Honestly, the amount of times I’ve heard promises and assurance from my friends and family: ‘This year, I’m going to…’. They never stick to their year-long promises and really, who does? Breaking resolutions is an inevitable yearly ordeal. The widely accepted notion of quitting resolutions makes it all that easier to sweep ours under the carpet.

I myself am also guilty of making excuses – and that’s all it is: an excuse. If we are all serious about our resolutions, then we will commit to it, no matter the obstacles. Here is my list of Top 5 Resolutions:

Get/Keep Fit

Staying in shape will always feature in the list. It is still reported all over the internet and other newspapers that England is the fattest country in Europe.  So if you decide to get fit for yourself, your friends, or your partner, you are also subconsciously doing it for your country.

Quit smoking/drinking/gambling

I should really retract the word quit, and say ‘cut back’ instead, because a 20-a-day smoker is much more likely to hold up their resolution if they cut back to 10 a day, rather than quit it together – and most probably fail. There is a sense of achievement in this as although you haven’t totally quit, you will have drastically cut your intake from the previous year.

Learn something new

‘I have to lose weight’, ‘I have to quit smoking’… Why does a resolution always focus on needing to change something about ourselves? Why not focus on learning something brand new? Learning a language, an instrument, or improving your cooking are just a few of many positive resolutions to try.

Save some money!

Frivolous spending always leads to debts. This leads to unnecessary stress, which affects work, then our relationships and culminates in a snowball effect rolling towards a nervous breakdown. So next time you have an impulse to buy something, try to resist. And who knows? With all the savings,  at the end of the year you may be able to treat yourself properly.

To procrastinate less

How many times have you been on Facebook and talked away for hours and realised your deadline is due in two days? Procrastination is something that loads of students are guilty of. The odd day is fine, but too much is unacceptable. Find something more useful to do.