It’s that time again. 2017 is just around the corner and with it an opportunity for new beginnings, or at least, a mindset of fresh opportunities. Many of you may be disheartened with failed resolutions in the past, so we at DelectablyChic! have made it easy for you. We’ve put together a list of 5 easy-to-start resolutions with tips. We’ve chosen areas that are both important and ones that we feel our readers would find most useful.
New York’s Resolution #1: Meet New People
It’s so easy to get bogged down in your busy life between work, family and friends, but we feel personal growth is very important to happiness and one of the best ways to grow is to interact with new people. And, if you are single, this one is even more important. Tip to Start: Check out Eventbrite or the local gym and register for an event or class, anything that interests you. Try to register before January 15th!
New York’s Resolution #2: Read More
In this age of video, digital and social media, reading almost seems obsolete. However, it’s proven that the most successful people make it a point to read. Whether it is a self-help book or a classic, we recommend getting a book that is not more than 200 words and committing to reading 20 pages a day every night for 10 nights. We recommend The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho (163 pages) or A Room of One’s Own by Virginia Woolf (148 pages). The latter has an estimated read time of just 123 minutes!
New York’s Resolution #3: Learn to Cook
It’s a real shame that most schools and families don’t teach cooking and cleaning as they are universal must-knows for all men and women, especially millennials. Even if your office has you having three star restaurant lunches and dinners with clients, basic cooking is a must have. Make it a point to learn one new dish each month of 2017 and begin in January with something super simple (even if it isn’t a new item) like quinoa. It is quick to make and this recipe for Quinoa Grecian Salad can be made to last for a week worth of lunches! Recipe: Place quinoa in a large bowl, cover with water and let stand 5 minutes before draining. Bring to a boil, cover, reduce heat and simmer for 15 minutes. Uncover, fluff with a fork. While the quinoa is cooling, combine oil, and hints of fresh mint, lemon rind, lemon juice, sherry vinegar and sea salt. Add this to the cooled quinoa, cherry tomatoes, bell peppers, radishes, cucumber and olives. Enjoy!
Another Tip: Use rainbow quinoa for variety. Or freekeh (above), another “supergrain” made from green durhum wheat (which means it isn’t gluten-free). Regular freekeh takes much longer to cook – about 40 minutes, but cracked freekeh cooks in half the time. Find it in the same aisle as all your other grains.
New York’s Resolution #4: Spend Less Time on Social Media
The concept of Snapchat is that your “stories” ie postings get deleted after 24 or so hours. All the time you spend filming, adding filters and giggling, ends up evaporating. While Facebook, Twitter and Instagram stick around, possibly much of the posts (pictures of quinoa lunch anyone?) probably should disappear. Instead of complementing your entire day with social media, why not try instead to budget your social media time. For example, limit to three times a day (1 hour morning, afternoon and evening) that you post or troll.
New York’s Resolution #5: Do Something Different
We began this post with the suggestion to meet new people. Even more than that, it is important that you, our beloved DelectablyChic! readers do something fresh in your lives. Do different is a term that is often advised when someone is heartbroken or in a rut and needs to immediately take a U-turn or different path. We recommend not waiting for those down in the dumps scenarios, and to actively seek fresh opportunities. Whether that is take a different path to work, vacation at a different time this year or simply to take up a hobby that you may not think you might be interested in – such as knitting – just try something out of the ordinary and out of your orbit. You might find it brings good luck and new joy into your life.
We wish all our readers a fabulous 2017!
Image credits: “No social media” image by Karen Roach/Shutterstock; Freekeh pic by Cynthia Cheng Mintz; The Alchemist screenshot from Amazon
