The dawn of a new year is a time of personal reflection for many people. Upon reflecting on their lives, many people resolve to change those lives for the better.

Making the most of opportunities for personal growth can help people enrich their lives and be happier. Embracing some habits and ditching others can contribute to personal growth and help people live full and fulfilling lives.

• Wake up early. Many people can think of various things they would like to do if they only had more time. Reading more books, exercising more often or learning to cook are just a handful of activities that can enrich peoples’ lives.

By waking up earlier each day, people can make better use of their mornings. Read a book while the morning coffee is brewing or run a little on the treadmill before the kids wake up. Waking up earlier also can give you a chance to get some chores done, opening up more time to pursue some new hobbies at night.

• Quit smoking. The ill effects of smoking are many. Smokers may not know just how quickly after quitting their bodies will begin to recover.

The American Lung Association notes that smokers’ heart rates drop to a normal level 20 minutes after quitting. Twelve hours after quitting, the carbon monoxide levels in smokers’ blood return to normal as well.

Quitting also can provide people with more financial freedom. The resource Smokefree.org notes that, in early 2018, someone smoking a pack a day spent about $177 per week on cigarettes. That amounts to roughly $9,200 per year. Financial freedom can make it easier to pursue passions that promote personal growth, such as traveling.

• Volunteer. A study from researchers at the London School of Economics that was published in the journal Social Science and Medicine found that the more people volunteered, the happier they were.

The researchers compared people who never volunteered to people who did, finding that the odds of being “very happy” increased by seven percent among people who volunteered monthly. Those odds increased by 12 percent among people who volunteered every two to four weeks.

Volunteering also provides opportunities to meet new people, including those from different backgrounds than your own. Such interactions can help people develop more wellrounded worldviews.

• Turn off your devices. Numerous studies have discovered that the brain cannot multitask. Unfortunately, many people unknowingly try to force their brains to do just that by checking their devices.

Avoiding devices during the workday can make you more productive, and turning them off when you arrive home at night can foster stronger relationships with your loved ones.

The dawn of a new year is a great time to explore various ways to promote your personal growth.