New Years Resolutions for Students
Many us want to change how we approach school at the start of the new year, but often our plans fizzle out in the first few weeks of term. Below are some tips to keep your resolution effective throughout the whole year!
Don’t change everything all at once
If your goal is to study every day, and you currently only study on some days, it’s likely going to be too hard to change many days’ behaviours all at once. Instead break the goal into smaller habits. Choose just one day of the week on which you don’t currently consistently study and make your goal to study every one of those days (for example, study every Monday). You’ll still improve your structure and work ethic, but without the huge burden of keeping up with your goal every single day. If you achieve your goal every week in Term 1, then you might consider adding a second day in Term 2 and so on and so forth. By the end of the year you might actually be studying every day!
Celebrate the Small Successes
“Straight A’s” is an easy goal to name, but a very difficult goal to achieve. Many many small actions and dozens of assessments are going to go into achieving that, and while you’re doing all that work, there will be no visible progress. It could help you stay motivated if you count some smaller milestones. If last term’s English presentation got you a 70% keep that in mind when your next one gets an 80%! Sure, this wasn’t your big goal, but these small successes can keep you fueled up.
Use external accountability and motivation
Can you partner up with a friend who has the same goal as you and motivate each other to continue? Can you keep a special stash of treats somewhere to reward yourself on days you complete your goal? Can you use a habit tracker to keep a streak going or see a visual representation of your progress? There are many more strategies for using external resources to keep us motivated and feel more satisfied by our hard work. Use them to your advantage!
Finally, chatting to your tutor about your goal is the best way to get help completing it.