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This article is written by a student writer from the Her Campus at Queen's U chapter.

On January 1, 2020, I had convinced myself that 2020 would be my year. My year to finally get out of my comfort zone and to not let my social anxiety affect me. I would be more confident, socialize more, and cross dreams off my bucket list. You can already guess why, but that didn’t quite go as planned. I had made such a laundry list of goals that I wanted to achieve this year. But by the end of the year, I felt so disappointed that these dreams didn’t happen. So when this year rolled around, I started to not only change my goals, but started to focus on how to simplify them. This year, I want to correct my posture and stop picking my nails when I’m nervous. That’s it. It may seem simple, but I’m convinced that achieving these two goals will make me happier, and here’s why. 

writing in book with cup of coffee and croissant
Photo by Cathryn Lavery from Unsplash

Even though these goals are very basic, they take a lot of discipline and practice to achieve. If I want to correct my posture, I have to continuously do exercises that improve it and actively correct my hunch. It takes time, but the result will make me appear more confident when I walk, give me less back pain, and make me seem more approachable. Plus, it encourages me to prioritize exercise and practice discipline. While the goal is simple, the results will vastly improve my life, which transcends the simplicity of the goal . Similarly, if I stop picking my nails, it will be because I found a better way to deal with my stressors. Maybe it will even mean that I have managed to improve my anxiety as a whole. When you take a deeper look into your simple goals, you realize that they’re much more complex than you might expect. By working on these two goals, I end up tackling the larger goals that I wish I had completed last year. I would be indirectly improving my confidence and tackling my social anxiety. 

Girl holding heart in sunset
Photo by Hassan OUAJBIR from Pexels
By breaking big goals down and making slow and continuous improvements to your life, you begin to feel more satisfaction. Generally, I’ve found that by creating small goals each week, I feel happier in my accomplishments and in myself. If this trying time has taught us anything, it’s that we need to give ourselves a pat on our backs and be happy with the small joys of  life. I pledge to take a one-way trip to self-improvement and each mile will represent one small goal being accomplished one at a time. 

Emily Nicaso

Queen's U '24

My name is Emily Nicaso and I am a first-year student at Queen's University. I love the arts and am passionate about espresso and sitcoms.
HC Queen's U contributor