7 New Year’s Resolutions to Make for a Better, Healthier You

2020 is around the corner, and for many, that can mean a chance to hit reset and refresh your life’s goals. New year’s resolutions are a great way to do this, but instead of the good intentions that peter out after a few weeks, this year, give yourself a positive start with resolutions that will last.

Celebrate the new year in style with a fantastic celebration in London, with a stay at The Chilworth Hotel Paddington, and start the year as you mean to go ahead.

To inspire you with your own new year’s resolutions, here are ours, for a better, healthier life.

Learn something new

Learning isn’t just for school or college. Quite the opposite! It’s a great way of keeping your brain active, alert and creative. This year, make the step to learn a new skill or to delve deeper into a subject that you feel curious about. 

If you’re stuck on inspiration, take a trip to London, and enjoy a wander around the city’s many museums and galleries. From science to history, music, medicine and machinery, you’ll find plenty to get your brain started and discover something that sparks your curiosity. With great deals at the Chilworth London hotel, it’s the perfect time to enjoy a visit.

Start a meditation practice

Meditation and mindfulness practices have been proven to boost concentration, reduce stress, and improve overall feelings of wellbeing, and it’s a fantastic habit to start. It doesn’t need to be a complicating thing, however – check out some great online guided meditations or meditation apps to get you started. A daily practice of five minutes a day can provide a simple but effective way of clearing your mind, and helping you find some calmness.

If sitting still for that long seems impossible, check out yoga as a mindful moving practice. If you’re staying at the Chilworth Hotel Paddington, you can enjoy expert teachers guiding you through an invigorating morning session, for the perfect start to the day.

Make healthier food choices

This new year, skip the usual trendy diet and instead resolve to learn how to make healthier choices with your food habits. Check out our restaurants Paddington London to inspire you, with a mix of nourishing and delicious dishes for every meal.

Make sure that you look after your body with a well-rounded diet, that includes plenty of plant-based foods, occasional servings of meat or chicken if you eat these, and lots of water. Of course, choosing to eat healthier doesn’t mean that you can’t enjoy what you eat, or include the odd treat and indulgence. Our all Well and Good package provides the perfect balance of health and luxury, with nutrient-boosting breakfasts, an invigorating spa treatment, and a delicious afternoon tea to enjoy later in the day.

Start single-tasking

Multi-tasking might be perceived as the holy grail of productivity, but research has found that people actually perform much better when they focus on one task at a time. Trying to juggle multiple things at once actually leaves us unable to focus clearly, and reduces how well we carry out any one of those individual tasks. By contrast, single-tasking leaves us feeling happier, more content and with a greater sense of achievement at the end of doing something.

This year, commit to planning your day to do each task on your to-do list fully and completely. This might mean clearing solid chunks of time to commit to work, cook meals, or spend time with family, without having any of the usual other distractions playing in the background. 

Move more

We all know that being active is important to our health, whatever stage of life you’re at, but with busy schedules with family, work and other commitments, it can be difficult to make time to work out. This year, skip the optimistic gym membership and instead commit to making movement a daily goal… however it happens.

Simple ways of incorporating more activity into your daily life include making changes to your routine to walk or cycle more – park a little further away, or get off public transport a stop or two ahead to enjoy twenty minutes of walking. It’s also worth trying out new forms of activity and experimenting to see what you enjoy – our spa in Paddington offers a great range of fitness activities and classes to try during your stay. Check out dance classes, martial arts, or even circus-inspired fitness workouts, to keep staying active fun.

Spend more time outside

Most of us spend the vast majority of our lives indoors, whatever the weather, but spending time in the outdoors is hugely beneficial for our mental and physical health. Being outside has been found to improve your immune system, reduce stress and improve levels of creative thinking, so it’s worth trying to fit in around two hours in total, every week. This might be making time to walk outside, relaxing in a park, gardening, or enjoying a leisurely hike in nature.

Don’t be put off by poor weather either – these benefits still apply even if the sun isn’t shining, so invest in some warm, weather-proof gear and get out of the door every day.

Make time to rest

New year’s resolutions can often be packed with positive intentions to do more, but that can swiftly lead to fatigue and burnout. Instead, this year, take steps to manage stress and tiredness better, by doing a little less and committing to give yourself more time to rest every day.

This can come in a myriad of forms – committing to go to bed a little earlier every night to ensure you have a better night’s sleep is a great way to feel refreshed and rested. You might also want to set aside an hour or two every day, where you spend time away from your phone or other devices, to give both your eyes and your mind a break from the constant stream of updates and notifications.