New year – new me? Does it have to be that way?
Some of us really love Mondays and look forward to the week starting with a clean slate. And something happens to many of us when the clock strikes midnight on New Year’s Eve and we suddenly have a new year with new opportunities ahead of us. “I’m going to eat healthier, I’m going to exercise more, I’m going to prepare well for lectures, I’m going to save more money” – yes, all at once, please.
Do you recognize yourself?
It’s not necessarily a bad thing to make changes, but to succeed in changes you actually want to achieve, we have some tips for you:
If the goal is to eat healthier, we can agree that it’s beneficial to remove unhealthy food that’s easily accessible and instead buy healthy alternatives. The same goes for schoolwork: assess what didn’t work so well for you last year and create a good structure right from the start of the year. It’s much easier to find motivation when you’re ahead with schoolwork (or at least keeping up), than when you feel behind.
What does it really mean to exercise more or be better prepared for lectures? You need to be very specific when setting new goals. How many times a week will you exercise? On which days? Will it be morning or evening? The same goes for schoolwork. What worked last year and what do you need to change? To feel successful, it’s also important to plan small, concrete steps from time to time. Big goals can lead to bigger disappointments if they’re not achieved. That’s why it’s important to have realistic sub-goals along the way.
If your New Year’s resolution involves changing habits, you don’t need to abandon the whole project if you experience a setback or can’t do what you want. On the contrary, why not just try again the next day? It takes time to establish new habits.
You know yourself best. It can be good to be inspired by others and you’re probably not alone in having New Year’s resolutions for the new year. That’s why there’s a high chance that social media will be filled with content about a new and better life. But what everyone else does in January, you can’t do anything about. Try to be aware when you compare yourself to others, and if it does you good or not. Focus on yourself and your ambitions for 2025, then it’ll be much easier to succeed and much easier to be you.
It’s not realistic to become a superhero overnight who both exercises, eats healthy, studies, saves money, and is social. Ultimately, it’s about being satisfied with the changes you actually achieve and the steps you take if they’re important to you. Any positive change is just that – positive.
And finally; does it really matter in the grand scheme of things if you don’t manage to achieve your New Year’s resolutions? Aren’t you good enough even if you fail sometimes? One of the advantages of a new semester is precisely that you can leave the previous one behind. And there will be a new semester again next fall.
Welcome back to school!
Publisert: 2. January 2025 - Sist endret: 2. January 2025
