How you fit improve your life for 2024 according to science

Wit di arrival of anoda new year, you fit dey reflect on wetin you go like achieve and di kind pesin wey you wan be over di next 12 months.

But while roughly one third of us get plan to make resolutions or set goals for ourselves inside 2024, to dey able to stick to dem na anoda mata.

For previous years, surveys don show say between 17% and 45% of us dey abandon dis attempts afta just di first month. Di majority of pipo quit dia aim by di middle of di year, according to one study.

Dis failures fit lead to wetin some psychologists describe as annual cycle of "false hope syndrome". Instead, e get some evidence say e dey beta to set goals wey dey more achievable.

Research suggests say approach-orientated goals– dey more realistic and specific and for wia dem fit easily measure success – these goasl dey more successful pass those wey focus on how dem go avoid something, like to give up smoking or drinking.

To decide wetin to focus on, however, fit dey tough. So, to help you make up your mind, here na seven aspects of your life wey you fit focus on for di first week of di new year using some science-based tips.

Day 1: Focus on your sleep

Afta wetin fit be late night ringing for New Year, e fit make sense to start by paying some attention to your sleep. And dis time of year, you no need to feel guilty of hitting di snooze button – scientists say make all of us dey spend more time bed during for cold.

Research show say humans dey experience seasonal sleep, dis one mean say, dem need more rest during di dark winter dan dem dey do during di summer.

One German study find say pipo dey sleep one hour longer for December dan for June. To improve your sleep for winter, go to bed earlier and avoid bright lights two hours bifo bedtime and no dey look your phone just bifo you sleep.

Recent research also find say to get consistent bedtime fit help maintain healthy gut.

Day 2: Focus on your body

If you dey play, na time to embrace am: those kind absent-minded movements like to dey tap foot, jig knee or dey fiddle fingers fit burn one surprise amount of calories and help you reduce stress.

But wit northern hemisphere for di grips of winter, na also good time to get out and do some exercise for di cold, wey dey linked to better cardiac health, one stronger immune system and improved weight loss by turning white fat cells to brown.

While you dey do am, you fit even try turn around during your next waka and do am for reverse. Sabi pipo find say to waka backwards dey burn more calories dan to go forwards, while e also dey strengthen di muscles for your back. E dey particularly recommended for pipo wey get knee problems sake of say e dey reduce di strain for knee joint while e dey increase di flexibility of di hamstrings. E fit also give your brain boost too.

And no dey shame to get get muddy for those backward waka; to get dirty fit help to top up di diversity of micro-organisms wey dey live for our body.

As di largest organ for bodi, skin dey surprisingly influential – and e dey play ogbonge role to shape our health. Dry or damaged skin fit release biochemicals wey dey contribute to body-wide inflammation, wey go later affect oda organs like di heart and brain. To take better care of dis delicate organ, make pesin dey use sunscreen and moisturiser – fit no only just help you look younger, but e go also improve your biological age.

Day 3: Focus on your mind

Tok to stranger, enjoy good scare, embrace di chaos of life. All of dis things fit help you to feel happier, more strong and less stressed, according to science. You fit also try sometin new. Challenge yourself wit new skill to increase brain plasticity, wey dey help di mind adapt and rewire imself.

If you feel say you dey energetic, you fit also attempt some squats. Dey work wit and against gravity, dis simple exercises (as dem call dem) fit give your brain one surprise boost for blood flow, wey, in turn, fit improve our cognitive abilities and skills wey we dey take solve problem.

If dat one sounds like too much hard work, you fit always just try dey think say you still young. Research show say if you see yourself as young, you fit just live longer. E fit also worth am to accept power of wonder too, weda na by to climb mountain, watch di ocean or marvel at a starry sky. Experiencing awe fit reduce stress, boost memory and give you greater sense of connection to odas and di world around you.

Anoda one be say, you fit just breathe. Research suggest say breathing exercise fit reduce stress, anxiety, and lower blood pressure. Dey fit also help you sleep.

Day 4: Focus on your relationships

To get friends also good for you – e fit boost your immune system, improve your cardiovascular health and make you feel happy.

