New Year’s Resolutions That Actually Stick.

January 1 is New Year’s Day — a time of optimism, planning, and resoluteness. There’s a feeling that maybe this year we’ll make the changes we’ve been meaning to: more rest, better eating habits, more exercise, or a new job. New Year’s Day is about taking a moment to get ready for everything that is about to unfold. Source: brainflow.com

真正能堅持下去的新年計畫。1月1日是元旦－一個充滿樂觀、計劃和決心的日子。人們都覺得，或許今年我們能做出一些一直以來想做的改變：多休息、養成更好的飲食習慣、多運動，或是找到新工作。元旦這一天，正是讓我們停下來，為即將到來的一切做好準備的時候。

 

Make Sleep Non-Negotiable.

Chronic sleep deprivation messes with everything. Your mood tanks. Your judgment gets foggy. Your body starts struggling with weight, blood pressure, even blood sugar regulation. Research links poor sleep to obesity, heart disease, and cognitive decline over time. Seven to eight hours. That’s the goal. Not six. Not “I’ll catch up on the weekend.” Consistent, actual sleep.

把睡眠放在第一位，不容妥協。長期睡眠不足會影響你的各個層面。你的情緒會跌入谷底，判斷力也會下降。你的身體會開始出現體重、血壓甚至血糖調節方面的問題。研究表明，睡眠不足與肥胖、心臟病以及認知能力的長期衰退密切相關。七到八小時才是目標，而不是六小時，更不是「週末補眠」。你需要的是規律、充足的睡眠。

Find Movement You Don’t Hate.

The best exercise is the one you’ll actually do. Exercise does more than burn calories. It releases endorphins, lowers stress hormones, and has been used clinically to treat depression and anxiety. The mental benefits alone are worth it. Forget the pressure to become a gym person. Just move more than you’re moving now, in whatever way doesn’t make you miserable.

找到你不討厭的運動方式。最好的運動就是你真正願意做的運動。運動的好處遠不止於燃燒卡路里。它還能釋放內啡肽，降低壓力激素水平，並且已被臨床用於治療憂鬱症和焦慮症。光是運動帶來的心理益處就值得付出。別給自己太大壓力，非得成為健身房常客。只要比現在動得更多，選擇任何讓你感覺舒適的運動方式就好。

Cook at Home More Often.

People who cook dinner at home most nights consume significantly fewer calories, less sugar, and less fat than people who rarely cook. Nobody’s asking you to make elaborate recipes or spend hours in the kitchen. You’re just trying to control what goes into your food and eat fewer meals that came through a drive-through window. Additionally, you’ll save a shocking amount of money.

多在家煮飯。大多數晚上在家做飯的人，比很少做飯的人攝取的卡路里、糖分和脂肪都少得多。沒人要求你做複雜的食譜，也沒人要求你花幾個小時待在廚房。你只是想控制食物的成分，少吃速食。此外，你還能省下一大筆錢。

Build a Daily Stillness Practice.

Call it meditation, mindfulness, or just sitting quietly with your coffee before the chaos starts. The label matters less than the habit. Five to ten minutes of intentional stillness each day can physically change your brain. Harvard researchers found that regular meditation eases anxiety and stress. Brain scans show it increases gray matter in areas linked to learning, memory, and emotional regulation.

養成每日靜心練習的習慣。你可以稱之為冥想、正念，或只是在忙碌開始前，安靜地喝杯咖啡。重要的不是名稱，而是習慣本身。每天五到十分鐘的刻意靜心練習，就能從生理上改變你的大腦。哈佛大學的研究人員發現，規律的冥想可以緩解焦慮和壓力。腦部掃描顯示，冥想可以增加與學習、記憶和情緒調節相關的腦區灰質。

Practice Gratitude.

Writing down a few things you’re grateful for each day is linked to better sleep, lower depression, and even improved cardiovascular health. It rewires your brain to notice what’s going well instead of fixating on what isn’t. Small stuff counts and consistency matters more than depth. Three things, every day, written down. Takes two minutes. The cumulative effect over months is surprisingly powerful.

