Happy New Year everyone! After all the Christmas festivities and NY celebrations, it’s time to start thinking about the year ahead. When the clocks strike midnight, let’s celebrate two things: a farewell to 2018 and a warm welcome to the exciting year that’s just beginning. Here are my 3 favourite New Year’s resolutions for students, to give you some inspiration.
The term “resolution” can be a scary word. When January arrives, it’s tradition to change our attitudes and promise to make a fresh start. More often than not we try to redefine ourselves, trying to make big lifestyle changes that simply won’t stick. To help, I’ve put together a list of three important aspects to take forward into the New Year. I hope these will inspire you to make small changes in your life that will last for the rest of the year.
Love your everyday habits
- Get healthy. Dieting and exercising are common goals, as a lot of people hope to get fit after the festive indulging. Before focusing your energy in fixing your body, appreciate it first. Celebrate all your body can do, rather than beating yourself up over what your body can’t do yet. Remember your purpose for wanting to get healthy – this can help motivate you when times get tough.
- Get productive and organised. Find joy in the little things. Think of ways you can make everyday jobs fun, like cleaning your room, cooking or exercising. Say you have a goal to spend more time socialising with friends – find a window of time in your schedule that you can dedicate solely to your friends and commit to it. If it’s realistic, fun and a small task in your day, you’re much more likely to stick to it!
Create a positive life
- Create a healthy space. Staying in one place for too long, studying long nights on an untidy desk or sleeping in a messy bed can create a negative atmosphere in your living space. Start each day by making your bed. Tidy up as you go, maybe clearing up your desk at the end of the day. If you can, schedule a chunk of time once a week to clean your flat or room. The more you can stay on top of household chores, the easier and happier your life will be.
- Surround yourself with supportive people. Surrounding yourself with a positive support network will bring out the best version of you. Maybe this means starting to make new friends and finding a new group to hang out with. This can be daunting, but as always, start small! Research a new society you could join, or a new sport you could try. There’s loads of information about this on the Worcester SU website. New societies are a great way to meet like-minded people, so set yourself a target. Maybe your goal could be to talk to three new people in your first society meeting. Great for your confidence and your wellbeing too!
Express yourself
- Celebrate your uniqueness. There’s only one of you on this planet, so you may as well make yourself the best you can be! It’s your responsibility to become the best version of yourself, as nobody can do this for you. You have lots of unique skills, talents, qualities and characteristics. If your New Year’s Resolution is to become more confident, commit to finding things about yourself that you like and remind yourself of these points on a regular basis. As Kurt Cobain once said: “Wanting to be someone else is a waste of who you are”.
- Be grateful. A large part of expressing yourself is expressing gratitude for your life. You’re at university, you have a warm home, you have fresh food in the fridge… There’s lots to be grateful for! You could set a resolution to count 5 things you’re grateful for before you go to bed each night. After a while, you’ll find this will transform your confidence and wellbeing. Who would have thought you could gain so much simply by noticing what you already have?
2019 presents new exciting challenges, with exams, sporting events, graduations, university events and much more happening in wonderful Worcester. In our university years, it’s important to have fun, celebrate student life and make the most of the unique experiences that uni brings. Most of these resolutions focus on developing yourself as a person. Since university is a life changing experience that’ll shape and transform you, these resolutions are perfect for students!
Have a glorious 2019,
Love Howard x
Loved this blog post? Read: 5 achievable student resolutions for the New Year
Worcester Student Life 