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Freedom For the “New You”

As we enter the New Year, we tend to always have thoughts of what we can change or how we can recover from the mistakes we may have made last year. Most times, this motivates us to formulate New Year Resolutions. These are meant to guide us in our growth throughout the year. Creating these resolutions can actually help because we find ourselves making better choices and becoming an elevated version of ourselves as the year passes by. While you ponder how your life has been unfolding up until this very moment and compare it to where you want to be in the future, I encourage you to center your resolutions around this: Freedom.

When you hear the word freedom, your mind may automatically think about a specific thing. You may also be thinking that the word itself is too broad to apply it to something you want to change in this new beginning. However, freedom can be applied to any aspect of our lives we want to make better. In this article, I will be compiling a list of ways the concept of freedom can be applied to your New Year Resolution or to your outlook on life in general.


Weight Loss/Healthy Lifestyle

Eating more nutritious meals and getting more exercise are the top two most common New Year Resolutions made every year. According to a poll conducted by YouGov, 74% of respondents stated that they wanted to either eat healthier or get more exercise throughout the year. Even with something that seems so simple, it is important to be in the proper mindset in order to ensure successful results. To get into this mindset that leads us towards a successful healthy-living plan, we can put it in perspective in a few ways. We can reflect about the things we should free ourselves from and look at the situation as breaking shackles and leading a life free from toxins. These toxins include unhealthy eating habits and active-less daily routines.

In order to free ourselves from the toxin of unhealthy eating, we must also free ourselves from what this entails, such as: mindless eating/constant snacking, late-night nibbles, and even skipping breakfast. Gaining freedom from these bad habits creates room for nourishing habits. These nourishing habits may entail light/healthy snacking in between designated meals, replacing night-time nibbles with rest, and allotting time in our mornings to fuel our bodies for the start of our day. In regards to active-less daily routines, we can try to free our schedules throughout the day to ensure we fit at least one physical activity in our daily routines. Including physical activity in our day can be as simple as going for a walk before work or dancing on the weekends!

Saving (More) Money

Saving money is another common New Year Resolution as 37% of respondents to a YouGov poll stated this is their main goal for the New Year. Freedom can greatly be applied to the act of saving money as well. Having more money to put into your savings requires us to analyze our present expenses and the importance or value in where we decide to allocate our funds. If you think about your spending habits throughout the year, you may be able to identify a few purchases that were less than necessary and could have gone into your savings account instead. Sometimes this varies from person to person, because each of us have different needs or wants out of life. However, it is important to free ourselves from the mindset of the average consumerist and realize that not everything in life that is for sale needs to be purchased.

Focusing on Self Care

Making the way we take care for ourselves a bigger priority throughout the New Year is one of the most important New Year Resolutions we can set! Our overall mental health, physical health and spiritual health are all large parts in the act of taking care of ourselves. There are many ways we can increase our self care habits. This includes freeing our night-time schedules in order to gain more sleep to nourish our bodies, leaving free-time within our weekly routines to give ourselves extra attention- such as a “Spa Day” or even just a “Spa Hour”- and even actions at a slightly higher caliber like making certain negative energies free from your life (people, jobs, schedules). It is very easy for us to be engulfed in these negative energies because of the weight they may hold on our lives. We seem to always have something scheduled in our day for work or for other people. However, it is important to take a step back sometimes and free ourselves from overwhelming responsibilities for the sake of taking care our overall health. By doing so, we could learn to enjoy life and all of the impactful experiences it has to offer us.

Overall, when incorporating the word “freedom” into how we look at our actions in regards to this New Year, we should make sure to understand all the ways being free can positively jumpstart the progress we make throughout our lives. When reflecting on your past and dreaming of your future, thinking about freeing yourself from your old mindset can lead you to the feeling of being free; free to express yourself, love yourself, and make better decisions for yourself. Being free to be your best self without worrying about the judgements of others is the main component to the concept of freedom!

Works Cited:

“9 Bad Eating Habits and How to Break Them.” Stroke Center – EverydayHealth.com, Ziff Davis, LLC, 13 Jan. 2014, www.everydayhealth.com/diet-and-nutrition-pictures/bad-eating-habits-and-how-to-break-them.aspx#09.

Armstrong, Martin, and Felix Richter. “Infographic: The Most Common New Year’s Resolutions for 2018.” Statista, 2 Jan. 2018, www.statista.com/chart/12386/the-most-common-new-years-resolutions-for-2018/.

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