‘New-Year, New Me?’- Building the drive for a bigger, better year.
I think it’s commonplace to concede that the last two years have been an incredible challenge for most people — myself included. With the consequences of the pandemic and the longing for a resumption to normality, I for one have aspired to just get by. But with most of my first year of university completed in lockdown and the trepidation of the on-campus approach this year, it’s been overwhelming, to say the least.
But as I've headed home for the winter break to recuperate and spend time with loved ones, I’ve realised that in 2022 — I’m going to challenge myself to do more than just get by and in spite of the wavering pandemic and the continued stress of navigating in an uncertain world, set some attainable goals for a bigger, better year.
Now I am usually one for making a New Years resolution list (as clichè as it sounds) but I’ve discovered that usually by mid-February, I spend little to no time looking at it and thus — fail to stick to them. However, being a keen writer, this year I thought that I would use Medium as a platform to share my journey and experiences. I know that with the pandemic our struggles may be similar and if I can motivate or help even just one person, then that’s one person more than if I were to document this in an old notepad. Besides, I can establish a sense of accountability if I am to document this and maybe (who knows) might even stick to my goals.
With my preamble out of the way, let’s get on to those goals and the key difference this year is: they’re more realistic and can be summarised in 4 emojis!
📚 Read 1 book a month
As a Law student, I don’t think reading is the problem, I’m sure law students can resonate with the plethora of reading each week and the immense research that goes into sessions and preparing for exams. However, I wanted to get into reading things that aren’t connected to the law to broaden my literary perspective and wind down in the evening.
So as a daily commuter, I installed Audible and got to it! To begin my reading goal, January’s book is: Refugee Boy by Benjamin Zephaniah
🏃♂Exercise and Get Healthy
Though sport was not exactly one of my talents during school, I was rather good at running and found that it was something that provided comfort and allowed me to de-stress. While I definitely went jogging more frequently last year, it was never as much as I would have liked to and so this year, my aim is to go on a jog every morning to find comfort and positivity from the offset of my day.
I am also going to couple this with eating better foods because I think it is important to consume good things in your body for a healthier body and mindset, the latter of which I could benefit from having this year!
✍ Start Blogging
I have blogged using several different mediums over the last four/ five years for an array of purposes, it has been a hobby of mine for quite some time. During college, I made a law club at college and used WordPress to critically explore faults/ concepts in the law and during the first year of university, I created ‘The Lockdown Series’ to share my experiences of being a student in lockdown. However, these ideas always served their purpose, ie: I left college and my first year came to an end and so I didn’t know what to do. I just know that writing allows me to find comfort and share experiences/ tips to a tiny corner of the internet, hoping that somebody finds it entertaining or useful. So this year, I thought I would use Medium to have a permanent avenue to share productivity, lifestyle, experiences and educated discussions. This year, I am going to strive to create at least one piece a week and gain some sort of consistency.
🧠 Focused Mindset
I think this one is the most important — without a focused mindset, I don’t believe that we as people can function in the manner in which we need to. The pandemic has definitely challenged mental health and highlighted how fragile our mindset can be when faced with new/ unprecedented situations. However, at the same time, the world must continue and so this year I think it is really important to learn new habits to have a healthier mindset.
Not so long ago, I watched Raymond Tang’s TED Talk: ‘Be humble — and other lessons from the philosophy of water’ and I found that this philosophy was quite useful in seeing things from a different (more positive) perspective. This year I want to really build on that and adopt the lessons of ‘humility, harmony and openness’ to shape my interactions with others and my own goals and attitudes.
There's no denying the difficulties over the last two years, the world has unequivocally become more difficult to navigate around, but with hardship, I think that it is important to bounce back, this can often be a long and arduous journey, but one which leads to a better way of life. As I embark on making the most of 2022, I wanted to share it and use Medium as a platform for just that. If you like this post I would appreciate it if you could like it and drop a follow, maybe even comment your resolutions or goals.
Take it easy ❤️
