Do people still set new year resolutions? The idea of the best new year resolution for students almost sounds like a cliche. But going by the lives of the most productive students I have met, they always have a set of yearly goals which they look forward to accomplishing within the next 52 weeks.
By productive students, I do not mean those students who are always topping the class with excellent grades. But those students who even while doing well in school, also make out time for their personal development and growth.
Such students are found excelling in other activities like school politics, managing successful blogs and Youtube channels, running student’s and youth organizations, and in many other spheres of cross-sectional relevance.
As the year comes to a close, students should ideally be reflecting on their progress for the past year. Whether you are an incoming freshman, a recent graduate, or somewhere in between, meaningful and realistic goals for this New year will be difficult to come up with.
Fortunately, we have put together a list of 15 potential resolutions for students to try out this new year. Setting realistic resolutions and working towards achieving them can inspire you to study more effectively, solve more problems efficiently, free up time for more creative pursuits and make you a better student. Below is a list of the best new year resolutions for students.
Table of Contents
- 15 List Of The Best New Year Resolution For Students
- 1. Start Journaling
- 2. Read 5+ Non-Academic Books
- 3. Free Yourself From All Forms Of Addictions
- 4. Save Monthly
- 5. Create A Perfect Study Routine
- 6. Take Courses
- 7. Start An Online Business
- 8. Do or Start Something Brand New
- 9. Focus On Learning Not Just Grades
- 10. Maintain A Perfect School-Life Balance
- 11. Set Healthy Relationship Goals
- 12. Have A Healthy Sleep Pattern
- 13. Hit The Gymnasium Regularly
- 14. Build Your Network
- 15. Practice Gratitude
- Why The Best New Year Resolution For Students Still Fail
- Final Thoughts On The Best New Year Resolution For Students
15 List Of The Best New Year Resolution For Students
1. Start Journaling
Keeping a journal is the best way to account for the goals you set. The art of journaling involves getting a special blank exercise book and writing on it on a daily basis. The contents of a daily journal should include at least:
- 3 things you are grateful for either within the previous day (If you choose to journal in the morning), or the current day (If you journal at night).
- The goals you planned to accomplish for the day
- The goals you were able to accomplish for the day
- The reasons why you were unable to accomplish the other goals
- Your Emotional state: This is your current mood based on the activities that took place during your day. You should write out your negative emotions and how you feel about your day and in the end, make peace with yourself before you close the journal for the day.
2. Read 5+ Non-Academic Books
Most students fall into the trap of focusing only on their academic life and forget to acquire knowledge on other spheres of life that could supercharge their career and personality.
While these academic books help you become better at your profession, the good books; novels, and self-help books will help you develop your career and become a better person in life.
Reading good books can help you view the world from another horizon which all your academic books will never reveal to you.
You will never learn things like how to make money, how to build a great company, quality leadership skills, love, and relationship while reading academic books. But these are elements of our humanity that help us live a happy and fulfilling life.
So in this new year, pick at least 5 good books out of those you have already wanted to read and start reading from January 1st and see if you can finish all five by the end of the year. It is advisable if you pick different books from different categories. For example;
- A book on finance
- A novel
- A book on personality development
- A book on spirituality
- A book on science, discoveries or history
Meanwhile, we have a list of 12 books you must read for a happy life. You can make a few selections from there.
3. Free Yourself From All Forms Of Addictions
Addiction is the worst productivity thief. It can be the most devastating thing that can happen to you. It ruins your confidence, preys on your time meant for productivity, and gives you a false sense of reward and satisfaction.
Whether it is a compulsive sexual behavior, alcohol, drugs, or anything at all it should be among your priority this year to let go of such addiction and start living your best life.
If you are finding it difficult to let go of any addiction, then you should consider consulting with a therapist either online or offline, join accountability groups for reboot and find resources containing information that will help your reboot. Once you get hold of all your compulsive behaviors, reaching any goal will be easier for you.
4. Save Monthly
Sometimes saving money monthly can be a difficult task especially when you are earning very little. But the real problem is that many students misunderstand the concept of saving money.
Some set a goal of saving up to or more than 40% of their stipends or monthly earnings. But that is not necessary or else your stipends in a month are way too big.
According to the book; The Richest Man In Babylon, the simple rule of 10% is enough as long as one is consistent. So for every 100 dollars you earn in a month, simply remove 10 dollars, and the remaining 90 dollars is yours. 10 dollars may look small, but if you understand the power of compound interest, you will never underestimate any penny successfully saved.
In saving, you can decide to save your money in a foreign currency, cryptocurrency, or using a savings application/software that has a high-interest rate. This way, your money will keep multiplying as the value of such currency rises, and with every added interest.
5. Create A Perfect Study Routine
Maintaining a stable study routine while also taking part in other activities for your personal growth can be difficult. But there is a way out; Never Mess With Your Study Time!
A lot of smart students who also indulge in other extra-curricular activities carve out a special time daily dedicated to just reading their academic books. Depending on your academic goals, this time can range between 2 to 6 hours daily. And it can be in the morning, afternoon or at night.
For example, you can decide to wake up daily by 5 am and read from 5:30 am till 7:30 am that is 2 hours already. And then in the evening, read from 8:00 pm to 11:00 pm. That is extra 3 hours of intense reading.
The most important thing here is not the timing, but the fact that this time is dedicated to active studies with zero distractions. Any student who can give in 5 hours of active studies to reading academic books will find it difficult to struggle to pass any school exams.
6. Take Courses
As a student, you should start taking courses that will help you in the career path you want to follow in the future. Such courses could be on Finance, random skills, or specialized training in any of your preferred courses.
Taking a course gives you an edge over your colleagues in the labor market upon your graduation from school. And there are lots of platforms where you can take such courses for free and with a certificate while some courses come at a price.
