12 New Years’ Resolutions – Java Style

One of the main reasons so many of us struggle with keeping New Year’s resolutions is not so much the level of difficulty of the changes we vouch to make as how we insert them into our daily routine. Timing truly is everything. According to research, the best way to stick with a new habit is to combine it with a long-standing, existing activity.

We often focus on lifestyle changes that can readily resolve bad habits. That is perfectly logical, but sometimes it’s the peripheral changes that inspire the deepest transformation. For coffee lovers, that daily brew can greatly enhance our chances of success with lifestyle changes. In fact, coffee can inspire changes that do not normally make it to the New Year’s Resolutions list, but that would greatly enhance one’s perspective on life.

Here are 12 creative habits to add to your list, coffee in hand. They can change your outlook on life, your self-image and even your attitude toward work, colleagues and life challenges.

This Year…

1. Get a small notebook. Every day, make it a point to notice when someone is kind to you. It could be a simple compliment from a co-worker, or someone who lets you step ahead in line and so on. List these encounters in a few words while enjoying a fresh cup.
2. Ask your local librarian to recommend a small book. Take it out. Read a page or two, fresh cup at your side.
3. During a coffee break at work, watch a few minutes of a TED Talk. Share it with a colleague or friend, or on your Facebook page.
4. Do you have a favorite aunt or uncle? Start a real correspondence with them. Keep colorful letterhead or postcards at hand. When you pause for coffee, write a few lines to say hello.
5. Once a month, when you buy coffee for home, buy an extra bag to give away randomly to a neighbor, your mechanic or bank teller. This bag is not for friends. It is for people who provide a service or live in your community.
6. If you have dreams and aspirations, or projects on the back burner, use your coffee break or first coffee of the day as a time to begin listing all the ways you could give them life, one little step at a time. Before too long, you’ll be listing the next step, and the next.
7. If you have a young child or pets, sing them a little song while you savor your morning cup.
8. Get to know a new colleague over a good cup at a nice coffee shop or restaurant.
9. During one of your breaks at work, ignore your phone. Doodle instead.
10. Try a new coffee or coffee blend every time you replenish your supply. Be curious… about everything.
11. Research the history of coffee and foods you enjoy.
12. Get up a half hour (or an hour if you can) earlier. Take a brisk walk before brewing your first cup.

It has been said that coffee is meditation in a cup. We think it is an invitation to ground the moment. The pun is fitting, isn’t it? Can you imagine new ways to ground yourself in the year ahead?