January 2nd, 2015
We hope your holidays were happy and fun and you’re ready to take on the New Year.
The start of the New Year is when many of us make resolutions in hopes of getting rid of bad habits and making positive changes to our lives. But for most, even those with the strongest willpower, sticking to our resolutions for the course of the year can become difficult. Life gets in the way and throws us off the track by inundating us with everyday tasks, the stress of juggling school, work, family, or all. We simply lose the motivation we had at the start of the year.
Don’t beat yourself up. Not being able to carry out all your New Year’s resolutions is nothing to be ashamed of! We can only imagine how challenging this must be for college students who have to balance school work and a social life and perhaps a part-time job while away from home and the support system offered by family.
We realize the popular New Year’s resolutions tend to be exercise more, lose weight, spend less and save more, but international and U.S. students can use this as an opportunity to prepare for the year ahead.
Here are a few blogs which we’d like to recommend that offer great tips on how to plan your New Year as a student:
5 Tips for Making a New Year’s Resolution for 2015 by Christina Bowers
http://www.aiuniv.edu/blog/december-2014/5-tips-on-making-a-new-years-resolution-for-2015
5 New Year’s Resolutions International Students Should Make, by Bryanna Davis
http://blog.internationalstudent.com/2014/12/5-new-years-resolutions-international-students-should-make/
7 New Year’s Resolutions for Students by Laura Bridgestock
http://www.topuniversities.com/blog/top-7-new-years-resolutions-students
College Student’s New Year’s Resolution by Dave Berry
http://www.collegeconfidential.com/admit/college-students-new-years-resolutions/
Top 10 New Year’s Resolutions for College Students
http://www.jiu.edu/blog/post/top-10-new-year’s-resolutions-college-students
But if you ask our advice, make only one resolution. Instead of packing a litany of resolutions on your list, try focusing on one and set a deadline. If you need the help and support of a friend, reach out to one and set up a buddy system, someone who can check in with you and see how you’re doing or you can check in with them and update them on your progress or give you a friendly nudge or reminder when needed. Getting one resolution checked off successfully from your list is a
huge accomplishment. You can always add a second one to the list.
And finally, don’t be hard on yourself. Have fun and make it a great year!
From all of us here at ACEI, we wish you a
