Hello.
So, after an eventful year, I must say that I am happy to see the back of 2016. 2016 was probably one of the most overwhelming years of my life; my sister left in January to live in Australia for 1+ years, my parents decided to put their marriage to an end, my brother joined the army, and I decided to start fresh and move to a new college. 2016 has definitely been difficult for the rest of the world in terms of the problems surrounding the funding for the NHS, terrorist attacks, celebrity deaths and natural disasters. That being said, 2016 has definitely been a a positive year too. Although initially being negative, my parents’ divorce significantly improved the relationships within our family, my sister is having an amazing time and we keep in frequent touch, my brother is absolutely loving life in the army and he makes frequent visits home, and lastly, I enjoy college now. I came across a list someone made of some of the good things that happened during 2016 and I honestly wasn’t aware of the majority of the things listed due to the negative news stories overshadowing the positive ones. If you yourself didn’t enjoy 2016 and feel like it was all doom and gloom; take a minute to read the list below.
That being said, it’s now time to move forward and think about what 2017 will bring. I have written a list of some of the things I would like to achieve during the year 2017.
- Control my social anxiety:
Ever since I was young, I’ve struggled in terms of communicating with new people and adjusting to social situations. Due to the fact that I am at a new college and I’ve felt too anxious to even say hello to those in my lessons, suggests that I need to do something about my social anxiety. I am hoping to receive therapy sessions solely on social anxiety to ensure that I feel better when it comes to social situations. I am aware that this is a huge goal for me, but I am willing to give it a shot. I would love to feel as if I am coming across as less rude and feel as if I can make friends on my own, without needing my boyfriend for friendships.
2. See my friends more
I’m one of those people who regularly invite people out and continuously message them for a period of time and then BAM, that moment is over. Most of the times I see my friends, it is because I have made the plans. Although this is something I don’t particularly like, I can’t think of any way to avoid it because I, of course, like spending time with my friends. I would like to prevent going months and months without seeing my friends and making it feel like we haven’t seen each other in years…it just feels awkward.
3. Stop overthinking
This one is a hard one for me, as I am prone to overthink the smallest things that I experience. Since attending CBT sessions for a few months, I have been more driven to adapt to a more positive thinking style than the one I am currently using. If you have attended CBT sessions yourself, then you will know that changing the way you think isn’t easy. This will require a lot of work, such as through doing regular activities and writing down positive notes to remember. I recently bought a journal called a ‘Happiness Journal’ from Paperchase for £21. This diary includes several pages to begin to make you think about what you like and dislike about your life, and what you would like to achieve through the journal. After these pages, the diary is split by month. In each month you are expected to write down one thing you would like to achieve, followed by a few steps as to how you would do it. As of yet, I haven’t written much, but I can tell it will really help me out if I remember to stick with it.
4. Get good grades
Since I started a new college in 2016, I am doing both AS and A2 subjects. Of course, I would like to achieve good grades in all 4 of my subjects, but my biggest priority is to do well in my A2 courses; sociology and English language. Sociology is particularly important to me as I would like to take sociology and criminology when I attend university in the future. I will manage to get the grades I want through continuing to put 100% into my work. At the moment, I would say that I am working very hard in college and I am doing quite well (my mock results may beg to differ).
5. Spend more time with my mum
The last goal of 2017 I am going to include is to spend more time with my mum. Since I spend a lot of time with my boyfriend, I don’t see my mum enough; just me and her. I would like to consider seeing her more often and when I’m alone, I should go downstairs and talk to her rather than staying in bed. I think working on mine and my mum’s relationship would improve both mine and her happiness.
So that was 5 things I would like to achieve during 2017. I hope your 2017 is better than 2016, look after yourself!
-Lizzie
Lizzie's Perspectives 