Every new year brings a promise of restored faith in one's self. Somehow, within us, this supposed fresh start brings us the courage to battle the things that most days we let slide. Well, that is the way most people tend to feel about the last digit of the date changing. For the others, the common cliché of breaking new years resolutions on the day that they were made, stops people from even thinking that the new year could possibly bring new prospects to the table. I don't intend to sound cynical here, but I guess a part of me is being cynical. The new year is good for bringing a fresh slate. It is a valid time to propose new goals, the prospect of completing a set of tasks by 2014 is inciting. But, then, why do so many of the goals we make fall by the wayside? I guess half of my new years resolution was to not let my hopes and dreams for the new year fail.
For Christmas my lovely boyfriend bought me a goals book. I'm a third year liberal arts student majoring in Communications- the only way that I'm going to be employed within the next five years is if I plan now what I would like to do in the future. There are many prospects for students in the field of Communications but it is also broad and competitive. It is tricky, because I don't know what five years will bring- will I still be living in Perth? Will I be married? These are likely circumstances that would impact what type of job I went for and what I'd be doing everyday. My main goals were difficult, and required a lot of thought, however, the goals book also provided many tips and tricks to creating successful goals; suggestions like making the goals timely, specific and achievable. Little wins along the way also provided a lot of motivation to keep on trucking. I ended up with my five major goals in five different categories being:
1. Save money for New York City in July (Finance)
2. Eat healthier, be able to run 5km in less than thirty minutes and lose weight (Health & Fitness)
3. Read thirty books in 2013, alternating between Christian theology and fiction (Personal Development)
4. Write to as many Communications agencies as possible, hopefully being offered an internship (Career)
5. Move to London or New York within the next five years (Dare to Dream)
So far, I think I've been pretty good with the goals, and despite the odd bread and cheese slip here and there, the cliché of week-old-resolutions-being-broken hasn't happened yet.
The one thing I have already realised though is that you can't do it all. You do have to make time for things, like fitness, but also you have to understand when your body is tired and not just lazy. The goal that I forgot to write down is to remember to make time, most importantly, for yourself. To watch that crappy episode of Revenge or to have a really long bath or to organise your iTunes music collection. Without this relaxation time, none of the other goals are ever going to be satisfied.
PS. Oh and the last resolution I forgot to include was to write more blog posts!