練習感恩。每天寫下幾件讓你心懷感激的事情，有助於改善睡眠、減輕憂鬱，甚至改善心血管健康。它能重塑你的大腦，讓你注意到那些進展順利的事情，而不是糾結於那些不盡人意的事情。小事也很重要，持之以恆比內容深度更重要。每天寫下三件值得感恩的事情，只需兩分鐘。幾個月下來，累積的效果會非常驚人。

Talk to Yourself Like You’d Talk to a Friend.

Treating yourself with kindness doesn’t make you lazy or complacent. It actually makes you more resilient. Higher self-compassion is linked to significantly less anxiety, depression, and emotional distress. When you mess up this year (and you will, because you’re human), notice the self-talk. Then ask: would I say this to someone I love? If the answer is no, reframe it. “I’m struggling with this” hits different than “I’m a failure.”

像對待朋友一樣對待自己。善待自己並不會讓你變得懶惰或自滿，反而會讓你更有韌性。較高的自我關懷與較少的焦慮、憂鬱和情緒困擾密切相關。今年當你犯錯時（你一定會犯錯，因為你是人），注意你的內在對話。然後問自己：我會這樣對我愛的人說嗎？如果答案是否定的，那就換個方式表達。 「我正在努力克服困難」和「我是個失敗者」的感覺截然不同。

Put Your Phone in Another Room.

Heavy social media use correlates with higher rates of depression, anxiety, loneliness, and that constant low-grade FOMO that makes you feel like everyone else’s life is better than yours. Some boundaries that work: charge your phone in another room overnight (buy a real alarm clock). No phones at meals. Set app time limits and respect them when the notification pops up. The hours you get back can go toward literally anything else on this list.

把手機放在另一個房間。過度使用社群媒體與更高的憂鬱、焦慮、孤獨感以及持續存在的輕微「錯失恐懼症」（FOMO）密切相關，這種恐懼感會讓你覺得別人的生活都比你的好。以下是一些有效的限制：晚上睡覺時把手機放在另一個房間充電（買個真正的鬧鐘）。吃飯時不要玩手機。設定應用程式的使用時間限制，並在收到通知時遵守。省下來的時間可以用來做清單上列出的任何其他事情。

Prioritize the People Who Matter.

The single biggest predictor of long-term happiness and health? It wasn’t money, career success, or fitness. The quality of close relationships. People with strong connections live longer, stay healthier, and report higher life satisfaction. People who are isolated show faster cognitive decline and earlier health problems. Whatever it looks like for you. Stop saying “we should get together sometime” and pick a date.

優先考慮對你重要的人。長期幸福和健康的最大預測因子是什麼？不是金錢、事業成功或健美的體魄，而是親密關係的品質。擁有牢固人際關係的人更長壽、更健康，並且擁有更高的生活滿意度。而孤獨的人則認知能力下降更快，健康問題也更早出現。無論你對“親密關係”的定義是什麼，都不要再說“我們應該找個時間聚聚”，而是定個日子吧。

Reach Out to Someone You’ve Lost Touch With.

There’s probably someone you think about occasionally. An old friend, a college roommate, a former coworker. You mean to reach out, but you never do. Feels awkward after so much time. Your social circle isn’t just nice to have. It’s protective in a measurable and physical way. Most people are happy to hear from you. The awkwardness is almost always in your head. Send a simple “Hey, was thinking about you. How have you been?” and see what happens.

聯絡一位失去聯繫的人。你可能偶爾會想起某個人。一位老朋友、一位大學室友、一位前同事。你想聯絡他們，但卻總是遲遲沒有行動。時間久了，感覺有點尷尬。你的社交圈不僅僅是錦上添花，它還能在實際生活中為你提供保護。大多數人都樂於收到你的消息。那種尷尬感幾乎總是源自於你自己的想法。不妨簡單地發一條“嘿，想你了。你最近怎麼樣？”，看看會發生什麼。

Clear the Clutter.

