Not to bum you out as you count down the hours remaining before the holiday weekend officially begins, but today is officially the mid-point of the year (cue internal screaming). If you’re as surprised and horrified by this information as we were, don’t panic; you still have 183 days to make the best of your resolutions. Here, 5 things you should check in with yourself on over the long weekend.
5 Ways To Jump Start Your Resolutions Midyear
Health & Fitness Goals
Let's be honest; most of us spend the first day of January dunking cheese fries into bacon fat in an attempt at alleviating our hangover pain. As such, it's not exactly the best date on which to begin executing on our health goals. The 5th of July, however, may make for a slightly better start date, as you're likely to have some momentum going into it because we're already deep into bikini season. Not sure where or how to begin to tackle your forgotten resolutions? Here's a guide to kick-starting your diet and exercise plan. Note: Research has shown that it's easier to change your environment than it is to change your behavior, so rather than keeping a cupboard full of cookies and hoping you'll have the willpower to eat them in moderation, we suggest you purge them from your life altogether.
Career Goals
Summer isn't traditionally known for being a great time to job hunt. We'd like to posit, however, that you're likely to have a lot less competition in July than you would in January, and so now might be a great time to polish up your resume and start sending it out. Besides, many companies actually find more time to staff up in the summer months, particularly for contract-to-hire positions. Not sure if you're ready to quit your current gig? Here are 9 signs it's time.
Relationship Goals
We think it's healthy to apply the KonMari method of cleaning out your closet to cleaning out your relationships—if a person in your life doesn't bring you joy, it's time to kick them to the curb. Here are a few tips on scrubbing toxic people from your life. If your relationship goals including meeting new people as opposed to eliminating the old, there's no time like sunny July for doing so. Check out our list of dating apps broken down by goal (casual vs. serious), and don't forget there's even an app for making new friends.
Breaking Bad Habits
If you hoped to break a bad habit in January and are no closer to doing so in July, it might be wise to start with something small and unimportant in order to first practice your technique for quitting. Maybe you want to stop drinking, as an example, but have yet to even make a dent in your boozing habits. Try to instead quit checking your Instagram every hour, just to practice your technique for eliminating an undesirable behavior. Once you've conquered this small, unrelated "bad" habit, you can move on to something related to your goal. In this example, we would suggest you try eliminating your drinking habits under certain circumstances. If you drink socially and at home in the tub (no judgement), try cutting out one or the other before you try eliminating your alcohol intake altogether.
Feeling Happier & Less Anxious
Most of us don't think to add goals around our emotional well-being to our list of yearly resolutions, but without this kind of self care, every other resolution will likely fall apart. Here, science-backed methods for improving your daily happiness and alleviating your anxiety.
