Edited by: Sahana Inuganti
We are halfway through March, two and a half months since the New Year’s. I don’t know about you, but I’ve pretty much broken all my resolutions. I actually broke some of them on 1st January itself, but made excuses that I will start from the next Monday, next week etc. Now, I’m all out of excuses and plan to fulfill at least some of them. So, here’s my reminder of the New Year resolutions for 2022 and an attempt to start following them.
- Learn how to manage finances
DO NOT SPEND ALL YOUR MONEY. Save a part of your money, you might need it later. Even if you don’t need it, you can always invest it. You should invest it, it will help you in the future.
Pro tip: save all the bills, and calculate money spent or saved that day itself. Maintain a daily budget, you will forget later.
- Eat healthier
In my defense, two of my cousins got married and I wasn’t going to watch my food there. That’s the entire point of weddings — dressing up and eating good food. Now that it’s over, make conscious decisions to eat healthier. Leaving all forms of junk food at once is not a sustainable option, and certainly not one that you can keep. Baby steps every day lead to quicker and long lasting results.
- Discover new music and artists
The only new artists you’ve listened to till now are Ali Sethi and Oaff. It’s a step but not enough. The only reason you came across them in the first place is because they found their way to the mainstream. There is nothing wrong with liking mainstream music, but if you really want to evolve your music taste conscious effort is required. For god’s sake, it’s the age of spotify playlists — all you have to do is search and listen.
- Watch more movies
Saving umpteen movie recommendations on Instagram isn’t enough. You have to start watching them, and purposefully need to take out time. Set goals for yourself — two movies a week is a perfectly achievable goal under all circumstances including exams. You anyways procrastinate and do things last minute, spend that time watching something instead. That being said, can someone please share their Mubi account with me?
- Read more books
At the beginning of the year, academic readings were not included in this category. Now they are, since most of your readings this semester aren’t really academic in nature and include novels, short stories and plays. That being said, it is important to read otherwise too and you aren’t going through a reader’s block. Just a reminder, you’re a literature student and reading is one of the foundations of this field.
Pro tip: Respect people’s choice of films and movies. Reading a lot of books or watching many films holds no value if we can’t learn the most important quality from them: empathy.
- Learn how to drive
Rule number one: practice makes a wo(man) perfect. It’s not that big of a deal, but it is super important. There will always be something going on, please stop making excuses and book another one of your driving sessions. You’ll never learn otherwise. The goal for this year is to get a license — not a learner’s license, a proper adult driving license.
- Maintain a journal
This has been your resolution for the past four years and clearly hasn’t been very successful. Don’t just journal when it’s convenient and when you need to vent — follow this otherwise too. Minds have their own realities, and our memory isn’t as perfect as we think it is. Over time, we may not even remember the original incident but versions of it that might not have happened. In such cases and even otherwise, a journal is always helpful. It is a testament to our existence and evolution capturing the journey of where we come from and where we are heading.
- Learn to be grateful
It won’t happen overnight. You need to practice gratitude and appreciate the small things. A good breakfast, rain, the smell of new books, getting a seat in the metro and unexpected compliments. Keeping a record of the good things around you makes the bad times a little easier. Start filling that gratitude journal again — you know it is much easier than a normal one.
That was my Mid-March reminder that it’s never too late to follow your resolutions, even if you broke them on the first day itself. Brb, my driving instructor is here and I need to go, or he will continue honking repeatedly.