Blog

The marking of a new semester and year induces the fresh-start effect: many, reflecting on their successes and failures of the past year, feel a burst of motivation to improve themselves.

There is no foolproof plan to achieve your goals, but there are steps you can take to make them possible.

1. Set specific goals

This step is perhaps the most obvious—but arguably the most important. Identifying what your goals are for the new year—whether it be academic, social, or career-oriented—is crucial to maintaining your motivation throughout the semester. It’s easy to think you are going to get all A’s or land a summer internship but planning and visualizing how you are going to go about achieving these goals (setting structured study hours, going to office hours more often) makes a crucial difference.

2. Track your goals

As the year goes on, our enthusiasm to reach the goals we set at the start of the year often dwindles. A way of combating this is to find a way to track your progress by just taking time to reflect weekly or monthly where you are and assessing what steps need to be taken or change to get you closer to accomplishing your goals.

3. Tell others!

Telling your friends and family about your plans for the new year makes your goals tangible and creates a sense of accountability.

4. Expect setbacks

Realistically, most people cannot forfeit bad habits and adopt new ones immediately. Carrying out your goals is an ongoing process that you have to practice. If you can accept that you may make mistakes, you are much more likely to succeed in achieving your goals.

5. Practice balance

Unless you are super-human, it is not easy to work hard 24/7. Many people, myself included, often overwork themselves for days and then crash on the weekends.

If you want to make successful habits a lifestyle rather than something you are always aspiring to achieve, find a balance of work and play that suits you.

It’s also important to find methods that work for your lifestyle, so if working hard during the week and relaxing during the weekend makes you the most productive, then do so!

6. Self Care

Many people neglect self care when they get caught up between school and extracurriculars. But if you take a day or even an hour to de-stress a couple times a week, you’ll boost your overall productivity.

Hang out with friends, treat yourself to a coffee or snack, take a Group-X class at the CCRB, IMSB, or NCRB (students can try a class for free between January 9 and January 20!) or take a walk through the UMMA.