New Year’s is my favorite holiday because it’s always a super fun celebration, and it’s the perfect time for introspection and generally checking in on your personal goals and aspirations. I don’t know if I’ll stick with all of the changes I’ve made for the entire year, but my resolutions are steps towards a positive and healthy start to the new year, so I’m determined. I am also a big advocate for “new day’s resolutions” – any time throughout the year is the perfect time to make a change or a concerted effort to improve something in your life. Now that we’re a few weeks into 2020, here are some of the New Year’s resolutions and small life changes I’ve decided to make, and how they’ve been going so far.
1. As of January 1st, I am a pescatarian
Since September 2019, I cut out red meat and pork from my diet and decided to enter the new year as a pescatarian, meaning I don’t eat meat or poultry, but still eat eggs, dairy, and seafood. I chose to make this change because it is better for the environment to eat less meat, and I feel that I will be more inclined to make healthier choices and eat more vegetables and whole foods. I’ve found it’s easy and cheap to cook for myself, and I don’t feel any gap in nutrition without meat because eggs, yogurt, beans, lentils, tofu, and seafood all make delicious and nutritious substitutes.
Image Source: Maarten ven den Heuvel
2. I am not using Instagram, at least for the month of January
I enjoy Instagram a lot – I like keeping up with friends and family, especially those who I likely wouldn’t interact with without social media. I also enjoy taking and posting photos and building an aesthetic for my online presence. However, I think the app frequently becomes toxic and unnecessarily time-consuming for me. It’s all too easy to just scroll aimlessly and become obsessive about my profile instead of doing things that are actually meaningful to me. Not to mention, it is dangerously easy to constantly compare yourself to everyone else’s posts. I find that taking a detox for a while is very beneficial to my mental health and productivity.
3. I want to improve my vocabulary
Having a strong vocabulary is a wonderful thing – it strengthens your writing, allows you to express yourself more precisely, improves your ethos, and makes you come off as more intelligent. For the past couple of weeks, I’ve been collecting and writing down words that I’m unfamiliar with in my journal from reading, lectures, or just conversation, and then I go back later and define them. Some of my favorite new words I’ve discovered are mordant (n- sharp, critical, or biting, usually referring to humor), purport (v- to appear or claim to be something, especially falsely), and pontificate (v – to express one’s opinions in an annoying or pompous way).
4. Read the news more
I feel that since I started college, I’ve been so focused on the things I’m learning in class that I’ve failed to pay as much attention to the world at large as I should. Now is as important a time to pay attention to current events as ever, as I am now a voter and will soon be entering the world and workforce at large. Not to mention, we are in a very historically significant time, so it’s important to be aware of what’s happening.