Every year, it´s the same story. We look back as we review the year and make a list of all the months that have flown by. As the new year approaches, we try to make the saying “New year, new me” real.  And this is where New Year resolutions come in.

Suddenly, it´s the new year. Armed with initiative, ideas and utter determination we are ready to face the new year in the best possible way. And we have high hopes. And so, we step into the new year with sparkles in our eyes.

 For many students, this may mean the typical ´start going to the gym´ or ´Stop eating out´ resolutions. Or perhaps you are more centred on getting organised from the first day back and getting on top of the work load.

 Whatever your new year resolutions look like, I’m going to go through those resolutions that are only too often jotted down yet never quite fulfilled. is easy to come up with such resolutions believing that we are going to stick to them thoroughly. But very soon we find that things continue no different than they were before, that our resolutions are actually unrealistic. And so the year goes by just like the prior one. To save you despairing over having to wait another year just to start your new year resolutions again, let me run you through, what I consider to be typical student, and ´unrealistic´ resolutions.

Unrealistic resolution 1: Start going to the Gym

How many of us think that going to the gym is the ultimate goal to keeping fit? Perhaps we´re looking to lose weight or simply prove to somebody else that we´re actually motivated enough to keep active.

  But perhaps the reason why we are so unsuccessful with this resolution is that the ugly reality suddenly hits us. And the gym is actually a pretty dull place to work out.  Who can bear running on the machine daily unless one has an outstanding force? Not only this, but it requires a great deal of effort to force oneself to go to such a place. As you are about to walk to the gym, your brain suddenly finds a way to deter you from such a place and you end up watching Netflix instead.

Then what can I do to get fit I hear you asking. Well don´t despair. I can assure you there are other options and ´going to the gym´ is neither the only one nor the best one to fulfil your objective of keeping fit. Hence, perhaps it would be much better to join a sports club. And why a sports club? Well, I always like to think that as part of a team, one´s more motivated to work out and it takes less strength. Hence, if ´Start going to the gym´ has been on your bucket list for some years now, why not try the ´Join a sports team´ resolution?

Unrealistic resolution 2: Eat less junk food

As a student we all know the struggle that buying food can be. I mean, let´s be realistic. Could we really go through the whole year without having just a tiny slice of pizza? We all have to admit it´s nice to treat ourselves from time to time, especially with friends. But then, that feeling of guiltiness dawns over us and we realised only too soon that we´ve been unfaithful to ourselves. Let´s first of all consider just how vague this resolution is. I mean, how can we keep a resolution which is so vague in the first place.

Perhaps it´s better to tweak this resolution by saying well only do this once a month and if you´re super keen then gradually decrease this throughout the year.

Better: Learning to cook and making a list of the ´ideal´ menu.

Unrealistic resolution 3: Get on top of work

Again, too vague. Just  what are you going to try do to? Are you the sort of person that puts off assignments/revisions until the eleventh hour? It´s no good just saying what we want to accomplish. We must actually visualise ourselves doing this. And it´s not suddenly going to happen as if by a touch of a finely furnished New Year’s wand. We actually need realistic goals. And in order to do so we need to know what we´re like. It´s always good to dream big but you´ve got to be smart enough to focus on the little details of your life which are, after all bound to make the big changes in the end.

Better: be more specific of how you will achieve this (Get on top of work by reducing Netflix hours to the weekend instead of the day before my tutorials).

Unrealistic resolution 4: Try new hobbies and experiences

Well this is just as vague as it can get. Are you perhaps interested in drawing? Or are you looking to join a particular sport you´ve long wanted to join but have put off every year?

Better: Actually, mention what hobby/sport it is you want to join. And then it might be easier to fulfil this resolution.

And now let me show you what an ideal resolution for students should look like:

1. SLEEP MORE- How can you even expect to perform highly on 5 or 6 hours of sleep preceding a hangover?
2. STUDY SMART- slay procrastination!
3. GET ORGANIZED- This means doing the reading before the lectures so when you listen to the lecturer speak, what he says may actually ring a bell.
4. EAT BETTER- Surprising as it may seem, this will actually improve your productivity and generally make you feel better about yourself. Of course, you can have a ´cheat day´ in between so long as the healthy days are more than the ´cheat´ ones.

Sounds to you like new year’s resolution are just not meant to work? Well, then perhaps you´ve come to the conclusion that the best way to keep your new year’s resolutions is by not setting any. And this is indeed the best way because you don´t break any promises to yourself.

However, for those of you have high hopes for the new year and want to make your goals a reality, the biggest tip I can give you is to know yourself. Know what you´re like because at the end of the day nobody knows you better than yourself (perhaps other than your mum or dad). But if you know yourself then you can be true to yourself when setting those new year resolutions, meaning it will be highly likely for them  to turn into realistic goals to fuel your new year.

And if this year you still break your new year’s resolutions, well that´s also alright. After all, there´s always the next year to look forward to, right?