A gift guide for people who say, “New year, new me”

Ah, the sweet smell of January. The promise of a fresh start; the dawn of a new year. We’ve all got that friend who insists that this year will be the one they take it up a notch: they’ll learn Portuguese; they’ll jog every single day; they’ll learn Portuguese while jogging every single day. Maybe you’re that friend. Maybe you’re the one who says that, despite all evidence pointing to this not happening, you are going to smash your goals this year and do a marathon in record time - maybe even world record time. So, for you and your optimistic buddies, we’ve got the gifts that will help those resolutions stick…and be there for you even if they don’t.

Gifts for the friend who’s always running a marathon

There are probably more Google searches for ‘how to do a marathon near me’ on January 1 than any other day of the year. So, whether you’re buying for a friend who’s told everyone that next year will be the year they finally do that 26 miles, or whether you’re splashing out on a pal who runs a marathon every other week, we think these gadgets will go down very well indeed. First up there’s the Apple Watch Series 10, which has everything a fitness fan could ever need: a calorie tracker; an electrocardiogram; emergency SOS in case the run doesn’t go as well as expected. At Back Market you can get a refurbished model for only £261 / $259.95.

Gifts for the friend who’s having a mid-life crisis

Maybe the new year has one of your friends radically reassessing everything in their life. There are various signs to look out for when trying to decide whether or not a friend is going through a mid-life crisis. Do they insist they’re not going through a mid-life crisis? They’re going through a mid-life crisis. Have they suddenly grown a mullet? They’re going through a mid-life crisis. Have they announced they’d “really like to master the flute”? They’re going through a mid-life crisis.

But, although the mid-life crisis might be amusing, it’s much better to lean into it than pretend it’s not happening. And there are great gifts out there for the older friend who’s experimenting with new things. If your friend has decided to get into gaming, for example, then the Nintendo Wii is a great place to start. At Back Market this solid retro console is only £55/$90, and will provide hours of entertainment for the mate who wants to process some Big Thoughts while playing Super Mario Galaxy 2. 

But your mid-life-crisis friend might not have turned to gaming during this tumultuous time; they may have decided that they want to change something about their appearance. So, if they’re experimenting with their hair, consider buying them the Shark Hair Dryer/Styler HD446SLEU, the lightweight, five-in-one styling tool that could help them sculpt a fabulous new look for themselves. A mid-life crisis can be a bumpy ride, so there’s no reason not to make it feel more manageable.

Gifts for the friend who always wants to go hiking 

There’s always one friend in a friendship group who wants to tell you that they went hiking at the weekend. They invite you on all their hikes. They treat their hikes like a drug. In all honesty, this is great - having an active friend who appreciates Mother Nature is only a good thing, as long as they remember to ask you some questions about your life as well. An outdoorsy friend would love the Fujifilm Intax Mini 7+ Instant 0.6, a camera that develops photos in the blink of an eye.

A touch more expensive but just as useful are the AirPods 3 from Apple (£90/$85). With Bluetooth, automatic switching, and weighing in at only 4g, these little earphones will help your friend tune out the soothing, calming sounds of the serene landscape around them and let them rock out to some absolutely banging heavy metal as they hike. If they’re not a music fan, perhaps they can listen to a podcast so that they can talk to you about something interesting, rather than hiking. This has to be a gift for you as well as for them.

Look. Come here. We know that sticking to new year’s resolutions, even the most virtuous ones, is really tricky - especially as the months start to get darker and colder. But by buying refurbished gadgets from Back Market, you’re already doing something admirable. Even if February comes around and you and your friends have missed that marathon sign-up deadline, or your blender’s lying unused in its box, don’t worry - just like your friends, the gifts will be there for you when you need them.