6 Realistic New Years Resolutions for 2023

Updated   ·  8 min · Nick Lafferty This post contains affiliate links. I may earn a referral fee if you choose to purchase something.
New Years Resolutions
Table of Contents

I love New Years.

There’s something comforting about closing out a year and starting a new one.

I’ve done the traditional new years resolutions thing before and they never stick.

In my opinion a resolution doesn’t need to stick for the whole year.

But it should stick long enough to make a significant impact on your life.

So I put together a list of 6 realistic new years resoutions for 2022.

Why six? Lists of 20, 30, or 50 resolutions are way too many.

I wanted a list of new years resolutions you could actually accomplish.

2022 New Years Resolution Ideas

  1. Create Content
  2. Invest In Knowledge
  3. Build Streaks
  4. Set Professional Goals
  5. Build a Productivity System
  6. Say No

Create The Content You Want To See

One of my new years resolutions was to spend more time creating content instead of consuming it.

That’s what lead me to focus more on this blog, and in the past two years I’ve grown it into a successful side hustle.

For me it all started with me deciding to quit video games.

I realized I was spending so much of my time consuming other people’s content so I decided to create more of my own.

I enjoy writing so that was the natural path for me.

But for you it could be Youtube, TikTok, or Twitch.

It could be finally starting that podcast with your buddy that you’ve been talking about forever.

But your goal shouldn’t be to make money. At least not at first.

That will result in you creating the wrong kind of content and burning out.

Create the type of content you want to consume or you enjoy consuming.

If you’ve ever watched a video and thought “I wish they talked about this instead”.

Then that’s exactly what you should create.

Make what you want to see and that you’re proud of.

Invest In Your Knowledge

The smartest and most successful people I know, people that have had billion dollar exits from startups, are all lifelong learners.

They’re constantly asking themselves “how can I improve?”

Learning doesn’t stop after you graduate.

For me, school was most useful in helping me understand how I best retain information.

I retain more by doing the thing consistently.

Whether it’s writing, coding, building websites, or gardening, I need to do it myself to actually learn.

So I invest in my knowledge.

I take classes, read books, and constantly try new things.

Here’s some of my favorite classes online:

The Conversion Copywriting class I linked is the single best class I’ve taken for my professional career as a digital marketer.

Learning how to create sales copy that is persuasive was a game changer for me.

But that class is expensive: $500

So I prepared a short proposal of what I wanted to get out of the class, why I picked that one, and how I would apply it to my work.

I pitched it to my boss and he said yes.

Good managers want to invest into their people, and I was fortunate to work for a a good manager.

But it won’t always be that easy.

I’ve committed to investing in my continuing education regardless if I can convince my company to pay for it.

It’s that important for me and that’s why I’m recommending it here.

Start Streaking

Hear me out on this one.

Wanting to exercise more is the most common new years resolution.

But that goal already sets you up to fail.

Instead I prefer streaking.

For me that means building a streak of healthy choices so I feel more guilty about breaking it.

What kind of healthy streaks can start this year?

Here are some of my favorite examples:

Some examples I use are:

  • Going for daily walks
  • Weightlifting at least 3 times a week
  • Playing with my dog for 30 minutes
  • Locking my phone in a drawer after work for 1 day a week

You can use an old school paper calendar or an app like Streak.

Check out my list of the best productivity apps to see some other examples.

There’s something satisfying about having a really long streak.

And it also makes you afraid to break it.

My longest streak is 300 days right now.

I don’t want to start over from zero, so I make time in my day to extend my streak.

Set Professional Goals

It’s so easy to get complacent at work.

And it’s even easier to justify that attitude when something negative happens.

Maybe your coworker was a jerk to you, or you didn’t get that raise, bonus, or promotion you wanted, or your company sucks to work for.

So you stop caring.

You don’t put your forth your best effort.

You coast.

But that leads to your own professional stagnation.

Not every coworker is great to work with.

And not every company is a good company to work for.

Maybe your boss is a complete tool.

But you don’t have to accept that situation. You have the power to take control.

The job market is so hot right now.

There are other companies who want and need your skillset.

You just have to find them.

I avoid complacency by setting professional goals.

I think about where I want to be in my professional life over the next 1, 3, and 5 years.

One of my goals right now is to not work a traditional corporate job.

I haven’t achieved that goal yet, but I’m actively working on it right this second.

I want my blog to support me and my family. That’s my biggest goal right now.

But until that happens I need to continue excelling at my day job.

I want to continue growing and managing a team of growth marketers.

I want the company I work for to be wildly successful due in part to my efforts.

I want to be a major contributor to their success.

I want to achieve a certain title by a specific time.

Those are my professional goals.

What are yours?

Build A Productivity System

I owe part of my professional success to my ability to efficiently complete my work at a high level.

That efficiency comes from a productivity system that I’ve built and evolved over time.

But what works for me may not exactly work for you, and that’s ok.

Everyone is different.

What is important is building a system that works for you.

It starts with being aware of what it takes to do your best work.

My favorite framework for approaching is called fuelers and drainers. I put a time of day spin on it too.

Here are three helpful questions to ask:

  1. What time of day do I do my best work?
  2. What fuels me?
  3. What drains me?

Here are my answers:

  1. The morning
  2. Achieving results. Launching projects. Making charts go up and to the right.
  3. Meetings, specifically back to back meetings.

I’ve abstracted my fuelers and drainers but it boils down to getting shit done and avoiding meetings.

I block off my calendar in the morning for deep work because that’s what works for me.

In my job meetings are unavoidable so I schedule them in the afternoons.

I’m not always perfect. Sometimes meetings get scheduled earlier than I would like.

But you gotta roll with the punches.

Those three questions are the foundation of my productivity system.

Then I layer on a tool.

One of my favorite tools is monday.com.

It’s a project management software for work. You can create tables, dashboards, and documentation in one central location.

I use monday to plan out my projects, input due dates, and get ideas out of my brain.

It’s been a lifesaver for me and I’d highly recommend it to anyone trying to get organized.

Say No

Saying no is really hard, at least for me.

It was also hard for Simone Biles, when she said no to competing in the 2020 Olympics.

But saying no can be better for your mental health.

| “Research tells us that people who proactively state their boundaries, such as leaving or stopping work on time, taking leave or prioritising non-work-related activities, are much better at managing their mental health,”

That quote is from Dr. Jo Yarker, senior lecturer at Birkbeck University, London.

I’m guilty of not saying no as much as I should, especially at work.

At work I want to be the person that can take on that project and complete it.

I want to have a bunch of wins under my belt.

But saying no is actually more powerful than saying yes.

Committing to too many things is bad.

It can make you seem unorganized and overwhelmed.

So I’ve had to force myself to say no to projects because I was too busy to take them on.

But you can reframe that No into something that helps you out in the long run.

I don’t have the bandwidth for that now. Could we find a short-term contractor to help? I’d be happy to manage them.

I’ve leveraged no’s into more long term career growth than saying yes ever would’ve achieved.

This applies in my personal life too.

In order to achieve the goals I outlined above and to create the content I want to see, I have to say no to some activities.

Luckily the pandemic made that easier, I had plenty of time on my hands.

But every once in a while I have to decline a social invite because I’m focused on growing my side hustle.

I don’t recommend becoming a hermit and declining everything, but sometimes you have to make the hard choice.

I cherish all of my friendships and I belive those relationships do need to be nurtured and maintained over time.

Sometimes I just need to say no, and I think saying no more is a great new years resolution.

Wrapping Up

I don’t like typical new years resolutions because they never really worked for me.

I hope this list of new years resolutions was helpful for you.

Make it a great year.