We asked Yale SOM faculty for their best tips on living happily, healthily, and productively in the new year.
Explore where you are
The new year is a great time to explore the different neighborhoods in the city or region where you live! The recent Community Wellbeing Survey, conducted by DataHaven in Connecticut, found that there are vast differences across the state’s neighborhoods in terms of access to parks, recreational activities, bike lanes, and healthy food; at the same time, the survey revealed a surprising statewide equality in residents’ satisfaction with their lives and perception that neighbors are involved in activities to make the neighborhood a better place to live. In our recent work on a U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development planning grant, the IEDL used DataHaven’s measures in interviews with public housing residents and found a similar pattern. Even in communities living in the most distressed conditions, we find grassroots collective efforts toward community-building and neighborhood liveability. Why not take the opportunity to visit the variety of neighborhoods in your area and attend local events? You’ll get to know your city better and make some new connections!
Trust actions, not words
My research on online reviews this year uncovered something unexpected: people simply cannot identify AI-written content, even when we pay them to try. As we head into 2025, this finding has changed how I think about making good decisions online. My advice is straightforward: when making important choices, look beyond what people write and focus on what they actually do. If you’re picking a restaurant, ask locals who’ve been going there for years. When evaluating potential employees or business partners, prioritize their concrete achievements and professional relationships over polished written materials. Written words (whether in reviews, testimonials, or social media) are just one piece of the puzzle. Sometimes the old methods—like asking friends and neighbors—still work best.
Don’t assume owning is better than renting
A common question I receive from fellow millennials and MBA students is whether they are “leaving money on the table” by continuing to rent. By many metrics, homeownership affordability has worsened since COVID. Relief does not seem to be coming anytime soon, because mortgage rates remain elevated and new housing units are slow to hit the market. My co-authored research shows that per capita building permits issued for new homes peaked in the 1970s and collapsed after 2008 across most states, only mildly rebounding in recent years.
But renting is also expensive, so shouldn’t you at least start building wealth in the form of home equity? Or could you instead put the money you would need for a down payment into the stock market and earn greater returns? Tools like Zillow’s “Rent vs. Buy” calculator are there to help you answer this question, but be sure to come armed with market research on the costs of maintaining a home, including what your property tax bill would be. Estimating these costs is not straightforward. In a newly published paper, my co-authors and I found that due to the large property tax breaks many current owners receive, you could be in for sticker shock when you get that first property tax bill after moving in. For instance, it may be that the house you purchased was being assessed at an outdated, tax-advantaged value which will now be reset upward given the new sale. And, unfortunately, home repairs and improvements may be something you’ll need to budget for given increasing natural disaster risks.
Finally, the key consideration—one you can’t plug into a calculator—is how much you personally value living in a place you own. Ultimately, whether you head into the new year as an owner or renter, choosing where to live requires a combination of good data and introspection.
Don’t overthink exercise
There is continued evidence that even lower-frequency exercise is good for you. As we enter a new season of broken New Year’s resolutions, it is worth remembering that you don’t have to do Peloton, or an outdoor run, or high-intensity interval training every day of the year to get a benefit. Even so-called “weekend warriors” who only exercise on a couple of days a week seem to derive enormous health benefits from achieving 150 or more minutes of moderate to vigorous physical activity per week. Hypertension, obesity, sleep apnea, and diabetes were all less frequent in those who engaged in these activities, compared with those who did not.
Just getting your steps in seems to significantly reduce your cardiovascular and all-cause mortality rate, with a threshold of less than 4,000 steps per day. So you don’t even have to commit to anything vigorous to get a favorable effect on your health. And exercise doesn’t just help your physical well-being. Numerous studies point to positive effects on your mental well-being as well. So don’t despair when you find yourself falling short of your commitment to daily workouts. Accentuate the positive; eliminate the negative; latch on to the affirmative; and just walk, run, or cycle when you can, with a goal of 4,000 steps per day and maybe 150 minutes of moderate to vigorous activities per week. The return on this investment is enormous.
Read the full list of Ideas from the Yale School of Management here
