This time of year, most of us reflect on the past 12 months and make a list of goals for the year ahead. Did you know New Year’s resolutions rarely work? Are you surprised? We put so much pressure on ourselves and set unrealistic expectations, whether trying to lose a lot of weight quickly, giving up a bad habit like smoking, eliminating all debt or changing career paths.
After the year we all had, it is especially important to give yourself a break from these expectations; self-care includes self-kindness. This time last year, we did not expect a pandemic was coming; the impact it would have on the economy; and how much life would change as offices transitioned to work-from-home, schools sent students home to learn remotely, gyms closed, and gatherings and events were cancelled. You did not anticipate 2020 to be so stressful, but as a silver lining, you can take away what you learned and apply it to 2021.
At NuTraditions®, we believe making simple changes lead to a bigger, longer-lasting impact. It is easy to get caught up with the stress of the world, give up on your goals and go back to old habits. Instead of making grandiose resolutions, why not establish some reasonable lifestyle traditions for the year?
Be the Optimal You
One resolution you might consider is prioritizing your overall health and wellness. That can be overwhelming, where do you start? Staying energized and focused is a good beginning to prioritizing your health. Being tired can lead to serious problems in your life and wellbeing. Staying alert is important for doing your best at work, remaining in a good mood and enjoying life. Nobody wants to go through the day feeling groggy, cranky and sleepy.
Are you struggling to stay awake throughout the day? Your days are exhausting, especially if you are driving around to pick up kids, emailing with coworkers all day, sitting through long meetings or finishing big tasks for deadlines. No matter how many hours of sleep you get, you might find yourself yawning at your desk just trying to get through the day.
One simple resolution this year could be to cut out the use of energy drinks and excessive caffeine overload and instead be more mindful of the solutions you reach for in those moments when you need to power up or power through. Staying energized keeps you motivated for exercising to stay fit, working hard for that promotion, and still finding time to socialize. While your first instinct might be grabbing a quick caffeine fix, we believe something as simple as changing your coffee might help.
NuTraditions Good Morning SunshineTM Coffee is made with Fair Tradeô Certified Arabic coffee with organic red ginseng extract to give you sustained energy throughout the day. We believe more coffee is not the answer to staying energized – choosing the right one is. Our organic Red ginseng extract gives the natural caffeine in the coffee the added boost it needs and helps your body and mind to keep going by fighting fatigue and reducing stress. When you brew a cup of Good Morning Sunshine™️ coffee, you will stress less, and power through the day naturally.*
Get A Good Night’s Sleep
One new tradition for the New Year could be to simply focus on improving your sleep. Making a commitment to get eight hours of sleep a night, no matter what, just sets you up for failure: in reality, sometimes it might not happen. There are times you might have to stay up late; life happens. You could have a commitment, event, or even emergency and still need to get up the next morning for work and life.
You should commit to getting a better night’s sleep, setting you up for the next day. If your long-term goal is to improve at work or exercise more, being well-rested is a good place to start. Nothing stops a morning workout routine faster than waking up as tired as when you went to bed.
You might already use melatonin as a sleep aid, but did you know that while melatonin triggers the fall asleep response, it does nothing to slow down your brain so you get a restful sleep? It is important to disconnect from screens in the evening and do activities that help you calm down and prepare for sleep, such as cooking a nice meal, reading, meditating, journaling or yoga.
NuTraditions’ Hello Dreams™ sleep strips can also help you get the rest you need once you get into bed.* Each strip incorporates melatonin to help you fall asleep quickly, and Calm Down™ herb blend, our unique combination of jujube seed, poria, licorice root, Szechuan lovage rhizome, anemarrhena rhizome and luohanguo to help you relax and stay asleep.* Calm Down™ strips are portable and easy to use. They dissolve in your mouth and as you swallow, the premium herbs start acting right away to help you fall asleep and stay asleep.*
Combining a healthy nighttime routine with Hello Dreams™ sleep strips can help you get the night’s sleep you need to cross everything off your to-do list the next day.*
Instead of lofty commitments to meet unrealistic goals, how about deciding to go easier on yourself? There are many small lifestyle choices that can help improve your day, starting with a good night’s sleep or natural boost of energy. By making these small changes, it is easier to commit to becoming the best version of yourself not just in the next year, but for a lifetime.
*These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. These products are not intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease.