As clichéd as it sounds, New Year resolutions can be useful to help you reflect on aspects of your life that you want to change or grow in the new year. As students, your aspirations are probably a mix of personal, academic and career ambitions.
Many people try to kick-off their new year’s resolution from January 1st however, we suggest following these resolutions all year round and let the new year be a reminder that it’s never too late to focus on you and be your best self.
1. Learn something new
This resolution involves developing new skills which can help you throughout your life. It could be life skills or work related for example: learning to cook or changing a flat tyre; or learning how to write code or use a new software application.
Consider learning outside of your course material to help broaden your knowledge base and impress future employers with your initiative. A great source of useful information are podcasts, especially those in the business and innovation space, and you can listen to them on the go and in between classes.
2. Participate more in class
Student participation is a most gratifying experience for you and your lecturer. It’s been widely acknowledged that participating in class can have a lot of benefits for students such as retention and comprehension as well as confidence. Spend extra time researching questions and understanding your course material to make it easier to participate in class discussions and get the most out of your studies.
3. Get a part-time job or internship
While income from a job is always welcome, getting a part-time job or internship is really about developing the professional skills and valuable hands on experiences that may help your future career. There are many businesses looking for student talent, high growth startups especially, willing to invest in new and eager talent. Your fresh approach to solving problems is highly valued and our advice is to find work that is course-related and matches skills that you have.
4. Make time for yourself
As you juggle your commitments such as classes, assignments, extracurricular activities and life events, it’s important to always allocate some ‘me-time’ to take care of yourself. Make time to relax during the day and let your mind wander away and engage your imagination. Reduce your social media and screen time to give your eyes a break. Just 15 mins of relaxation a day will give you the right energy and mindset to tackle all of your tasks more efficiently.
5. Create a plan for your future
For tertiary students graduation is not far from any student’s mind and should be one of the best experiences of your life. A plan enables you to focus on what’s most important to get you from A to B. No matter where you are in your studies only set goals you can realistically achieve in the next week and month, plus 1 or 2 major goals you can reach before you graduate. Motivate yourself with a reward system to set and stick to deadlines, for example, complete an assignment during the week before the party you have planned at the weekend. In your last year of study think about what you want to achieve professionally and personally and map out a plan to get there i.e. make a list of companies you are interested in and make sure you contact them all before the end of the month.
New Year resolutions can be tough to keep so make them realistic and focused. They don’t have to bring a massive change in your life only a positive change. A resolution can start any day of the year whenever you feel a positive change needs to be made and we hope the suggestions above are useful.
If you like the idea of resolution three ‘get a part-time job or internship’ we are here to help. Ribit is an online marketplace that connects tertiary students with innovative businesses offering paid jobs and internships relevant to your studies.
Sign-up and create a Ribit profile to start searching and applying for jobs today.
Happy New Year.