You’d be hard-pressed to make it through the next week without being asked by at least one person what your New Years’ Resolutions are. But a question you likely won’t be getting asked is how you plan to follow through on those resolutions. That’s one that you should be asking yourself.
Accomplishing your New Years’ goals requires planning and perseverance, and not to mention remembering what your resolutions are throughout the year (can you remember last years?). A good way to settle all three of these things to ensure your 2013 goals remain your goals all year is to integrate each resolution into your mobile phone, which, if you’re a student, most likely already stays with you at all times.
Start setting your New Years’ goals with this guide to five popular resolutions for students, complete with an app to help accomplish (and remember) each one.
Land a job
Getting a job is always a chief concern for students. And like any other resolution, achieving this one is about setting small goals. Start by setting a goal for updating your resume– say, by the end of January. Then, decide on a realistic number of places you want to apply to each month, taking into account your school and other obligations. A good way to balance applying with daily life is to set aside a few hours each week and make it a routine to job-search, say, every Monday afternoon.
App: Ultimate Job Search – simple job-search app that searches several listing sites
Raise your GPA
Every student wants a better GPA. But in college, you don’t get neatly organized progress reports every few weeks like you did in high school, and there’s nobody there to tell you how you’re doing but yourself. In order to accomplish this resolution, you need to be up front with yourself and keep updating your GPA on your own.
App: GPA calculator – keeps a running number for your GPA and organizes your grades for each class
Manage stress better
School is the biggest stressor for most young Americans. The problem is, many of the most popular de-stressors for students are all too temporary, and can often compound stress in the long run by compromising things like health and finance. The first step to keeping this resolution is to slowly stop destressing habits that fall into this category; these include shopping, smoking, drinking, and unhealthy eating. Then begin adding new methods to your stress-managing routine, like routinely organizing and cleaning your living space, exercising, driving out to the beach or a nice viewpoint, or cooking a fresh dinner with a friend every few weeks. Activites like these will clear the mind for longer periods of time than “acute” de-stressors, which must be done much more often to achieve the same result.
App: AllTrails – Find hikes from the city to the countryside for a healthy break.
Smoke Free – three great apps to quit smoking.
Get fit
Getting in shape is probably the least followed-through resolution of them all. And the main reason is that “getting fit,” “losing weight,” and “getting a better body” are simply too broad. Set running goals, lifting goals, walking goals, or just a goal to do spend an hour being active every day. By doing this, the body weight and body image goals, which often end up being unmotivating, will come on their own.
App: RunKeeper – keep running stats, goals, and routes organized. Even manage your running music playlist.
Connect more with family
That text from your mom that got buried by messages from your friends. That email from your grandmother that got pushed aside by syllabi from professors. They understand, and really, it happens to every student. But regularly keeping in touch with loved ones can benefit students beyond just keeping friends and family happy. Talking to loved ones can keep a jumbled lifestyle in perspective and even ease your stress.
App: Skype or Facebook – if your friends and family aren’t already on these communication sites, get them on it. These apps make it easy to keep an ongoing conversation at home or on the go, and make it less likely that you forget to respond to a message as you might with text or email.
For the latest from Harry and the ACI Specialty Benefits team and for more tips and information, please visit our YouTube channel and be sure to follow us on twitter @ACISpecBenefits, Google+, Pinterest and facebook. Also feel free to contact ACI Specialty Benefits at (800) 932-0034, or email info@acispecialtybenefits.com.