Examples of websites where you can find free courses include Yali Africa, Coursera, Udemy, Univesity of People, and Alison.
7. Start An Online Business
One good new year resolution for students who have are yet to be initiated is to start an online business. Never fall into the trap of thinking that entrepreneurship and schooling do not mix. It will surprise you if you find out how much a good number of students are making in their online business.
If you do not already have one, make it one of your goals this new year to start up a part-time online business. Doing this can help you save up for your tuition and improve your whole life as a student.
There are lots of excellent online business ideas for students you can start up today and some of them include:
- Starting and monetizing a blog
- Starting and monetizing a Youtube channel
- Building and monetizing a page on a social channel
- Cryptocurrency investing
- Forex trading
The great thing about most of the businesses listed above is that they do not take up most of your time in school and many of them require little capital to set up. This is something you can do during your free time in school and start earning extra cash to support yourself. It is one of the best new year resolutions for students you can make this coming year.
8. Do or Start Something Brand New
During this new year, try and challenge yourself to do something you have never done before. Most persons may misunderstand this and go ahead to try our crazy things they will end up regretting later. By doing or starting something new, we are referring to;
- Working on that business idea you have always had
- Writing that book or novel
- Starting that Youtube channel
- Starting that business
- Talking to that person you have been so shy to talk to
Just do something to prove to yourself that you growing and that you have let go of your past limitations. It’s an amazing goal to accomplish this new year.
9. Focus On Learning Not Just Grades
A lot of students fall into the trap of studying just to pass their exams and nothing more. A wise person should study to acquire knowledge and be able to apply the knowledge acquired in practical situations to solve problems.
You should study to understand, and not just to move on to the next class. This is the only way you can be different from your colleagues in the labor market.
10. Maintain A Perfect School-Life Balance
One class of students most affected by a poor school-life balance are medical students usually because of the heavy load of work they have. Nevertheless, no matter the school you find yourself in, always make effort to ensure that your academics do not take over your whole life. Also, never let your extra-curricular activities take over your academics.
A good way to tackle this is having a well-planned timetable that creates uniformity between the time you spend doing school work and other activities. By doing this, you will be a well-rounded student living a healthy balanced life.
11. Set Healthy Relationship Goals
As a student, you should make out time to build a solid relationship with people. A simple way to achieve this is by setting realistic relationship goals like the one below.
Going for a hangout, get-together, party, date, dinner, or a school event at least once in a month.
12. Have A Healthy Sleep Pattern
Maintaining a healthy sleep pattern is crucial to your productivity. Your aim should be to have at least 5 hours of sleep daily. You can set an alarm for sleep by 12:00 am and a waking alarm by 5:00 am and stick to it. A good sleep pattern will supercharge your productivity.
Also, Read; What is the best music for focus and concentration while studying?
13. Hit The Gymnasium Regularly
Attaining your desired body size is a fitness goal everyone is wishing to achieve. This new year is the time to let go of all your wishful thinking and start putting in the work required to fulfill your desired body size.
You can make it your target to visit the gym once a week if you have none close by and to do home workouts at least 3 times a week. You can download any of the available home workout apps on PlayStore and start your fitness journey today.
One year from now, if you have been consistent with this fitness goal, you will be amazed at how much your body must have transformed to your desired body type.
14. Build Your Network
Make out time to build a meaningful network of friends this coming year. A good networking goal could be to attend at least one seminar, conference, or gathering of creative minds where opportunities are discussed at least once a month.
And when you get there, do not just be a spectator. Make new friends and get contacts you may find useful in the future. The available social channels have made network so easy. You can find the spaces on Twitter useful for this.
15. Practice Gratitude
One of the perfect new year resolutions for students will be to inculcate the habit of gratitude. Make out time every day to find things you are thankful for and write them down in your journal.
Why The Best New Year Resolution For Students Still Fail
A lot of students who make new year resolutions often find themselves giving up before the first quarter of the year passes. The most common cause of this is not being intentional about reaching your new year goals.
The best strategy to make yourself more intentional about your new year resolution is to keep a new year resolution worksheet for students. A new year resolution worksheet is a simple table where you break down your goals into smaller tasks that are to be achieved within a timeline say; weekly or monthly.
Steps for coming up with a good new year resolution for students worksheet:
- Classify your goals into major categories like Finance goals, Academic goals, Personal development goals, Relationship goals, career goals, etc. Depending on what your plans are for the new year.
- For each category, outline one activity you can do daily, weekly or monthly to help you achieve each of the goals. For example, an outline for a financial goal could be;
- To save 10% of all my earnings
- Read one financial education book this year
- For each category, outline one activity you can do daily, weekly or monthly to help you achieve each of the goals. For example, an outline for a financial goal could be;
- Then set a timeline for accomplishing these smaller goals
- For example; you can decide to save 10% of all your earnings on the 28th day of every month. And then read your chosen book in finance for 30 minutes daily.
- Once you are done with a particular category of your goals, you tick it as done to free up space for the rest of your other goals.
For your guide, we have a special new year resolution for students worksheet which you can get for free below.
Final Thoughts On The Best New Year Resolution For Students
Setting a yearly target for yourself is the first step for making enviable progress in all aspects of your life. The new year resolution best practice is to broaden your goals to touch different categories of life.
Don’t just focus on one aspect of your life for improvement as a student. Diversify your goals so that you will be a better refined well-rounded student. Set targets that will make you stand out in not just your academics, but also your finance, your career, and your personal development.
Finally, remember that accountability is the first step to achieving your goals. And to become accountable, you should get a journal dedicated to your goals, gratitude, and self-care as described above in the list of the new year resolutions for students.
We hope you become the better version of yourself this coming year! Happy New Year Friend!!
