30 minutes a day. And not just a brisk walk, looking at your phone to get it over with. Make sure you are truly taking in the nature around you, appreciating it. Have a garden? Just sit there for 10 minutes, admiring everything around you. If you have a pet, you could even play with them outside. The best option would probably be to just do your work outside. Take everything you have to do, and do it outside, even if it’s just for an hour.
Conclusion
At the end of the day, we all want to be better people. New Year’s resolutions are just one of the many ways us humans try to get that change going. However, doing that can seem a little too difficult, and the procrastination demon keeps us from reaching our goals. But now, you have all these New Year’s resolution ideas for teens that can easily guide you down the path of self-improvement victory. So, what are you waiting for? Get that resolution going!
