Tap Into Your Brain Health Mindset For Better New Year’s Resolutions
Plus, 2 new Brain Health Retreats in Italy!
Hello, friends. I hope your transition into 2024 was a good one! My Christmas was hectic and fun, with lots of houseguests, feasting, and skimping on my usual bedtime.
As much as I love the holidays, I enjoy this quiet post-Christmas time of year even more. I love the optimistic energy that comes with a new year. I love the opportunity to think back on the previous year, the good and the bad. (We had a nice reflection on what we learned in 2023 in this post.) And, I love setting goals (especially brain health goals!). But I rarely make New Year’s resolutions anymore. Instead, I revisit my Brain Health Mindset—the why of my brain health journey.
So today I thought it would be a good time to go over the concept of Brain Health Mindset and how it can help you make New Year’s resolutions that stick. In my mind, the Brain Health Mindset is the best place to start when embarking on taking care of one’s brain. It’s a good place to come back to when lifestyle choices get derailed. It’s the why before the how. Read on for specific science-based tips for making your health goals happen in real life.
Let’s go to Italy in October 2024!
I am headed back to Italy, and I get to take a few dozen of you with me!
Registration is now open for 2 Brain Health Retreats in Sicily.
Find details at the end of this letter.
As always, paying subscribers have first dibs on spots and I have a special discount for you, too.
The problem with New Year’s resolutions
Even though New Year’s resolutions are immensely popular, they tend to have a dismal success rate. You’ll often read that something like 80% of these resolutions fail. New studies, however, show New Year’s resolutions to be more promising, with some caveats.
This study followed over 1,000 people to see if their resolutions stuck and, if so, why. Researchers identified 15 most popular categories of resolutions—improving physical health, losing weight, and eating better were at the top. This study is remarkable in that 55% of the participants successfully kept their resolutions through one full year. The difference between those who succeeded and those who failed came down to 3 factors.