We have provided 3 things that you should consider to make 2023 a great year.

New Year, New Me – we have heard it all before, but what is it that you plan on doing to achieve this and truly feel the “new me” concept this year? Why is it that people wait until the new year to make those changes that they think about the other 11 months of the year? This is known as the “fresh start effect,” which suggests it is easier to adopt new habits and make the changes at natural transition points. This idea of a “new beginning” can be defined by several occasions such as the start of a new season, a birthday, or in the case of many a new year.

We want to get you on track for 2023 and have three recommendations that can help have an impact on you. 

It is officially January 5th, so we may be a little late, but it was the holidays, you had family and friends over at your new coliving, events in and out of the city, and lots of food to eat. So we know you are just starting to wrap your head around the idea of making changes to your life, and we wanted to give you some time to rest.

Be Smart 

We believe one of the most crucial things you should consider while making a goal for this year is to be smart. In a 1981 issue of a Management Review magazine, a writer explained that all goals should be SMART (specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-related). The purpose behind this is for each one of your goals to have meaning and weight. 

Specific: Your goal should be clear, you cannot vaguely state what you want because it won’t be enough. For example, saying “I want to lose weight this year” should be changed to “I want to lose 20kg by the beginning of March 2023”. 

Measurable: When it comes to losing weight, this may seem obvious because you would be seeing the numbers on the scale, however, this is also your opportunity to take it even further. Writing down your progress or taking pictures can reinforce your goal and your commitment to it. Another example may be, if you have a bad habit of biting your nails, take a picture every three days and track how you are doing. 

Achievable: We recommend that you make realistic goals. Why? We don’t want you to be frustrated or angry at yourself when you do not achieve them. Saying that you will save 700 euros per month when perhaps your salary is 1,200 may not be realistic as time passes. Perhaps you can start by saving 150 euros and if the goal becomes easier, slowly increase it. 

Relevant: Ensuring that this goal really matters to you is important. You should be making these changes because you know you will be happy about the outcome. 

Time-related: Your timeline towards achieving this goal or any you have set should be realistic as well. It’s all about the small wins, so set yourself up for success. 

Focus on Your Life Force 

Phil Stutz, is a well-known psychiatrist who speaks in-depth about this concept of your Life Force in his book “The Tools”. He says that when you constantly work on your life force, everything else will just fall into place.

Stutz recommends you think of your life force as a pyramid, with key relationships being formed: the base is the relationship you have with your body, the middle section is the relationship you have with people and the top section is the relationship you have with yourself. 

The Relationship with your Body
Sleep, exercise, and diet, we have heard it all before but the impact that this has on your day-to-day well-being is astonishing. As soon as you begin to have a positive relationship with your body and genuinely care for it, you will notice the mood change in you almost immediately. This portion of your life force has 85% control of your happiness and inner peace. 

The Relationship with People
Sometimes it is easier to stay home, escape from the world, and turn on Netflix, but human connection is important. Take the initiative to call your friends and family and make those plans happen. We learn so much from others, both good and bad, but the act of physically being with people and sharing experiences is such a critical element of having a happy life. Humans are social animals. 

The Relationship with Yourself
This relationship, for most, is the hardest. Stutz recommends in order to properly build a relationship with yourself you must get to know your unconscious, and the best way of doing that would be to write to yourself. By writing, you discover things you may not have realized you have been thinking about. This may be the most difficult because you need to dedicate the time to write. Perhaps it is not an everyday activity, especially when you are first getting started, but put yourself in the position to be open-minded about the process, it is said to be the most surprising out of the three. You owe it to yourself, to know who you are. 

Take Time to Meditate

Meditation is a discipline on its own. Some people find it extremely difficult to keep focused throughout the session or to even find the 5-15 minutes needed to do it. However, the benefits are huge.

Scientifically speaking, when you meditate you reduce stress, control anxiety, promote emotional health, enhance self-awareness, lengthen your attention span, reduce age-related memory loss, improve sleep, decrease blood pressure, and much more. 

Being mindful is something many struggle with, and meditation has a way of helping you stop, slow down, take it all in and be there. 

Some of our team members at Urban Campus use HeadSpace for their daily meditation needs. It is an app that offers meditation courses, daily meditation exercises, podcasts, sleep guides, and even some mini-movement workouts, all designed to help you feel better and more connected.

To get a two-week free trial to Headspace, and begin your meditation practices, click on this link.

We hope this article inspired you to begin this year off on the right foot, take control of your goals and work on being happier, because in the end that’s all we want. 

Happy 2023!