As we prepare to close the book on 2023, millions of people around the world eagerly embrace the tradition of making New Year resolutions. It’s a time-honored tradition and seemingly human nature for us to lean into the transition from one year to the next to also contemplate desired transitions in our personal lives.
Aspiring to adopt new routines for self-improvement is a practice that stretches back thousands of years, reflecting the human condition and our desire to grow and evolve – or, just to feel a little better today than we did yesterday.
Let's Do This Together!
During the next six weeks, Pure Essentials will focus on New Routines For A New Year. We’re setting some goals of our own, and we encourage you to join us. Think of this as an active participation project where we create objectives, track our progress, set positive expectations, and encourage each other; all sprinkled with a fun contest, special offers, and the introduction of our downloadable New Routines Journal.
Community support helps us motivate each other to stick with our goals. To join in, follow us and share your #NewRoutines story, goals, and progress using that hashtag on Facebook or Instagram. In February, we’ll enter everyone who participates with that hashtag into an exclusive drawing for a free nutrition DNA at-home test, a 30-minute wellness consultation, and up to $100 in Pure Essentials products. Here’s all you have to do:
- Post with #NewRoutines on Facebook or Instagram.
- Tag @shoppureessentials when you post.
- Be sure to follow us on Facebook or Instagram.
The Origins of Year-End Pledges
The concept of New Year resolutions can be traced back to ancient Babylon, around 4,000 years ago. The Babylonians celebrated the new year in March, coinciding with the arrival of spring and the planting season. During a 12-day festival called Akitu, they made promises to their deities to repay debts and return borrowed items, setting the tone for the coming year. This early form of resolution-making reflected a commitment to personal and communal betterment, a theme that transcends time and culture.
Common New Year Resolutions
Fast forward to the present day, and aspiring to new routines for the new year has become a global phenomenon, transcending cultural and religious boundaries. While the specific resolutions may vary, some common themes persist. Here are a few favorites:
- Health and Fitness Goals
- Eat healthier
- Exercise more
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Balance rest and activity
- Personal Development
- Prioritize self-care
- Read more
-
Learn a new skill
- Relationship Resolutions
- Strengthen existing relationships
- Make new friends
- Improve communication skills
- Financial Resolutions
- Save money
- Reduce debt
- Budget more effectively
Which new routine, or routines, each of us set our sites on is very personal. Each of us have unique motivations. Many aspire to wholesale changes, while others seek only modest refinements, and everything in between. Some don’t set any resolutions or goals at all, which is perfectly fine.
5 Wellness Priorities For 2024
Pure Essentials is starting 2024 with a focus on 5 priorities that support popular new year resolutions related to nutrition, fitness, and self-care. We're not worrying about being perfect in these areas. Instead, we encourage a good, better, best approach that is practical and keeps you moving in the right directions - toward your wellness goals.
Track Your Food
What you eat sets the tone for your overall wellness. A healthy diet with proper balance of alkaline and acid foods is one way to maintain a bodily pH that is less conducive to bacteria, virus, and disease.
Hydration
Your body needs water and plenty of it. How much? We recommend half your body weight in ounces, every day. Lots of other beverages are made with water, but they aren’t water.
Sleep
The body performs tissue growth and repair during your deepest sleep cycles, allowing healing and restoration to occur. Experts recommend that most adults get at least 7 to 8 hours of sleep each night. Children and teenagers generally need more.
Stress & Response
Chronic stress is known to contribute to a broad variety of health issues. It’s nearly impossible to avoid stress altogether but you can develop routines and dietary support to help you relieve stress and respond with calm and perspective.
Exercise
Running marathons, pumping iron, or going to grueling cross fit classes aren’t for everyone. That's ok! Still, your body needs a regular routine of movement, stretching, and strengthening. What’s important is that you try to do something every day.
Stay On Track. Start A Journal!
While the enthusiasm for adopting your #NewRoutines may be high right now, studies show that only a fraction of people successfully achieve their goals. The reasons for this are varied, often encompassing unrealistic expectations, lack of planning, and the challenges of forming new habits.
This part is critical.
Start your wellness journey by first downloading our FREE 122-PAGE WELLNESS JOURNAL. Save it to your computer. Print it out at home at use this amazing new tool to track weekly progress.
At Pure Essentials, we believe keeping a weekly journal is critical to the ability to set and stick to a commitment to new routines. Later this week we’ll be sharing: The Power Of Journaling: What To Track & Why as it relates to our 5 wellness priorities. Together we’ll focus on setting goals with a Good, Better, and Best mindset – to embrace a mindset that progress is what matters most, not perfection. We’ll encourage you to write down why your goals are important to you, to track your progress, to be kind to yourself, and to celebrate your successes.
Yes, there will be successes!
New Routines For Modern Times
Our 5 priorities for wellness reflect an emphasis on adopting a holistic approach to well-being. Mindfulness, mental health, and overall happiness have joined diet, exercise, and healthy habits at center stage as individuals recognize the interconnectedness of physical and mental well-being. Our mission at Pure Essentials is to “reclaim health for humanity…”, an outcome that by definition encourages us each to take a proactive, committed stance toward our well-being. As has been the case for centuries, there is no better time than the transition from one passing year to the next to embrace new routines that may help you become your very best self.
Raise your glass to toast the new year. Raise your aspirations too, and let the journey of self-betterment begin.
