What Makes a Fullfilling 2019? You.

The new year is here, after what many would call a mediocre year. When reflecting on the last year, we often point out downfalls in society, and pin the disappointing parts of the year on anything but ourselves, to avoid facing the music. In reality, our perception of success and achievement can be traced back to one thing- our own efforts and how we learn from our mistakes. This year, I'm prioritizing self-awareness and honesty in my academic and personal life, and here's how. Setting Realistic Goals  We can often get carried away when creating new years resolutions as we believe that just because the year is new, so are we. We can definitely grow and learn, but learning is a process that comes with time. When setting academic goals this year, I plan to be realistically ambitious and encourage myself everytime I overcome a personal or academic hurdle. After all, with time comes wisdom.  

  Being More Present in the Now For much of 2018, I spent weekdays looking forward to the weekends, and dreading every Monday as the week came to a close. This year, I want to become more present and stop wishing away moments of my day that could be used to better my personal happiness. Instead of napping after lectures, I plan to get active and focus on getter stronger.  

Finding Effective Ways to Handle Stress Being in university is stressful. With the end of the school year approaching fast, the amount of time we have left to grasp onto material can feel short. Stress management and good mental health is heavily correlated to academic performance, so this year finding stress relieving activities is one of my top priorities. Meditation, exercise, and spending time with the ones who matter are some that work great for me, but stress relief is different for everyone! Accepting Failure and Learning  2019 is not a magic year, and no amount of twitter good luck retweets can guarantee that (I've done it too, don't worry.) Life has its up and downs and learning to accept failure as a natural part of life is crucially important to growing as an adult. Accepting that I have done badly is the first step to bouncing back and thriving. In U of T's competitive academic environment, falling behind can feel like the end of the world. Acceptance and learning from my mistakes is the way to go, and separating my worth from my grades is also important. Hope this gave you some new year inspiration! -Joanna