The weeks before the New Year are often some of the busiest in the whole calendar. During this time, it’s easy to lose touch with your healthy habits, your interests, and your goals.
However, with just a little effort and intention, this period can actually be a launch pad that prepares you for a great year ahead. If you want to set yourself up for success in 2024, check out these fun and useful activities to do before 2023 ends.
1. Prioritize sleep
A well-rested mind is one that’s more elastic, creative, and resilient! Research shows that the right amount of rest each night is a major factor in protecting your brain health and preventing memory loss.
If getting to bed on time is a challenge, try committing to a screen-free routine before you sleep. This can be a great time to catch up on reading, do a crossword puzzle, or even do some light stretching. If your trouble with sleep has more to do with aches and pains, find your best sleeping position with this guide from the Sleep Foundation.
2. Be conscientious about what you’re eating
There’s a lot of truth to the old saying you are what you eat. But you don’t necessarily have to “go on a diet” to make some positive changes to what you eat and drink.
One of the most important changes you can make is to become a more thoughtful eater. This means practicing very simple and straightforward mindfulness while you eat, using your awareness to savor the food and to gauge how full you are.
You might also consider incorporating more organic produce into your meals. Check out a farmers’ market or organic grocery near you, and have fun with it! Try cooking old favorites with outstanding quality ingredients, or discovering entirely new foods.
3. Try meditation
There’s no time like the present to finally commit to that meditation practice you’ve been curious about. The best way to keep up the motivation for a new habit is to start simple and small. To begin, you don’t need any tools or any special knowledge. Just sit somewhere comfortable and close your eyes. Then, see if you can be still and do nothing but focus on your breathing for one minute. If you can do that today, you can do it tomorrow too. Maybe next week you can carve out two minutes at a time.
Lots of people find it easier to stay on track with their meditation practice by joining collaborative sessions. Find a Meetup group like Meditation Denver that offers both in-person and online sessions.
4. Make a vision board
A vision board is a manifestation of your hopes, desires, and goals. It serves as a constant reminder of what personal success looks like to you.
Making a vision board is not only a fun craft project, but an act of reflection and intention-setting that helps establish your path toward a brighter future. Before 2023 ends, learn how to make a vision board with your hands or using online tools, and create the image of how you want your 2024 to look.
5. Go for a long walk
Research on the benefits of walking shows that it can contribute to everything from cardiovascular fitness and improved mood to a reduction in food cravings and joint pain.
If you want to pick up a new walking habit, it’s okay to start small. Try taking yourself out for a relaxing stroll through your local park, or find a Meetup group like Central Park NYC Ever Walk that’s dedicated to group outings at a conversational pace.
6. Make space for socializing
An active social circle makes your experience of life much more full, presenting so many opportunities to journey, explore, and discover. Try catching up on the phone with loved ones who live out of town, meeting pals in person, or making brand new connections with a Meetup group like Discovering Houston. This community of 38,000 members embraces new arrivals to the city with casual activities like happy hours, open mics, volleyball, and more.
7. Do something creative
It doesn’t matter if you have a background in the arts or not—the point of doing something creative isn’t to produce something great, but to tap into your mindfulness. With this approach, the possibilities are endless! For example, you might join a free figure drawing class with a Meetup group like Drawing New York, or pen a story and share it with a writing workshop like the Vicious Circle Writers Group.
8. Read a book
Get in the habit of carving out more tech-free time by committing to start and finish a book before the year ends! It could be a novel, an inspiring biography, or a nonfiction deep dive into any topic under the sun. A great way to get recommendations and to stay accountable with your reading goal is by joining a book club like Mocha Girls Read.
9. Make some personal top ten lists
Reflect on what you loved about 2023, split into different categories like movies, albums, restaurants, parties, or anything else that speaks to you. Not only does this help you appreciate the magnitude of your experience in 2023, but it also highlights trends in your taste, and inspires a 2024 that’s even more “you.”
10. Make a plan for 2024
There’s more than one way to set yourself up for success in 2024. If you’re looking for a little guidance, check out some popular New Year’s resolutions and learn how to stick with them. You could also set a general tone for your year by picking a word or a phrase—like “flow” or “more myself than ever”— that captures your intention without prescribing any one specific action.
It’s quick and easy to create your own Meetup group and build a supportive community that helps you and others achieve your 2024 goals through mutual motivation.
Last modified on December 18, 2023
