If you want to finish this year on a high note, it’s time to adopt these 10 new habits

Adopting these habits will bring the year to a close on a positive note.

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One of my all-time favorite quotes is attributed to the Greek philosopher, Aristotle. He said:

We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit.

This is such a profound truth that adopting it as a personal north star can literally change one’s life. We sooner or later become what we regularly practice. Whether for good or for ill.

Many of us will choose some New Year’s Resolutions between now and January 1st. But those New Year’s Resolutions will likely die a lackluster death by March.

There’s a better way. The better way is to adopt some good habits that we regularly practice. Over time they will likely prove successful in helping us reach our goals or make valuable changes.

So if you want to finish this year on a high note, it’s time to adopt these 10 new habits.

1. Make it a habit to stop procrastinating.

A woman with her feet on a desk is playfully holding a paper airplane. She has long brown hair, wears a green shirt and gray pants. On the desk are headphones, a notebook, a pen, a glass of water, and a potted plant in the background.

If you could adopt just one habit at the end of 2024, this might be the best one. We all procrastinate to some degree, and small amounts of procrastination are rarely harmful.

But procrastination is a cruel master. Almost nothing improves with time, with the exception of wine, cheese, and compound interest.

Most things get worse when we put them off. And some things can go horribly south if we procrastinate.

If we would just do the things today that should be done today, we would improve our lives dramatically. And we would eliminate most of the fires we must extinguish because we’ve procrastinated.

So…do it now, not later!

2. Make it a habit to live within your means.

A man in a blue hoodie writes in a notebook while a woman in a yellow sweater uses a calculator. They are surrounded by documents and receipts on a wooden table, focusing on budgeting or financial planning.

Someone once said, “It’s not the money you make that counts, it’s the money you keep.” There are very wealthy people who live under the constant threat of bankruptcy. Not because they don’t make a lot of money, but because they spend more money than they make.

They make a lot, but they don’t keep very much of it. This is a recipe for financial disaster.

On the other hand, some with a modest income do very well over the long haul simply because they live within their means. Their means are modest, so they live modestly.

In fact, the person who lives within their means for a long time will almost always be in better financial health than the person who lives above their means for a long time. The amount of income is irrelevant.

So make it a habit to live within your means. You will not only enjoy sound financial health over time, but your life will be far less stressful.

3. Make it a habit to nurture your relationships.

A woman and a man are sitting at an outdoor café, smiling at each other and holding hands. Two cups of coffee are on the table, with a blurred city square visible in the background.

Healthy relationships require a fair amount of work and focus. In fact, one of the fundamental truths of life is that almost nothing gets better through neglect. In fact, almost everything gets worse by it.

But even when it comes to wine, cheese, and compound interest, the fact of the matter is that these things don’t improve by neglect—they improve because time is their ally. Letting cheese and wine age, and leaving money that is compounding where it is are not forms of neglect. They are actually proactive means of accomplishing a desired end.

Relationships require attention, investment, and nurturing. Without these, our relationships will either stagnate or decline. Relationships require intentional input to stay healthy.

So make it a habit to nurture your relationships. Whether they be with your partner, your children, your siblings, your extended family, your friends, your colleagues, or your neighbors.

4. Make it a habit to get enough quality sleep most nights.

A person peacefully sleeping in bed, wrapped in a white blanket. The room is dimly lit, giving a sense of calm and tranquility. A few books are visible on a shelf in the background.

We all have nights when we don’t get enough sleep, or the sleep we get is less than beneficial. We may even have seasons of insomnia.

But as a rule, we should be in the habit of getting restorative sleep most nights of the week.

This will probably happen only if it’s a priority. There are many excellent sources of information on the importance of sleep, the science of sleep, and practical ways we can improve our sleep.

Few things are as important to our overall health and wellness as getting regular, restorative sleep—and enough of it. So make it a habit beginning soon.

5. Make it a habit to incorporate physical fitness into each day.

Two people are riding bicycles through a lush, green forest. They are dressed in jackets and are surrounded by tall trees and undergrowth, creating a serene, natural setting.

In the modern world, people can get a bit excessive when it comes to fitness. It seems there is always more that should be done, and we’re all falling short of what is best for our health.

This false narrative is unfortunate. It doesn’t take an inordinate amount of time to be physically fit. It doesn’t require the latest expensive footwear, nor does it require membership at an expensive fitness center.

Most people would benefit immeasurably from a daily commitment to simple exercise that is sustainable virtually an entire lifetime.

Walking, cycling, swimming, and hiking are exercises that most people can do, and they don’t require much equipment. Just taking a 30-45 minute walk most days of the week will bring numerous health benefits.

It’s also an excellent idea to incorporate some strength training into our routine. Again, no gym or expensive apparatus required. Some dumbbells or exercise bands can do wonders if used correctly and regularly.

6. Make it a habit to say yes when you mean yes and no when you mean no.

A person in a gray sweater gives a thumbs-up with their right hand while giving a thumbs-down with their left hand. The individual’s head and face are not visible in the image. The background is blurred.

In our interactions with people, whether family, friend, or colleague, there will come times when our best course of action will be to state honestly where we stand.