If you put di time wey you dey spend wit your friends wit small rhythm, e fit also help make you feel closer. Di friends we get fit change our habits, for better or for worse. We dey contently pick up cues from di pipo around us, and dis fit get powerful impact on how we dey behave.

To adopt different attitude towards forgiveness fit also be simple step wey fit bring multiple benefits to our lives. Although e fit dey hard, to tok say, "I forgive you" – and actually mean am – fit reduce our stress levels, help us earn more moni and even fit keep us healthier as we age.

Day 5: Focus on wetin you dey chop

December no be time to dey count calorie or do moderation, and rightly so. Wit festive tables wey full of treats both savoury and sweet, many of us dey over-do – although against popular belief, to chop outsize Christmas lunch no really dey stretch your stomach. Na hard surprise say many of us start new year wit wetin we chop for front of our minds.

If you still get leftovers from di festivities, to chop dem better pass to throway away ase better for di climate.

To chop balanced diet good any time of year.

Research suggest say junk food – wey include chocolates fit dey for di mind as e fit be for body.

Wen e come to fruit and vegetables, no be just to chop your greens – study wey sabi pipo do, show say rainbow of different colour fruit and veg fit both boost brain health and cut down chance to develop heart disease.

And while Dry January na popular way to start di year, you no need do di same wit coffee: research suggest say those wey drink coffee get lower risk to die from stroke, heart disease or cancer. Although of course, e dey important to drink coffee – make e dey moderate.

Day 6 - Focus on your fitness

While work out fit help build strength, burn fat and improve your mental health, e fit also give di microbes for your gut health boost.

If you wan get fit quick, just six sessions of interval training fit increase maximal oxygen uptake, one measure of overall fitness, and di efficiency of our body ability to burn di fuel wey store for our cells.

Di time of day wey you exercise fit also make difference – at least wia your performance dey concerned. Research on Olympic swimmers and cyclists, for example, suggest say dem fit dey faster for evening. But e fit also depend on your own circadian rhythms too.

For pipo wey dey try eke out extra small repetitions for gym or to shave some time off dia personal best, e fit worth am to embrace di power of di placebo.

Athletes wey take pills don show to perform beta pass those wey no take am.

Day 7 - Focus on your hobbies

Although to get some idle moments to let your mind wander fit bring surprise benefits, some pipo dey go extreme lengths to relieve themselves of boredom. Pipo wey dey quick feel bored fit find themselves sucked inside addictive behaviour like out of control use of mobile phone and dat trait dey linked to one increased openness of of some mental health wahala.

To take up new hobby fit help keep your brain younger, help fuel creativity – and starve off boredom. Nobel Prize-winning scientists, for example, list about three times as many personal hobbies as di average pesin – and dem particularly likely to engage for creative tins like music, painting, or to write poetry.

Good news dey, too, if di pastime wey you like na to curl up wit one good book: pipo wey read fiction dey beta at working out wetin odas dey tink and feel.

Bonus: Focus on your sex life

Our prehistoric ancestors love am so much, dey bin do am wit Neanderthals. Even Britain Queen Victoria be hapi participant. But despite dis era-span passion for sex, im many mysteries still dey for test– and as more studies dey show, e dey become easier to get interesting time for bedroom.

For one thing, adopt "sexual growth mindset" to appreciate dat intimate relationships need dey carefully tended, instead make you expect am to work automatically, fit help pipo navigate problems for di bedroom.

Now e also get plenti apps wey allow pipo to track dia orgasms. E include "biofeedback" vibrators, for example, wey use data from sensors inside to help pipo visualise dia orgasms.

For those wey dey fear awkward tok-tok wit dia children dis year, research suggests say to answer questions honestly and openly from young age fit set positive pattern wey make am easier to tok about more complex issues later.

And to ban myths around sex more generally fit be positive step. For some women, to lose dia virginity full of anxiety, judgement, and painful exams, partly sake of past ideas about di hymen. To learn how dis small piece of tissue actually dey work, and change di language we use to describe am, fit help improve sex for everybody.