I strongly believe that there are two new years that happen annually: New Year’s Day in January and, when school starts again, New Years in September. I know that COVID-19 has significantly disturbed the excitement of this new year but that doesn’t mean it’s not happening! In celebration of the new year here is my best tip for success: PRACTICE SELF-CARE.
You’ve seen this buzz-term everywhere, but do you know what it really means? Self-care is often associated with self-indulgence, however self-care is so much more. It can be going for a walk in your spare time, spending five minutes focusing on your breathing, phone calling a friend, or even solving math equations for fun! The core principles of self-care are that it’s learned, purposeful, and continuous. You have to make an active choice to participate in it and that’s why I love it. These are the 4 steps I used to build my self-care plan:
Step One: Identify your self-care needs. Take time to examine how your own habits and routines affect your health. Determine how the activities you do/don’t do affect your mood. Learn more about the various types of health here: https://www.rwu.edu/undergraduate/student-life/health-and-counseling/health-education-program/dimensions-wellness
Step Two: Pick an activity. Once you’re able identify your self-care needs, you can then pick activities that specifically target them. When deciding on an activity, establish why you’ve chosen this particular activity as a fufillment of your self-care needs.
Step Three: Find your own rhythm and routine over time. Self-care come primarily from within. I cannot stress this one enough. When developing your own self-care routine, make sure that its at your own pace and that it’s adaptable for the days that you need a little bit more self-care.
Step Four: Make self-care an active choice. Choosing to partake in self-care each day means choosing to better yourself each day. Nothing in life just gets handed to you, and neither will good self-care techniques. You need to visualize that the activity you’re about to do/don’t do is your own form of self-care. Consider why you’re doing it, what you want to achieve, and how this particular activity will get you to your goal.
Bonus ideas for what you can incorporate into your self-care plan. I personally like my self-care to hit on all five of my senses, but you can pick and choose however you’d like.
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Practice mental imagery and visualise yourself accomplishing some of your long and short term goals.
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Once a week, set time in your schedule to do a form of exercise you really like.
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Aim for 7-8 hours of sleep daily.
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Drink ya water!
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Put on your favourite playlist and dance along to it.
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Pick up a new hobby that isn’t a side hustle.
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Try to set time daily for an activity that helps you unwind, such as bicycling, meditating, or painting.
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Practice some aromatherapy
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Evaluate what things in your life you no longer want to dedicate time to. This could be: keeping your phone away during mealtimes or quitting an activity that you no longer enjoy.
Self-care isn’t selfish, it’s about learning how to better care for ourselves by taking into account our physical, spiritual, emotional, intellectual, mental, and social health. Great self-care can improve your mood and result in reduced stress. The biggest pro for me is the improved relationship I have with myself. Regardless of whether this is your first year of university, or your very last, good self-care is your key to success in all its facets.