We should make it a habit to say yes when we agree with a proposal. Likewise, we should make it a habit so say no when we disagree.

We can do this politely, kindly, and with grace. It need not be rancorous or disrespectful or rude. It may require some practice.

Make it a habit to let your yes be yes and your no be no. It will save you all kinds of headaches, misunderstandings, confusion, and discouragement.

7. Make it a habit to choose kindness.

A bearded man wearing a dark cap and a green sweater forms a heart shape with his hands, smiling against a plain gray background.

It’s been said that whenever you are free to choose, that you should choose kindness. It only takes a small amount of additional energy to be kind.

At the risk of self-promotion, let me share a recent personal example. I was at the grocery store and returning the shopping cart to the cart station in the parking lot. As I was making my way, I passed a woman who had just emptied her cart into her car and was about to walk toward the station. I gestured to her and said, “Shall I take your cart too”? She not only said yes and pushed her cart toward me, but she thanked me twice and acted as if I had just given her a $100 bill. It took almost no extra effort on my part. Yet it meant so much to the recipient. I felt pretty good about it too.

But people seem to be getting less and less kind toward one another. We seem to be increasing in rudeness, criticism, racism, sexism, and just plain unfriendly speech.

Each of us can do our part toward improving this problem by making it a habit to be kind. Every day we live.

8. Make it a habit to accept what you cannot change.

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There are many things over which we have agency and control. We can freely choose among a myriad of options.

But there are some things we cannot change. No matter how much we would like to change it, or how hard we might try, or how determined we may be. It just cannot be changed.

We may not have the necessary knowledge, the necessary wealth, or the necessary time. We may not live in the right place, or know the right people. It may be too late to make the change. We may be too old to make the change.

In such cases, we would be much better off to just accept what we cannot change. Sure, we can mourn the fact, or feel disappointment in the reality. That’s fine.

But we will need to let it go and move on, and not worry and fret over what we cannot control. But rather focus our energy on what we can change.

Fortunately, there are plenty of things we actually can change or be contributors to change. We’re much better directing our efforts there.

Make it a habit to accept what you cannot change.

9. Make it a habit to sharpen your saw.

A bald man in a pink short-sleeve shirt and colorful socks sits on a bench with his legs crossed, eyes closed, and a relaxed expression. The scene is sunlit, with a shadow of a lamp on the wall behind him and greenery above the wall.

The late great Stephen Covey listed as one of his seven habits of highly effective people to “sharpen your saw.” By this, he means we should make time for personal renewing activities.

He likened not doing this to continuing to use a dull saw. With a dull saw, you end up working many times harder to achieve decreasing results. Taking the time to sharpen the saw will make using the saw much easier and you will accomplish better results in less time.

If we continue to press on without making time for personal renewal, our work will become harder, take longer, and be of less quality. So make it a habit to sharpen your saw. The time invested to do this will reap huge benefits.

10. Make it a habit to plan for changes you desire.

A woman in a yellow sweater writes in a notebook with a pencil at a wooden table. A small potted plant sits nearby, and a phone lies on the table. The background is softly blurred.

The idea of a habit is that it becomes routine, or habitual. That at some point it becomes almost automatic.

But habits don’t begin at the level of routine. They must first be thought out and planned out. James Clear’s excellent book, “Atomic Habits” can help in that process.

I think the writer Antoine de Saint-Exupery hit the nail on the head when he said:

A goal without a plan is just a wish.

A habit requires a plan. Habits don’t just develop spontaneously. Of course, it’s easy to develop a bad habit, which we all have done. But good habits must be planned, or they will never begin, much less continue.

One of the hazards of New Year’s Resolutions is that we deceive ourselves into thinking we can achieve a lofty goal quickly and without a great deal of focus.

By thinking this way, we set ourselves up for failure and disappointment. Incorporating a new habit into our daily lives will require proactive planning.

This will move the habit from the “wish” category to the “goal” category. It will greatly increase the odds that the habit will be successful and accomplish its purpose.

A final, important note on habits and change.

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Do keep in mind that habits are about incremental changes over a long period of time. We don’t make daily exercise a habit by doing it one day. Aristotle would call this an “act.” But habits will result in real change, and real change usually takes time.

The following might sound like a silly illustration, but it may help.

You’ve probably heard that a good habit is to walk about 10,000 steps each day. This is about 5 miles, depending on the length of the stride.

At the equator, the earth is 24,901 miles around. So, if you took 10,000 steps every day, you could literally walk the distance around the entire earth. Now, it would take you some 13 1/2 years to accomplish this goal. But if you put in the necessary steps for the required time, the result is certain.

The point is that incremental steps over a long period of time can make a profound impact.

As we will soon begin a brand new year, it’s a good time to consider how your life might change for the better by adopting some new habits.

If you start and fail, no worries. Just start again. If habits were easy to start and continue, then everyone would be doing it. Everyone is not doing it.

So don’t despair if you find it a challenge to incorporate your new habits into your daily life. Just keep working at it and success is likely to eventually be yours.

Remember to take regular consistent small steps in the right direction. When you do, you will eventually reach your desired destination, and the change you desire will be yours.