How to make your healthy New Year’s resolutions stick

With the holiday season right around the corner, now is the perfect time to start thinking about resolutions with clarity and focus. After the merrymaking of the holiday season, many of us begin the new year with a long list of well-intentioned yet lofty goals to improve our wellbeing, only to abandon them after the initial enthusiasm has worn off. 

To help you find balance during the frenzy of the festive season and prevent your newfound motivation from dwindling in the new year, here are some helpful steps you can take to make those resolutions stick — with a little help from the new wellness challenges on the Asia Miles by Cathay app.

Start small, simple and now

Oftentimes, resolutions are made without consideration for our lifestyle or daily routines. Though we had nothing but good intentions when resolving to workout three times a week, as the glitz and glimmer of the holidays begins to fade, so too do our hopes of dragging ourselves out of bed at 5am to hit the gym.

You can’t force a lifestyle change on yourself overnight, but you can get there gradually. Start by breaking down your resolution into smaller steps and ensure the first one you take is achievable – even on your worst day. It can be as simple as getting off the bus earlier to walk the rest of the way home, fitting in 15 minutes of exercise or ensuring you have a serving of fruit or veggies with every meal. Once you’ve successfully introduced this step in your daily life,  build on it and take it a step further. And if you lack motivation, you can always come back to that first step and know you’re still heading towards your goal.

Unlike all those Cathay Shop orders you’ve been placing in the run up to Christmas, motivation won’t just arrive on your doorstep. So, incorporating some of your resolutions ahead of the new year will allow you to feel much more at ease when 2024 rolls around.

Be consistent & track your progress

New habits can be hard to keep, so consistency and tracking are key. Make sure your goals are time-specific and tied to another activity you do every day, to fully integrate it into your routine. For example, if your goal is to meditate every morning, your goal could be meditating for five minutes after you brush your teeth. 

Tracking yourself every step of the way not only helps measure your progress, but also makes you feel good as you discover what you’re capable of. To ensure you use the tracker every day, use one that’s easily accessible – such as the wellness journey in the Asia Miles by Cathay app. This will further motivate you to hit your goals and commit to a healthier lifestyle. 

Make room for mindfulness

As the calendar flips towards the end of the year, our days are often filled with mounting commitments that leave little time left to recharge. From hectic Christmas parties and stressful family gatherings to looming work deadlines, there’s a lot going on. Practising mindfulness can help you stay grounded, reduce anxiety and improve sleep, enhancing your overall mental and physical wellbeing. 

The techniques you adopt can be as simple as meditating and journaling or as luxurious as a meditation retreat in Asia. There are many apps, such as Headspace and Aura, with a range of meditations to help with anxiety, insomnia and more. Whether you opt for a guided meditiation or breathing exercise, the beauty of a mindfulness practice is that it focuses on what works for you, and in any capacity, will allow you to slow down, reconnect, and be kind to yourself.

Cathay Wellness Challenge: From now till 20 December, earn miles for meditating for a total of 500 minutes.

Have fun and reward yourself

Resolutions don’t need to feel like a chore. Think of different ways you can have fun and opt for activities you can share with family and friends to keep each other motivated and entertained. For instance, if you’re getting bored of your running route, bring a friend to test out one of Hong Kong’s best running trails – or you could even train for a marathon around Cambodia’s Angkor Wat or the Great Wall of China together.  

Rewarding yourself when you hit major milestones is a great way to stay on track and push yourself towards achieving your goals. You can even tie this in with your new healthy lifestyle goals by booking a fitness retreat, a cycling holiday, or hitting the slopes and learning to ski or snowboard at one of our favourite ski resorts in Japan.

Cathay Wellness Challenge: From 6 December to 14 January 2024, earn miles for completing 600 minutes of running in 40 days.

Cathay Wellness Challenge: From 21 December to 8 January 2024, earn miles for snowboarding for a total of 700 minutes in 50 days.