I’m a sucker for an excuse for a fresh start.
New years has always been a favorite holiday for me because it allows me to have a clean slate to do whatever I want with my life. No matter how wild your last year was, or how hectic and stressful the holidays were, you have the opportunity NOW to change your life for the better. You deserve that.
Find a list of suggestions for routines to start in my post here!
During my teens and early 20s, I ran around aimless and avoiding any kind of structure and when I was finally faced with serious responsibility and stress, I learned that the only way to get what I wanted out of life was going to be by structuring my time and getting into some kind of routine, doing so unlocked a world of possibility to me.
Why did I avoid routines?
Despite the obvious advantage of being able to see whichever parent I wanted without a strict schedule, there wasn’t any real consistency. You might think this would’ve been remedied when I went to college and slept in the same place every night. It wasn’t. By then, I didn’t know how to be consistent with anything. I was scared to be consistent with anything. Obviously, my parents didn’t make me this way, the circumstances of my life just allowed me to not gain any skills in making routines for myself.
I not only thought it would make me boring to structure my day at all but I saw routines like eating at the same time or working out every day or spending time to learn a new skill as ways I would be sacrificing my freedom.
I didn’t do laundry on a regular schedule. I went around eating meals on whims- often paying too much for something I didn’t actually want because I let myself get too hungry while away from home. I didn’t have any structure to my study time. I even made sure I was available to my family and friends at all times.
I had been making my life harder for so many years because I feared structure.
Nursing School was so stressful, I needed to change.
Almost nothing is as motivating as a mind-melting panic attack.
I went through 6 weeks of nursing school before having a meltdown that revealed to me that not having any habits and being disorganized was going to make me fail. I knew nursing school was something I was not willing to fail at.
The lack of routine and disorganization spanned well into my personal life, not just affecting my academic life.
Small Changes Stick
My favorite routine I set for myself was with exercise:
I learned that running consistently after my classes (like a mile and a half, not much) not only effectively brought my school stress and anxiety down, it made me feel accomplished about something that day even if it was a hard day AND my weight didn’t fluctuate so much as it did before. I finally saw that I could do something that would affect my mental and physical health in ways I was proud of and I quickly learned I wasn’t willing to compromise about.
Establishing this routine helped me to feel less aimless and anxious and also empowered me to set boundaries with people in my life. I learned to prioritize this small ritual of running after classes, and by doing so I was able to tell people in my life “No” when they requested my time for something that wasn’t as important as my 20-minute run and all the benefits I would get from it.
Being able to say “No” to the people around me and learn to not feel guilty about not being available at all times to everyone gave me the most important benefit of a keeping a routine: my self-esteem improved.
Me in 2022 enjoying my after class run!
This single change taught me so much!
- 1I learned I had more control over my mental and physical health than I thought. I could affect both with my decision to run.
- 2I had a better grasp on time management. I learned quickly that my normal running route took about 20 mins to run and that taught me that I could usually squeeze a run into even some of my busiest days. I learned that knowing how long to expect a repeated task to take allows me freedom in the new and spontaneous experiences in my life because I can better estimate what I have time for.
- 3Being consistent with something doesn’t mean being perfect. I learned to forgive myself for not running every single class-day. I knew that I always felt better on days that I did run, even if I cut my route short. So I learned to hold myself only to what I could handle, not to what would be perfect.
Everything Can be Changed and Improved
I found when I had started running and I could stick with it imperfectly and prioritize it when I needed to that there were so many parts of my life that I could take more responsibility for and improve. From my eating habits to my skin care to my study skills, I was able to make small changes practically everywhere so I didn’t feel lost or stuck anymore.
It sounds wild but starting with just one routine can help to set you on the path to improving so much of your life.
The New Year is the perfect time to take a look at something that you need or that isn’t working for you and try to implement a new routine and make a change that helps you love yourself and your life. And you’re worth that.
TL;DR
Drop a New Years Resolution in the comments!
One response to “Your New Years Resolution Should Be a Routine”
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