Get fitter, drink less, eat less, exercise more, take up a new hobby… let’s be honest, we all tend to make the same not so unusual New Years resolutions and we all tend to have forgotten/dispensed with them by the third week in January.

So for 2022, why not try some unusual New Years resolutions ? You might find that the weirder it is, the more likely you are to stick with it – if only to impress your friends and neighbours.

Here are five unusual New Years resolutions ones which might work for you:

1. Teach yourself something you never learned when growing up. How about learning to play chess or ride a bike? Mine would be learning a card game other than Snap!
2. Make a point of celebrating the little things in life. Every night, write down ten things from that day that you are glad for. They don’t have to be big things, they could be as seemingly mundane as spending time with your family, cooking a good meal or getting to and from work safely. After a while, this becomes a habit and you’ll enjoy it, rather than shy away from it.
3. Research your family tree, or get an expert to do it for you. Done properly, this takes time but once you start, you’ll find yourself wanting to know more and more about your family roots. One friend of mine started by just wanting to go back as far as her great- grandparents and ended up with a thick book detailing everything back as far as the 1600s!
4. Volunteer your time. Find an organisation in your area which is looking for volunteers and put your name forward. Whether it’s helping out in a charity shop once a week, helping at a local school or college or church, or befriending a lonely old person, it will be appreciated and if you choose the right thing for you, you’ll enjoy it.
5. Read more books. Go on, admit it. You’ve got several shelves full of books at home which you somehow never seem to get around to reading. Well, this January, why not take out the one you’ve always looked at, but never touched? Like all the best resolutions, reading is addictive in a good way. Once you’ve broken the barrier of starting a book, you’ll want to finish it. And when you’ve finished one, it quickly becomes a good habit.