New Year’s resolutions: you can love ‘em or hate ‘em, but you can’t escape them—and committing to better mental and physical health is a common area of focus in the new year.

As is evidenced by the fact that most of us aren’t flawless physical specimens and meditation pros, however, most resolutions are only partially successful. They might make some small temporary shift in our habits, but they don’t result in a large-scale change that persists into the future. 

The solution? Think of it as the New Year’s Nudge—making it easy to change your habits by changing your physical environment to support the behaviors you’d like to see. 

That’s where promotional products come in. 

Gifts that encourage physical and mental health, creativity, and family connection support your professional community year-round. 

Here are some options:

• Art supplies, crafts, and games

• Hot packs for stress relief

• Eye masks for restful sleep

• Gym supplies and healthy snacks

We have a tendency to be too hard on ourselves after the holiday season, expecting our iron willpower to carry us through the next twelve months. And while this might work in the short term, the truth is that willpower operates like a muscle: it will eventually fatigue, leaving us right back where we started.

To combat this, think less in terms of internal resolve and more in terms of shifting your external environment to facilitate the changes you’d like to see. Branded gear that sets up employees, clients, and leads to live healthier lives can lead to long-term improvements in mental and physical health.

The New Year’s Nudge

To make a nudge last, the secret is to work desired changes into your routine and physical environment, and promotional products are a great way to encourage this. 

Home Workouts 

Getting in shape is a common resolution—and although it might be motivated by a bit of seasonal overindulgence, the benefits of a regular workout routine go far beyond mirror-based rewards: working out decreases stress, increases energy, and supports long-term physical and mental health.  

Consider gifting employees or clients the basics of a home gym. This could include:

• Resistance bands

• Yoga mats

• Branded towels 

• Water bottles

• Foam rollers

• Synthetic tops

• Fitness trackers 

• Watches

• Cold-weather running gear

All of these products can help you stay healthy at home, and giving them is a great way to invest in the physical health of your community. 

No Virus, No Problems

The next generation of branded gear includes disinfectant products that use UV light to kill illness-causing viruses and bacteria, giving your mucus membranes a much-needed break from all the Clorox and bleach. These can come in the form of sterilizing pouches (just drop your phone and keys inside for a quick blast) or dual functionality products, like wireless charging docks that zap your devices while you power up. 

You can also look into gifting no-contact keychain attachments that open doors, press elevator buttons, and ring doorbells hands-free.

Working from Home (and Homing from Home)

By now, most of us have fine-tuned a sophisticated love-hate relationship with working from home—and the right branded products can help prevent burnout and support health in the home office. 

On the plus side, there’s time saved in the commute, increased flexibility, and the freedom to network in pajamas. On the other hand, there’s the blurring of lines between business and personal life, the danger of never really feeling off the clock, the physical creaks and cricks generated by a less-than-ergonomic home office, and the well-documented phenomenon of Zoom fatigue. 

While most companies report that employees have remained productive while working from home, some evidence suggests that we may be headed for a WFH crash. These gifts fight burnout and help support mental health during a difficult year.

To support healthy work-from-home habits, consider gifting:

• Noise-canceling headphones

• Ergonomic keyboards or standing desks

• Blue light filtering glasses

• Branded slippers

To encourage employees to unplug, consider subscriptions to yoga or meditation programs, software upgrades or plugins that automatically throttle work-related notifications outside of office hours, and board games, journals, or other meditation-related gifts. 

The Future is Now

As Kurt Vonnegut once wrote, we are what we pretend to be—and the beauty of a resolution is that it doesn’t need to flip a switch in order to make a meaningful difference in somebody’s life and health. Instead, pretending to be a healthier, more balanced you (even for just a few months a year) can, in the long run, make you that person. And the more you build those changes into your environment and routine, the easier they will be to keep up. 

To show clients, leads, and employees that you support their personal health, give gear that facilitates healthy habits. For more ideas, contact us.