New Year’s resolution, party of one
When Jan. 1 hit, everyone may have become overwhelmed with the new resolutions that they set and must keep for the rest of the year. Sometimes, while it may be fun to challenge yourself with outrageous resolutions, it is best to keep your life simple and focus on only a few areas of self improvement.
Contrary to popular belief, it is best to examine your weaknesses and be honest with yourself about them. Once you acknowledge these weakness, you can adjust according to what you can handle.
Sometimes, you can also stress yourself out too much over lofty resolutions, and that’s why you may find reaching your goals very stressful and challenging.
“You can’t say no until you’ve said yes,” a spiritual and motivational writer and speaker Rob Bell informed his audience two years ago on his podcast, called The RobCast. His reason for stating that rests in his belief that a person’s life is sacred. Unfortunately, he said he had observed people today who move far too fast and don’t set enough limits for themselves and are distracted. In the process, they don’t take the time to enjoy life for what it is, even if it is work.
I found that to be especially true for me.
Everyone is most definitely different and responds to their situations in their own way. But speaking for myself as a person who tends to become anxious from wanting to succeed, when too much piles up, I can explode.
It is difficult for me to admit my own struggles and setbacks when I want to do it all.
As a college student who is passionate about learning, even about the courses that I struggle with or sometimes frustrating professors, I still want that 4.0 GPA. I also would like to take on another part-time job so I can start paying off my loans and will have less to worry about later. I’m trying to find at least a couple times a week where I can work out the gym consistently. And then I have my personal but long-term aspirations like making short films with my colleagues and continuing to work on my books. But aside from all that, I would like to spend time with friends more outside of class or pursuing passions.
I’ve made a mental note of these goals, and I recently made a post to generate discussion in asking if I was already asking too much of myself in regards to the limitations I’ve realized I have.
How will I accomplish all of these goals? I don’t have an answer, except that I do plan on making my tentative schedule flexible.
It may vary and likely will vary every week, and some things may get put behind more than others, especially the more the semester picks up. But what I do not plan on, is to lose focus on my studies and not to fall behind in the homework or the reading so I understand enough I can analyze and advance as a critical thinker for society.
On a flip side, it would be fair to say that some people can handle more than others. Our brains work at faster or slower paces based on who you are. But that is okay!
Another question you might want to ask yourself is how much will what you take on affect others around you? In the future, your professional attitude is everything and if you’re a good-natured person, your company and customers or clients will appreciate you, so being pleasant to your peers and elders is pivotal to future success.
You might also want to speculate how much time it will take for you to get your daily activities done, especially in homework outside of class. You’re spending all your money for your classes right now, why not pour most of your energy into taking advantage to learn what you can? You may discover another path in which you can fulfill your purpose with your passions and interests or at the least, you’ll learn more about a subject you didn’t know much about.
Who knows, you may find out it may come in use when you’ve established your job or career.
In conclusion, by devoting your concentration on just a few things, no matter what they are, you also accomplish more than you think you might. When you’re stressed out, you cannot have the same quality as you would otherwise. When you have taken the rest you need, you have more energy to give the focus you need to be present in what you are doing.