And how to make it work for you:

First: what matters the most?

Most people’s new year’s resolutions are health-related, and we are after all a health science publication, so that is what we will be focusing on today.

But! Mental health is also just health, and it’s worth bearing that in mind too.

Writer’s anecdote:

❝This year, my new year’s resolution was to undertake a “Sunrise Quest”.

In few words: I resolved to see as many sunrises as I reasonably could this year.

In more words: by “reasonably”, I mean that I’d try to, around sunrise time, be in a position to see the sunrise. But I would not go chasing sunrises like a stormchaser.

• Pros: my bedroom faces south-east, where the sun rises at this latitude. So I could often do this without undue effort.
• Cons: in summer, the sun rises at something past four in the morning where I live, and in winter, there is often thick cloud cover.

Result? I saw 106 sunrises this year. Some were very beautiful; others were “yep, the sun is visible now”. All of them gave me a moment to pause and reflect, and experience the moment—while still simultaneously being aware of the passage of time, and the importance of making it count.

According to my mood tracker bullet journal app, there’s enough data to conclude I have a better day, on average, when I see the sunrise.

I’m glad I did this; it was a good idea.❞

There can also be other resolutions to be made that aren’t directly related to health, but (like this writer’s “sunrise quest”), can have strong indirect benefits.

Let’s apply this with a larger scope…

Next: what matters the most, in the big picture?

For example: Finding Your Ikigai ←the Japanese concept of “ikigai” is about finding one’s “purpose”. Not merely a function, but what actually drives you in life. And, if Japanese studies can be extrapolated to the rest of the world (and it is reasonable to assume this is so), it has a significant and large impact on mortality.

Seriously, do not underestimate how significant and large the impact on mortality is. We go through the numbers in the above article, but in few words, looking at data from nearly 100,000 people, having or not having a sense of ikigai will decrease or increase (respectively) your mortality risk by a third to a half.

So, finding your ikigai and pursuing it could be the best choice you make. Maybe you’ve already got it figured out, and if so, we can only recommend making sure to tend that particular garden, in the sense of making sure that you stay true to it as you go, for as long as it carries meaning for you.

For example, this writer’s ikigai: to reduce suffering where and how I reasonably can without violating higher principles (e.g. triggering a global apocalypse on the grounds that nobody would be suffering afterwards would not be a way to pursue my ikigai). More prosaically: my work here at 10almonds helps me to fulfil that (by helping you to live your best healthy life!), as does a community volunteer role that I fulfil, as do some charitable endeavors. But it’s not all altruistic, because looking after my own health is part of my ikigai too, for I too am a person capable of suffering, and thus looking after my health helps minimize suffering as well.

So, we’ll ask: What’s Your Ikigai?

For more good ideas from Japan, see: 15 Easy Japanese Habits That Will Transform Your Health

Finally: focus, but get synergistic

Let’s assume you do want to do something health-specific (which is unlikely to be in conflict with the above in any case).

So we’ll pose the same question again, just more specific now: what matters the most, healthwise?

We have our own general answer in very broad strokes, in the form of the top 5 things that make the biggest difference to health, namely:

1. Good diet
2. Good exercise
3. Good sleep
4. Not drinking
5. Not smoking

If we were to add a sixth in terms of things that make a huge difference, it would be “manage stress effectively” and a seventh, beyond the scope of our newsletter, would be “don’t be socioeconomically disadvantaged” (e.g. poor, and/or part of some disprivileged minority group).

But as for those five we listed, it still leaves the question: what are the few most effective things we can do to improve them? Where can we invest our time/energy/effort for greatest effect?

And we answer that question here: These Top Few Things Make The Biggest Difference To Health ← this in turn includes “and what things to do to most benefit those 5 things”

So, what’s this about “focus, but get synergistic”?

It’s about how:

• If you try to do everything at once from scratch, you will probably fail, likely immediately.
  • So picking one thing to focus on the most is important.
• If you do only one thing and ignore all other aspects of health, your health will fail, likely quickly.
  • For example, “get x amount of protein per day” is great, but you do nothing but that, you might as well book your hospital trip now

So, to avoid falling into either of those traps, it’s best to do a little of everything, with a strong focus on something.

Let’s say you want to focus on your heart health. That’s great. Now remember the 5 things from just above, and ask yourself:

• How will you eat for best heart health?
  • Really there is nothing better than the DASH diet, which is a heart-optimized version of the already heart-healthy Mediterranean diet: Four Ways To Upgrade The Mediterranean Diet
  • You should also be aware of: Hypertension: Factors Far More Relevant Than Salt
  • And, for that matter, What Matters Most For Your Heart? Eat More (Of This) For Lower Blood Pressure ← spoiler: it’s fiber
• How will you exercise for best heart health?
  • See for example: How Strong Is Your Heart?
  • And, for that matter: How Many Heartbeats Do You Have Left? ← this is about the science behind a popular myth
• How will you sleep for best heart health?
  • This is critically important for avoiding adverse cardiac events: How Regularity Of Sleep Can Be Even More Important Than Duration
  • This is much less critical, but good to know: Sleeping Positions & Your Heart & Brain
• How will you quit any addictions that are harming your heart health? ← this is the final 2 of the 5 items, aggregated into one more comprehensive question
  • Re alcohol, see: Can We Drink To Good Health? (e.g. Red Wine & Heart Health)
  • Re nicotine, see: Nicotine Benefits (That We Don’t Recommend)!
  • Re cannabis, see: Cannabis & Heart Attacks
  • For addictions in general, see: Addiction Myths That Are Hard To Quit: Which Addiction-Quitting Methods Work Best?

Now, we only have so much room (and this writer just noticed she’s already done double the word count of what she’s supposed to, but never mind, you get bonus material today), so we can’t give you a list like that for every possible area of health you might personally choose to focus on, so the message here is “take this model and apply it to the area you want to focus on”.

So, that’s the focus, where’s the synergy?

The synergy comes from applying that model. For example, if you eat better, you’ll sleep better. If you sleep better, you’ll exercise better. And so forth. But since it’s hard to focus on all the things at once, that’s why we pick one focal thing to orient the other things around.

Writer’s example: I will, all being well, have a major operation in a few months. The risk is low; don’t worry about me. However, it means that I’ll be focusing on being in optimal health for that, to do my best to ensure everything goes smoothly, and that I can recover as quickly and easily as possible afterwards. In particular, I’ll be focusing on my circulation, since a) that is where the main risk lies, no matter how small that risk may be, and b) that is what will best hasten my recovery afterwards. I’ll still be looking after all other parts of my health as best I reasonably can, but circulation will be my focal point, that everything else points to. I’ll be asking myself how best to eat for that, how best to exercise for that, etc.

Using the handy search feature in the top right-hand corner of almost any 10almonds page, we can find articles that are relevant to this focus:

www.10almonds.com/?s=circulation ← lots of good things easily forgotten if one doesn’t re-read them from time to time! Much more specific to circulation than the general heart health examples we went through, by the way.

You can do the same, just substituting your own keyword (i.e. your own thing you want to focus on), and then apply the model shown above (where we gave the example of heart health, asking yourself the same questions, just, with your focus, e.g. brain health, mobility, glucose metabolism, gut health, etc)

Want further pointers to get you started?

Check out:

Do You Have A Personalized Health Plan? (Here’s How)

Want to make sure you actually follow through?

We’ve got you covered:

• How To Really Pick Up (And Keep!) Those Habits
• How To Plan For The Unplannable And Always Follow Through
• How To Keep On Keeping On… Long Term!
• How To Avoid Slipping Into (Bad) Old Habits

Take care!