Five Steps to Achieving Happiness in 2018
Mhairi Turner
January 06, 2018
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And just like that, 2017 has been and gone. It feels like only yesterday that I was waking up feeling a little worse for wear on New Year's morning 2017. And here I am again, a year later, in the exact same situation, regretting the night before. New Year's Eve is one of my favourite holidays of the year and one that I like to spend with friends rather than family. This year, me and two of my girl friends from university travelled up to Birmingham for another uni friends' party. Having never spent a new year's more than a few miles from home this was quite a big deal to me but, nevertheless, an experience I was excited for. The night was filled with fun, new people, music, dancing and maybe a few too many ciders - all in all, one of the best New Year's Eve's I have had.
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| New Year's Eve 2017 in Birmingham |
Traditionally, the coming of a new year calls for a re-evaluation of yourself and your life and to make goals for the next twelve months. This is a tradition I love to partake in as I am always eager to better myself and overcome my challenges to gain a sense of achievement. However, in the past I have been known to push myself too far, to make myself achieve the unachieveable, letting my mental health and physical well-being deteriorate in the process. Because of this, my number one goal this year, above and beyond anything else, is to achieve happiness. I am determined not to let myself get caught up in achieving if it will lead to stress and general unhappiness. A sense of achievement is great but you shouldn't feel crappy about yourself for not achieving some of your goals.
With that being said, this year I have sat myself down and set five "achievable", no-strings-attached goals for the upcoming year. Small steps toward the long road to happiness that I believe will help me to become a happier and healthier person in 2018.
1 - Dedicate Some Time to Yourself
Since starting at university, I have found myself overwhelmed at times from a busy lifestyle filled with essays, lectures, reading, parties, sports clubs - you name it. Being the anxious person that I am, it is important for me to dedicate some time to myself to just relax and ground myself to avoid becoming burnt out and over anxious. This year, I want to set some designated time aside each week to just be in my own company and de-stress.
2 - Read More Books for Fun
As a child, I was one of the biggest bookworms around - I forever had my nose stuck in a book and would get from cover to cover in the blink of an eye. However, ever since I started studying for my GCSEs all those years ago in 2013, I have very much been in a reading lull - only getting through maybe 2 or 3 books a year. I want 2018 to be the year that I change that and have decided to take part in the 2018 POPSUGAR Reading Challenge to try and get myself back into a mindset of enjoying novels.
3 - Learn to be Happy on Your Own
The last three years have been emotionally exhausting when it comes to relationships to say the least. Having fallen in love and out of love for the very first time, as well as many meaningless flings that have left me feeling numb, I find myself in a situation where I don't know how to be single. I'm struggling to learn to be happy on my own - a skill that I know is vital if there is any hope of another long-term relationship in the future. This is a goal which I have already started to work towards in the last few months of 2017. I have turned down men who I know aren't right for me without the overwhelming fear of being alone in the back of my mind, I enjoy hanging out with my single girlfriends on the regular, I'm loving life and I really hope this continues into 2018.
4 - Stop Being Lazy with Yoga
Last June, I began my yoga journey and started practicing daily using free videos on YouTube. I loved it and genuinely thought I had found my thing, I was so excited to get to Winchester and join the Yoga society straight away to continue my yoga development. Unfortunately, when I got to Winchester I found out that the yoga group had been disbanded and I was gutted but knew that I could carry on using the online video in my bedroom. Towards the end of the ear, however, my practice has greatly declined and I have no explanation as to why other than LAZINESS. In 2018, I want to get back into the yoga routine and continue to develop my postures and poses. Yoga is great for both a healthy body and a healthy mind - both of which will help to improve my overall happiness in 2018.
5 - Study Hard, Party Hard
University is all about making new memories, having new experiences and learning to take life's challenges face on, on your own. This semester, I intend on be more on top of my work and studying hard to get results to the best of my ability. However, as important as studying is, I really want to balance it out with as much partying and fun as possible (without forgetting and getting behind on my studies!) University is as much about the social life as it is about the degree - a fact that I don't plan on forgetting any time soon.
Happy 2018 to you all! I hope your year is full of opportunities and fabulous memories.