Your physical environment affects your mental state more than you probably realize. Scientists have found that visual clutter competes for your attention and makes it harder to focus. When your environment is chaotic, your brain has to work harder to filter it all out. Organizing the spaces where you spend the most time, and getting rid of stuff you don’t use or love can make you noticeably calmer and more focused.

清理雜物。你的物理環境對你的精神狀態的影響可能比你想像的還要大。科學家發現，視覺上的雜物會分散你的注意力，使你難以集中精神。當你的環境雜亂無章時，你的大腦必須更努力地過濾掉所有資訊。整理你花最多時間的空間，並丟掉你不使用或不喜歡的東西，可以讓你明顯地感到更平靜、更專注。

Read More Actual Books.

Deep reading does something different to your brain than skimming content online. It builds focus, expands vocabulary, and improves your ability to understand complex ideas. Fiction specifically has been shown to increase empathy by letting you inhabit other perspectives. Set a realistic goal. One book a month is 12 books by December. If you’re struggling to find time, audiobooks count. So does reading for 15 minutes before bed instead of scrolling.

多讀紙本書。深度閱讀對大腦的影響與瀏覽網路內容截然不同。它能增強專注力，拓展詞彙量，並提升你理解複雜概念的能力。研究表明，小說尤其能讓你設身處地體驗他人的視角，從而增強同理心。設定一個切實可行的目標。例如，每個月讀一本書，到十二月就能讀完十二本書。如果你實在抽不出時間，聽有聲書也算在內。睡前花十五分鐘閱讀，而不是刷手機，也是不錯的選擇。

Learn Something Completely New.

Adults tend to spend their lives getting better at things they already know how to do. But there’s something valuable about being bad at something again—the fumbling, the frustration, the slow progress that comes with starting from scratch. Learning complex new skills has been shown to improve memory and cognitive function, even in older adults. It’s the mental challenge and beginner mindset that keeps your brain adaptable.

學習全新技能。成年人往往終其一生都在不斷精進自己已經掌握的技能。但重新開始做某件事卻並非全然沒有價值——那種笨拙、挫敗感，以及從零開始的緩慢進步。研究表明，學習複雜的新技能能夠提升記憶力和認知功能，即使是老年人也不例外。正是這種精神挑戰和初學者心態，才能讓你的大腦保持適應能力。

Spend Money on Experiences, Not Things.

Think back to last year. What do you actually remember? Experiences bring more lasting happiness than material purchases. They become part of your identity in a way that stuff doesn’t. And they usually involve other people, which doubles the value. This year, redirect some of what you’d spend on things toward experiences instead. First-time experiences especially stick in memory because of the novelty factor.

把錢花在體驗上，而不是物品。回想一下去年，你真正記得什麼？體驗比物質購物更能帶來持久的快樂。它們會成為你身分認同的一部分，而物質則不會。而且，體驗通常會與他人互動，這會使它們的價值倍增。今年，不妨將原本打算花在物品上的錢轉而投入體驗。尤其是第一次的體驗，由於新鮮感，更容易讓人銘記於心。

Get Outside More.

We weren’t designed to spend all day under fluorescent lights staring at screens. Our bodies and brains crave nature, even in small doses. Elaborate hikes aren’t required. A walk around the block works. Morning coffee on the porch. Eating lunch outside instead of at your desk. Find ways to weave outdoor time into your regular routine. Trees, sunlight, and fresh air reset your nervous system in a way that nothing else quite does. Use it.

多到戶外走走。我們生來就不是為了整天待在螢光燈下盯著螢幕。我們的身體和大腦渴望親近大自然，即使只是短暫的接觸。不必進行複雜的健行，繞著街區走走就足夠了。在門廊上享用一杯晨間咖啡，或在戶外而不是辦公桌前吃午餐，都是不錯的選擇。想辦法將戶外活動融入你的日常生活中。樹木、陽光和新鮮空氣能夠以其他任何方式都無法比擬的方式重置你的神經系統。好好利用這些機會吧。