I do not love the fascination with New Year’s resolutions. Setting them, sharing them, and forgetting them soon after. Maybe it’s the anxiety I carry and when a resolution falls to the side, the sense of failure sinks in, too. Some of us just want to make it through the year without heartache, loss, fear, or that failure. Some of us want to be better mentally before we can change other things in the new year.

I hope this year is one of discovering, of finding ways to take care of your mental health. Finding the routes and means to seek joy, contentment, and love for one’s self. Here are four mental health resolutions to take care of yourself in 2024.

Find an Outlet

Your mental health will need soothing in the new year. Where can you find a sense of peace that could become a routine? Join a book club – or if that is daunting, make a goal to read more books this year. Reading is a wonderful escape for your wandering mind. Find a fitness outlet – sure, you can join a gym but what about just walking more? Trying out the pickleball craze? Physical activity improves so much more than your body. Meditate. Find a Bible study. Journal. The means of the outlet is to give your mind a place to relax and get stronger.

Find a Goal

Big or small, it doesn’t matter. Do something hard once a month or settle for twice a year. Run or walk that 5K. Take that solo trip. These goals don’t have to be lofty or cumbersome; they just have to take your mind away from the worry and settle it on ways to make yourself proud.

Find Your Tribe

We all have amazing friends who support us when we are quiet in our anxiety or sadness. It is those friends we desperately need in our corner. They make us feel safe and unashamed. You need a tribe of women who empathize, not judge. That “just don’t worry about it” mantra does not work for the anxious; it only makes us feel like we aren’t doing “it” right. It’s the true tribe that lets you wallow but also knows how to bring you back up.

Find a Therapist

Saved the scariest of the mental health resolutions for last, right? If you have been thinking of finding someone to talk to, consider this your sign for 2024. Asking for help is a great fear for so many. It can be an even greater fear for a mom who thinks she just doesn’t have time or thinks she can do it on her own. The objectivity of a professional who wants what is best for you is a great prize. The release you feel after is even better.

Don’t make the resolutions. Just make you the priority this year. You have to take care of yourself so you can take care of everyone/everything else. You are never, ever alone in a mental health struggle. Now is the time to realize that and make 2024 the year you find ways to clear and strengthen your beautiful mind.