2018 New year resolutions
Don't you just love the beginning of a new year? The new beginning holds so much promise of awesome things, and you get to wash away your mistakes and start anew. I'm not usually one for making resolutions at the beginning of a new year because I make monthly goals instead, but I decided to go ahead and give it a go this year. I figure that it'll help me develop more long-term goals that I can work towards every day.
Above my desk is the handwritten list of my goals for 2018. It was important for me to choose realistic ones that made me a better person overall. I wanted to improve myself in all aspects of my life, so the list is diverse. Knowing that I can also be very critical of my own performance, I also started with a few as to avoid becoming overwhelmed or pessimistic.
So, without further adieu...the short and sweet list of my newest resolutions...
1. Run/ exercise 6 times a week AND complete my second half-marathon on April 28 (aka, my birthday!!). I used to be an avid runner, but then I started getting lazy because the school work began piling up and I thought that I wouldn't have enough time to study and workout. But then I started quickly noticing the side effects of not visiting the running trails. I gained weight because we sit all day in the lecture halls and our cortisol levels are constantly through the roof. I was irritable because I was always stressed. I desperately needed that alone time and a way to escape the academic realm for an hour every day. So, I've decided to go ahead and register for a race so that I am forced to dedicate one hour every day to this goal. We're a week in, and so far so good. Seriously though, I can already feel less stressed and more accomplished in the mornings when I run before school.
2. Make an effort to express to my friends and family how grateful I am for them every day. When we're overwhelmed with all of the tests and distractions in life, it's easy to forget to tell people that you are in fact grateful for them. I think this is especially true now in the time of social media. Although everyone likes to have their Instagram picture liked, it doesn't begin to compare to someone complimenting you. So, although I am already grateful for the amazing people in my life, I am going to make a conscious effort to reach out and make them know that they are special.
3. Be smarter about my study time. Y'all, last semester I was seriously averaging 5 hours (maybe) towards the end of the semester. Regardless of if I studied through lunch or if I listened to the Histology lecture on the bus ride, I never seemed to have enough time to get down all of the information. Dental school really can be overwhelming with the amount of information thrown at you all at once, but I think it really is about being smart with your time. I now make a strong effort to put away my phone during class and close out the shopping websites so that I can listen to the professor. I go to bed at a reasonable time (10:30-11PM!!!). And I know that most of my weekend is going to be spend relistening to lectures from that week. I've just kinda accepted this. For the next 3.5 years, my free time is pretty much non-existent. But that's okay. That's what I signed up for.
4. Be more confident in myself, even when I'm crying on the inside. This is the one that I'm going to struggle with the most. Although I write a blog and I try to encourage all of you, I am not naturally a very confident person. I second-guess myself all of the time. For the first month of dental school I would literally sit in my car after classes ended and cry on the way home. I truly believed that I wasn't going to be smart/good/driven enough for this. But, with the support of my family and D (shout out to him for literally picking me off the ground many nights), I got through the first semester. He has brainwashed me into believing that I really am enough/smart/good for this. So, I'm promising myself to be less critical of the small mistakes and stay focused.
2. Make an effort to express to my friends and family how grateful I am for them every day. When we're overwhelmed with all of the tests and distractions in life, it's easy to forget to tell people that you are in fact grateful for them. I think this is especially true now in the time of social media. Although everyone likes to have their Instagram picture liked, it doesn't begin to compare to someone complimenting you. So, although I am already grateful for the amazing people in my life, I am going to make a conscious effort to reach out and make them know that they are special.
3. Be smarter about my study time. Y'all, last semester I was seriously averaging 5 hours (maybe) towards the end of the semester. Regardless of if I studied through lunch or if I listened to the Histology lecture on the bus ride, I never seemed to have enough time to get down all of the information. Dental school really can be overwhelming with the amount of information thrown at you all at once, but I think it really is about being smart with your time. I now make a strong effort to put away my phone during class and close out the shopping websites so that I can listen to the professor. I go to bed at a reasonable time (10:30-11PM!!!). And I know that most of my weekend is going to be spend relistening to lectures from that week. I've just kinda accepted this. For the next 3.5 years, my free time is pretty much non-existent. But that's okay. That's what I signed up for.
4. Be more confident in myself, even when I'm crying on the inside. This is the one that I'm going to struggle with the most. Although I write a blog and I try to encourage all of you, I am not naturally a very confident person. I second-guess myself all of the time. For the first month of dental school I would literally sit in my car after classes ended and cry on the way home. I truly believed that I wasn't going to be smart/good/driven enough for this. But, with the support of my family and D (shout out to him for literally picking me off the ground many nights), I got through the first semester. He has brainwashed me into believing that I really am enough/smart/good for this. So, I'm promising myself to be less critical of the small mistakes and stay focused.
To add to all of the excitement that the new year brings, I was just asked to do a podcast series on my journey through dental school! The first episode should be coming out by the end of the month, so stay tuned!
Well, that's about it for now! I'm off to study!