Scarleteen

I know the first of the year is the traditional time to make big changes and resolutions, but when I was in school and at university, the beginning of the school year always felt like much more of a new start than January 1 did. Some years I'd set specific goals for myself, but other times I just had a general aimless feeling of "things will be DIFFERENT this year!"

Is this something any of you tend to do, or have tried at all? Have you found that some goals work better or keep you more motivated than others?

I'm no longer in school but I recently set up an ongoing personal writing project to work on that's been a positive challenge. I'd love to hear it if anyone here has particular goals or challenges for this year or semester.

great topic, Mo! I'd say one of my resolutions is to get more into fitness-- I'm trying to start weightlifting once I get over this flu-thing and I also really wanna get into kickboxing since I used to do karate for a while and I really miss combat-type stuff.

also, i'm trying to find a new counselor since I haven't been to therapy in a while (I studied abroad for a semester and then I wasn't able to find someone compatible over the summer, so I haven't been in therapy since like.... December of last year). ideally, I'd also like to push myself outside of my comfort zone when it comes to certain social situations (social anxiety gets in my way at times), so I'd like to be able to work on my struggles with that as well this year.

I'm currently trying to make my way back to London (the place I studied abroad) by the time I graduate this year (I'm finally a senior! ) so I'm working on those different processes in order to make that happen (job hunting here I come! haha).

and I'm also making sure to be more involved in the activist group I recently joined on campus (just recently got on the board!), so I'm really excited about that as well.

so yeah, those are my goals for this year, and I'm honestly really pumped about all of them!

That sounds like a fantastic list. You're actually making me want to lift weights again, it's been a while since I've had access to any weightlifting equipment and I miss it.

Every year I try and be organized.... Key word is try. My backpack turns into a mess of paper and pencils about a month into the year. However, somehow I never really lose anything, so it works? I try and also keep a calendar/planner. I am still working on finding a system that works, I've found a sort of system this year, but need to get in the habit of actually do it everyday.

Another general goal I have is being more open and honest with my parents...