You’re at that point in the semester where the dark and cold of winter—–combined with the stresses of finals have caused you to lose necessary motivation to be the best you can be. Your motto turns from “let’s kick life’s butt” to “life’s kicking my butt” and making it through the day alive seems to be an accomplishment. If this describes you, no fear! The new year is coming around which means you now have a convenient excuse to start over. While New Year’s seems to be a redundant, rather unoriginal turning point for people to obsess over unrealistic and cliché goals, it doesn’t have to be. As long as you’re making your resolutions personal to you that you’re able to make small efforts toward them, then you’re on the right track. Think about them more as lifestyle improvements rather than goals or changes——this way your mindset focuses on adding instead of transforming, which will help you more easily achieve them! Pull out a piece of paper and start jotting down an attainable list of things you want to do better in your life (writing down helps validate them!).
1.) Go to the gym everyday—> Challenge your body more often
We all know that getting out and exercising more is a resolution that a great majority of the country takes on. After the new year, gym membership sales skyrocket and people seem to drive themselves mad sticking to this challenging goal, and no wonder! Finding the time and/or motivation to go to the gym every single day of the week (or even close to that) is unrealistic. Life frequently gets in the way and some days you’d rather focus on other priorities in your life (and that’s okay!! Don’t let your resolution make you feel poorly about yourself—that’s not what it’s about). People often forget that being healthy can mean more than just hitting the gym. At home yoga, nature hikes, bike rides, lunchtime walks, lifting weights during your favorite Netflix series——the possibilities are endless! Losing weight and/or toning your body can start from simply purchasing a yoga mat or dumbbells and starting at home on your time. Taking too big of a leap often causes this resolution to crash and burn. By integrating healthier choices and rountines as they feel nature to you is more likely to get you to the places you want to be in the long run! Be kind to yourself.
2.) Start a diet—> Add healthier food choices
As discussed beforehand, resolutions should be about adding and not subtracting——and a diet should be no exception! The extremes people are willing to go through for this resolution are not only negative but potentially harmful. While understanding someone’s desire to look their best self, I believe there are better ways of doing so than cutting certain food groups altogether. The key is moderation. As long as you’re not constantly munching on homemade cookies and takeout pizza, you will be fine! Instead of picking those types of foods at the grocery store, choose more fruits and veggies (and make the trip after eating a meal—this way you’re not tempted by loads of comfort food). The trick is to get your body used to eating certain foods rather than introducing it to new foods, concoctions, and diets every other week. Progress often comes from small decisions in your eating habits! Finding yummy recipes using healthy foods can help you enjoy what you’re eating instead of seeing it as a big change. The first step to looking and feeling a better you is all about eliminating the mindset of “diet” (eating better will suffice).
3.) Quit spending money—> Make concious, smart financial choices
Being in college, money is a huge stresser——one that people commonly choose to base their New Year’s Resolution around. The fact of the matter is, avoiding friend’s birthday dinners, roommate takeout snacks, clothes for going out, drinks bought downtown, rent, bills, etc., etc., etc. is almost impossible (and I wouldn’t want you to have to give those up wither). However, there’s no one that couldn’t benefit from rethinking how they spend and budget money. Just the word budget can be enough to make you tense up, but don’t be nervous——saving money can be a huge lifesaver! Adding more homemade dinners, sharing clothes with roommates/friends, and drinking in moderation are only some of the ways you can improve your spending. Although I tiptoe lightly around this word, limiting the amount of times you go out or cave into guilty pleasures during the month is an easy way to lower those unneccesary temptations. Donate plasma, take online surveys, sell some of your old clothes, babysit, etc. if you do choose to give in and splurge. It’s about balance!!
4.) Get better grades—> Dedicate more time to school
While people are likely to refer to this resolution as one that magically happens overnight——it doesn’t. The way I see it, there are two reasons students don’t do well in school:
1.) They’re not good at the subject at hand 2.) They’re not putting classes at the priority they should
With that being said, sometimes more time isn’t the solution (there may be more to it). BUT if you feel as though you could do better if you tried, then perhaps it’s time to work toward it! Although better notetaking, study habits, and more time with the professor could help you improve your academics, simply pouring more time into the task at hand can be a huge help. Instead of shooting for the A/B, shoot for the A and instead of the A, shoot for 100%. You set your own standards/expectations for yourself (the lower you set, the lower you’ll shoot for). Remember that when you’re completing a study review or paper or assignment, put in much more work than you believe it would take to get you that high grade—–this way you’re going above and beyond. Above and beyond is what good students do get the grades they do.