Putting the ‘Happy’ into Happy New Year!

2024 has been a challenging year for many in the Naples area and, for some, 2025 couldn’t have come soon enough! With the stress of the contentious and turbulent election season, along with navigating the effects of not just one – but two! – major hurricanes within weeks of each other causing billions of dollars of damage to our area, some local residents are feeling a sense of powerlessness and loss. Not to mention the normal stresses of navigating the holiday season and the triggers of loneliness and isolation that the holidays so often bring! Many Southwest Florida residents are hoping 2025 will be a time to feel less stressed, to heal and to regroup.  

The following three tips will help you set healthy and realistic resolutions to bounce back from the stresses of 2024 and make 2025 your happiest year yet!

Tip #1: Use Your New Years Resolutions as Goals, not Absolutes. New Year's resolutions can be helpful if you ditch the “all or nothing” mentality assuming that if you do not succeed in following them, then you fail. Rather, resolutions can be seen as goals to strive for in your daily life, and no matter how many times you fall short, you can build on yesterday. January 1st is surely a jumpstart to start the year off right, but it does not need to be any more powerful than the other 364 days of the year. Use New Year's as a reminder that every day you have a fresh start to pursue your goals and begin again. I liken New Year’s resolutions to the reminder of being thankful on Thanksgiving. Although thankfulness is the theme of the holiday, those who focus on what they are grateful for daily, or even many times a day throughout the year, are generally happier than those who count their disappointments more than their blessings. Studies have shown that grateful people are happy people. 

Tip #2: Have a Growth Mindset - Not a Fixed Mindset 

When most people think of what gives them self-esteem, they think of their accomplishments, their successes and even their possessions. What is wrong with this notion? It is all outside of oneself, and true happiness and self-esteem is an inside job. Research has shown that the linchpin for true self-esteem and happiness is having a growth mindset. With a growth mindset, obstacles, setbacks and even failures are all part of the journey of a beautiful and meaningful life. Instead of thinking “I failed at this” and “I am bad at that” which denotes a fixed mindset, a growth mindset focuses on learning from setbacks such as “I have had some struggles with that and will try again this time a bit wiser” and “I learned what did not work and learned valuable information moving forward.” Giving up self-limiting beliefs can propel you into 2025 with a positive attitude and openness for learning and growing.  

Tip #3: Be Your Own Best Friend 

Along with having a growth mindset, happiness depends less on what you have and more on how you talk to yourself. Most of us say things to ourselves that we would never even think of saying to anyone else. Being your own best friend requires replacing self-critiquing with self-compassion. Being our harshest critics does not make us better; it makes us sadder. So, this New Year, seek to improve your ability to be self-forgiving and self-compassionate. Forgive yourself for not knowing then what you know now and refuse to define yourself by self-limiting beliefs that keep you stuck. 

With these three tips in mind, 2025 can provide a year of hope, healing and happiness! 

Judith Belmont, MS is a Naples resident, retired psychotherapist and mental health author of 11 books, including her soon-to-be-released 110 CBT Tips and Tools which offers practical tips for mental health and wellness. Visit her website at www.belmontwellness.com for free mental health handouts and worksheets and visit her Amazon Author page at amazon.com/author/judithbelmont.