Ready, Set, Resolutions!

Planning New Year’s Resolutions

5…4…3…2…1…Happy New Year!

As we’ve officially entered 2024, you may be experiencing the urge to set goals and commit to better habits. Establishing New Year’s resolutions is an incredibly common practice in the United States. In fact, 37% of Americans established a resolution for 2023.

Many resolutions are related to physical well-being, such as improved fitness, nutrition and diet, and weight management. Others may include making time for loved ones, increasing work/life balance, traveling or improving finances.

No matter what you set out to accomplish this year, use these tips to make your New Year’s resolutions count:

Explore opportunities for improvement. Take time to think about what positive changes could impact your life. Ask yourself, "does this resolution motivate me?" If the answer is no, consider tweaking or choosing a different goal.
Make a commitment. Start by choosing goals that you want to do, not things that you should or shouldn’t be doing. Then, consider writing the resolution down on paper and placing it somewhere you’ll see every day or hold yourself accountable by announcing your resolution to others.
Be realistic. Don’t set the bar too high or go after too many goals. This can lead to risk of failure and cause stress, all of which will impact your progress.
Set milestones. Create reasonable checkpoints to see how you’re doing. Remember, not everything will unfold exactly how you planned, so be flexible and give yourself grace. Change can be difficult.
Remind yourself of the intention. Be mindful of why you set out to accomplish a resolution and recognize there may be many ways to achieve this goal. You may need to adjust your plan along the way and that’s okay.

Why Should I Consider Setting Mental Health Resolutions?

While our emotional well-being is less visible, making it more difficult for us to see results, it influences how we think, feel, act and get along with others. It's important to remember our mental health can change over time. Factors such as loneliness, chronic illness, relationship concerns, caregiving, death of a loved one, financial issues and substance use can have a direct impact on our personal and professional lives.

Setting mental health resolutions can have a positive impact on your overall health and help you stay on track to meet other well-being goals. These goals don’t need to be extravagant and can include:

Making gratitude a daily practice.
Scheduling more time for activities that bring you joy.
Challenging unhelpful thoughts or patterns.
Practicing mindfulness.
Talking to a therapist or participating in counseling.

Finding the Right Support

At Northrop Grumman, you’re not alone. If you find yourself experiencing stress (work or personal) that’s affecting or interfering with your everyday life, you may benefit from the below resources:

Talking with a counselor. Your NGCare Employee Assistance Program offers confidential emotional support, whenever and wherever you need it. To schedule a session, visit GuidanceResources® (WebID: NGCare) and select Find a Therapist with GuidanceConnect®. You can also call or text our dedicated number, 800-982-8161, to receive “in-the-moment” support 24/7. Watch this video to learn what to expect when contacting NGCare.
Exploring Koa Foundations. Replacing myStrength, Koa Foundations is a free, confidential smartphone app that offers you and your family science-based tools to change habits and perspectives for handling stress, building resilience and tackling whatever life throws your way.

Written by: Debbie Edwards

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