Last year was honestly a very good year for me, personally. But, I want to do better. This year I plan on implementing things that will not only *hopefully* make me more successful in career adventures but also bring me joy and help me get back to a happy place physically. Here are 5 things I am going to implement into my daily routine to make me a better person:

1. Wind down at the same time every night (on weekdays).

I value my alone time and time where I can just relax and be with my roommates, cooking, or just watching TV. I want to set a specific time every night where I am showered, ready for bed, phone usage to a minimum and just winding down. I think this will help me immensely with my anxiety and tendency to keep going all day until I am literally 5 days of work ahead. I want to take the time for myself to check-in,  relax, and enjoy the night.

2. Cut back on caffeine.

I am honestly addicted to caffeine. I get headaches without it and I am overall grumpy. I want to deal with that for a few days and cut back on caffeine so 1. It does its job again and wakes me up because my threshold isn’t ridiculous and 2. I want my body to naturally be energetic and not depend on caffeine as it does right now. It’s really just not great for me as a person to be drinking so much caffeine so for clarity of mind and body, I want to cut it back a lot.

3. Exercise for at least 30 minutes a day.

I do not count walking to class or work as exercise because we do it every day anyway. I want to take the time to do 30 minutes minimum of some form of exercise. I want to lose weight first and foremost, but I also want to get back into my peak athletic ability (which was dancing 6 days a week) and allow myself to feel that power again. It is a really great feeling to feel strong and healthy, and I just want to be healthy again. There are so many factors that went into me gaining weight but I want to push all of those away and focus on getting healthy, in which I believe 30 minutes a day is a manageable and effective starting point.

4. Dress for success.

When I am in college it is so easy for me to fall back into wearing sweatpants and a hoodie every day, which is fine, but I want to do more. I made a promise to myself that every day I have to leave the house for things like class or meetings, I will wear real clothes (not leggings and a sweater) and put some effort into my presentation (not just filling in my eyebrows and calling it a day). I have done this for a week already and I actually feel great. It is such a good feeling to feel good about the way you look. I am more productive, I am more talkative to my professors and peers around me. It makes me feel more confident which is a game-changer for me.

5. Pursuing all creative outlets.

I am the kind of person that needs a creative outlet or they will literally break down. That is where this blog came from (yay!) the need for a creative outlet. This year I would like to pursue every creative urge I have and see what I can do with it. The worst thing is that I don’t like it and move on to something different. I want to allow myself to explore new things and see what I am capable of.