New Year’s Resolutions

The top 3 resolutions made tend to be Health/Fitness, Financial Gain, and Personal Growth.  Since we’re still in January and it’s possible that you haven’t made a resolution or haven’t started yet, I thought I would cover these resolutions from an RLSH perspective.

Health & Fitness

Health & Fitness is the most common New Year’s Resolution out there.  We want to look better, feel better, and operate better.  The trouble is usually follow through.  A lot of RLSH wouldn’t mind looking a bit more like the comic book figures we idolize.  That typically means fat loss and muscular gain.  For some people it’s obtaining hero-related skills like being fast, training a certain way, being able to lift a certain amount.  These are very obtainable goals and the best way to go about doing it is to dedicate a certain amount of time each week, just like you would for a class or an appointment.

I won’t get into a lot of details on how to go about doing this (if you want that, just let me know in the comments).  If you want to burn fat and gain muscle, you need to do resistance-based workouts (weightlifting, resistance training, HIIT, crossfit, etc).  Cardio burns calories and improves your cardiovascular system, builds endurance.  If you want to gain muscle, you need to increase your protein intake.  If you want to lift a lot of weight, get stronger, then I recommend looking into powerlifting or strongman.  If you want to be faster, sprinting and explosive movements are going to help you out.  If you want to be able to defend yourself and others, look at martial arts in your area.

Another reason why you might want to get into better shape is on the off-chance you have to deal with ICE.  A handful of RLSH have already had to do this in some manner, whether peacefully protesting or dealing with ICE firing on a crowd.  For convenience, I have the basic physical requirements for ICE Agents - which is pretty much what’s required for the high school presidential fitness test (do they still do that?).

Another aspect of health and fitness is eating better.  This may be switching your foods to healthier options like brown rice instead of white rice or sweet potato instead of regular potato or cutting back on sugar.  It could be following a strict ‘no fast food or street food’ resolution.  Or, it could be something completely different like ‘eating paleo’ or ‘following a bodybuilder diet’ or something along those lines.  Whatever it is you choose, make sure it works for you.  I cannot process carbohydrates properly, so I simply don’t eat them - but I realize this isn’t something everyone can get behind.

As the saying goes: “You can’t outrun a bad diet.”

Financial Gain

If you took a look at the 2025 RLSH Demographics, you’ll realize that most RLSH seem to be in the lower-middle to middle class income bracket.  This means that most of us are having some issues making ends meet, especially with the economy the way it is.

Fast Money

Fast money is a hard one because I don’t really have solid answers, otherwise I might be better off.  Things you can try: second job (in person or remote work), passive income (like a rental or an AirB&B or something), sell stuff online (etsy, ebay, etc), and teach a class.  There are some outlying options that aren’t the best ideas: write a novel or screenplay (no guarantee it will sell), sell art (no guarantee it will sell), OnlyFans (crosses a lot of lines for people), app/game related pay outs (scams mostly), Youtube star (not a fast money maker).

If you’re looking for some sort of long term option, you may want to consider something like a 3-year Mutual Fund that you can add money into.  Just don’t take it out until after those 3 years.  You could also invest in some ETFs (diversified stocks based on common interest like ‘energy’ or ‘defense’) if you are into that.  You could also try investing in stocks.  These can be done through something like eTrade or some other online stock trading platform.

If you want to plan for retirement, open up a Roth IRA.  You can only add in $7500 each year if you’re under 50, but by the time you retire you’ll have a little monetary padding.  Also, if you have a 401K or a Simple IRA, you can also have a Roth IRA.  We’ve been seeing some retired RLSH have some financial issues over the last year and it just makes me consider increasing my own retirement funds.

If you are out to work on your personal financial growth, I would start by cutting frivolous costs.  Figure out a plan from there.  This is what financial planners do.  There are books and DIY shit out there to help out, if you don’t want to use a professional.

Why consider financial gain as an RLSH? Being able to have an increase in finances can help lead to better quality uniforms, equipment, training, handouts, etc.

Personal Growth

You don't have to wear a loincloth to meditate.

Personal growth encompasses a lot of stuff like learning a skill, obtaining education, developing one’s wellness, going to counseling if you need it, holding yourself more accountable, developing leadership skills and practices, etc.  It’s whatever makes you grow and become better as a person.

This may seem almost frivolous to some people, but it can lead to getting a better job or becoming a more well-rounded thinker, etc. This seems pretty straight-forward as to how it would benefit RLSH.

Common personal growth resolutions are: learn a skill, obtain education, go to meetings/counseling sessions regularly, read more books, practice meditation, join a service club (like Rotary or Lions or Eagles), volunteer for something, journal regularly, learn a foreign language, get out to local art exhibits, practice a regular beauty/grooming routine (if you're not used to one), and make more time for friends/family.

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On an entire other note, if you are an RLSH, please take a moment to fill out this RLSH 2026 Demographics Survey. It's anonymous. Just looking to gather some general information to study. It will end up becoming an article after the end of the year.

The February "Notes From The Rooftops" will be about "Film/TV That Helped Inspired You and How" [as an RLSH].  Keep it to roughly 500 words.  If you want to contribute (active or retired RLSH only), please send an email to Raven (raven@herocore.online).  If I get no responses, then this will be the last of this feature. Deadline: January 31st

If there is something you would like to see me discuss here on Herocore, please feel free to contact me. raven@herocore.online