New Year’s Day is a great time to implement change and personal growth by setting goals that you want to achieve throughout the upcoming year. Some resolutions are well worth setting, because they can contribute greatly toward helping you live the life you desire and they’re attainable without any unrealistic expectations.

Try these types of New Year’s resolutions to ring in a happy new year:

1.    Health improvements. When your body thrives, you have more energy, enthusiasm, and vitality to do everything you want to do. Focus on setting goals for the specific actions that will provide the results you’d like to see.

• For example, rather than stating that you want to lose 25 pounds next year, try to find achievable goals that will help you lose weight. Set resolutions such as enrolling in a yoga class, trying three new types of aerobics, or going for a walk each day after dinner.
• Resolve to bring new experiences into your life. Set goals about new foods that you want to try, eating 3 more vegetable servings each day, or growing your own organic vegetables.
• These goals are more fun to reach, but they’ll contribute to the same end result.

2.    Financial improvements. Following the same advice as above, try to avoid setting unrealistic resolutions like “pay off all my debt next year” or “Put $10,000 away in savings.” Instead, choose goals for specific actions that will get you where you want to be financially.

•  For example, you may resolve to save all of your spare change and deposit it into your savings account every month.
• Maybe you’d like to pick up 3 extra hours at work each week and dedicate those earned funds to your savings account or debt repayment.
• Or make a list of specific money-saving actions like the above that you’d like to incorporate into your daily life and add a new action to your routine each week. By the end of the year, you’ll be an automatic money-saving machine!

3.    Creative endeavors. Creative goals can absolutely lead to personal enrichment and development. What interests you? Set resolutions to try new things, experience new places, challenge your comfort zone, and learn about yourself all at the same time.

• To get you started, consider resolutions to try new crafts or creative projects, start writing in a journal, take up pottery, or a variety of other creative endeavors. Create a resolution to try a new recipe at least once a month. Or fashion a resolution to hand-make every Christmas gift you give, starting at the beginning of the year!

4.    Intellectual endeavors. Intellectual New Year’s resolutions can also benefit you in many different ways. Elect to take a course or seminar on a topic interests you, such as photography, scrapbooking, auto repair, or entrepreneurship.

•  Challenge yourself to read ten non-fiction books about subjects that interest you, or resolve to participate in an intellectual challenge like NaNoWriMo, November’s “National Novel Writing Month.”
• New Year’s resolutions are a great way to find new ways to challenge yourself.

Above all else, choose New Year’s resolution goals that actually interest you and that are achievable for you. Resolve to do things that will be enjoyable, while also improving your life as a whole.