Congratulations, you’ve made it! Happy New Year from your favorite collegiate virtual best friend! You’ve made it through another year of ups and downs, while still remaining unbreakable, give yourself a pat on the back! This article is dedicated to helping you start of your year on a positive note. We here at Her Campus, would like to make sure that your year is off to a great start and you remain focused, positive, and motivated to have the best year you can.
The new year can be stressful and sometimes we set unrealistic expectations for ourselves and get upset when we don’t see them come to fruition. This article is filled with tips, tricks, and ideas on how to be the best you, you’ve ever been in your life! This year lets focus on being more well-rounded, in all areas of your life. Let’s focus on the mental, emotional, physical, spiritual, and educational levels of your life and how to elevate each one of those and stay in constant progression.
We usually start of on a great note at the beginning of the year and somewhere towards a few months in, we get lost, discouraged, and frustrated. The stresses of life begins, to creep in and we no longer have that same motivation we had at the start of the year. We’re here to make sure the fire within you doesn’t go out and even if it does, here’s how you can re-ignite yourself!
First let’s talk about your attitude going into the new year. Your mental health. Mental health, especially, in college it can be a scary thing. Before you commit to anything, make any big-time plans, or final decisions, take time out for yourself. Take a moment to just relax, center yourself, your thoughts, and focus your intentions on what you want from yourself and the universe this year. Most of the time, all we really need to calm our souls is just to breathe and relax. Life may seem too much at times but if you take a moment or time for yourself, to remind you that you hold the power to your destiny, and you can make it anything we want it to be. Here are a few tips on how you can implement good mental health practices through-out your year:
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Look in the mirror every day and remind yourself of all of your wonderful qualities. It’s okay to be nice to yourself. Loving yourself is the most important thing you can do for you. When you love yourself, you began to have such a better outlook on life you produce such a great energy that everything in your life is affected.
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Spend less time on the internet/your phone. In today’s society technology is such a mass majority of our life that we don’t take into account how much time we spend on the internet, social media and how it affects our mental health. Before you go to bed take two hours off of social media, and when you wake up wait at least two hours before you get on. This can help with anxiety, depression, and distractions so much.
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Don’t compare yourself to others. We have come to a point in society where we would like for everyone to be put into a bubble and do the same thing, and if you don’t fit into that bubble then you aren’t accepted by society. It’s okay to be different. Difference is what makes us special, and unique. Learn to accept the beauty that is your true self and appreciate the people who love you for that.
For your spiritual and physical health goals this year, lets focus on resilience and reach towards personal growth. Many times, we commit to either working out more or getting closer towards a higher power and not ever focusing on realizing these two things play hand and hand into each other. When you’re working on your physical health rather it be: working out, eating better, or watching how you take care of your outer appearance you’re going through such a dramatic change that you don’t notice your spiritual well-being changing as well. Through-out the year as you make changes to your physical self, find time to mediate and align with your spiritual being. Stay reflective with yourself. Mae sure you stay grounded with your spirt. Here are a few tips on how you can implement this through-out your year:
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Mediate weekly. Pick three days out of the week that you are the least busy, and mediate on your thoughts, feelings, and whatever you’re going through. Reflect with yourself on how you can handle whatever you may be going through and how you can turn it into something positive.
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Have a self-care day. Pick a day out of the week where you focus on just yourself. You can watch your favorite tv show, eat your favorite foods, light candles, read a book or practice yoga. You can go to a spa or the movies by yourself. The goal is to spend time with yourself and focus on being happy with you and who you are as a woman.
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Cry. Sometimes we try so hard to be the strong, tough, and independent woman that forget its okay to be vulnerable and cry. Its okay to break down sometimes and let go of all of the frustration and anger that we hold in so much. You don’t have to be so strong that you forget you’re human.
Next is your emotional health. During the New Year, many people focus on being as open emotionally as they can be. For some people this may be a good thing, but for others this can be quite damaging without even realizing it. When you open your heart as much as you can, you’re opening the door for others to project their emotions on to you, no matter if its good or bad it now becomes your baggage. This year lets focus on keeping our heart and emotions projected and keeping the energy around us positive. Here are a few tips on how you can be emotionally protected this year:
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Learn to say no. Many times, we commit to things, people, events, and all sorts of variables without realizing what it is doing to us emotionally. This year learn to stand up for yourself and say no to anything that doesn’t serve you a greater purpose.
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Protect the energy around you. This year only surround yourself with people who benefit you in a positive way. Make sure the people you are surrounding yourself with are good for your soul and not damaging to your esteem. You are as good as support system, so make sure your system is a great one.
Last is your education. In college education should be your number one priority. No matter what you are going through, keep your education your number one focus. You are as good as your effort you put into yourself, and the effort you put into your education should be remarkable. We now sometimes it can be hard to stay on track and do your best so here are our finally tips on how you can stay on track with your education:
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Quit procrastinating! Procrastination is one of the biggest setbacks you can do to yourself. When you procrastinate you set yourself back, or you miss out on being the best version of yourself that you can be. Do things when you said you would do them, or better yet, do them earlier so you can get it out of the way!
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Spend less time socializing and more time on your academics. Sometimes you get so caught up in having a great social life you forget your in school for an education! Making friends is a great thing and yes, you do need a healthy balance of school and fun, but don’t let the fun get you off track. Before you attend social events make sure you have taken care of all of your responsibilities.
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Ask for help. It’s okay if you don’t know everything and you need help. Asking for help doesn’t make you weak it makes you stronger. Seeking help so you can become better at something helps you so much more in the long run. You will thank yourself. Your actions today affect your life five years from now, so make sure you are doing the right things.
This year is going to be a great year for you! Everything you need to make sure that you accomplish everything you have set for yourself is going to come to past. All the tools you need to be successful is already within you, you just have unlock them and be prepared to be the best version of yourself that you’ve ever been! Remember this is your year, and anything you want to happen is just steps away from fruition, and we’ll always have your back!