New Year's Day

The New Year in the UK

Resolutions for this New School Year

September is a great time to reflect on the changes we want to or need to make in our studies. This is a good set of ideas for you to improve your results:

Keep a calendar

1. Stop procrastinating. Don't postpone  the work you have to do. Do it as soon as possible as tasks usually take longer than expected.
2. Commit yourself to getting good grades. Good grades are essential for  any student. They will help you get to your favourite "instituto", faculty, etc. so make your mind up and start right now.
3. If a subject is too difficult, ask your teacher outside school, study for the subject with other classmates but don't leave anything that looks too difficult for the end of the term when you won't have much time for everything.
4. Don’t do it all. It’s better to concentrate on a few things and excel in them than if you join every sport, activity and club that you comes accross. Just do a couple of things and make sure you have plenty of time for your studies.
5. Keep a calendar. Deadlines creep up quickly. And the closer the date, the more you’ll feel the pressure. You can use a traditional paper diary or use an online calendar, such as Google Calendar but all exams and deadlines should be written down.
6. Take your exams seriously and study for them on time. Waiting for a second chance is not a good idea as you will be losing opportunities
7. Don't forget handing your school reports on time and remember that a percentage of your final qualification depends on them so don't underestimate their importance.
8. Try something new. Secondary school is a great time to spread your wings. It’s about new experiences and self-discovery. You can try a new sport, learn a new language, find new topics of interest or join an NGO. Just try.
9. Explore your possibilities for the future, consider what you would like to study and find information about those studies, where they can be carried out, etc.
10. Banish the self-doubt. Doubting your own abilities only holds you back from achieving what you want to achieve. Just say no to these thoughts and others like them:
• “I can’t do this.”
• “I’m not as smart as my classmates.”
• “I’ll never get better than a 2.7 grade-point average.”
• “I’ll only get into a community college anyway”
• “There’s no point in thinking I’ll get into my first choice college.”

adapted from http://internationalcollegecounselors.com/es/10-new-year-resolutions-for-high-school-students/

New Year's Resolutions

A New Year's resolution is a tradition, most common in the Western Hemisphere but also found in the Eastern Hemisphere, in which a person resolves to change an undesired trait or behavior.

Religious origins

• Babylonians made promises to their gods at the start of each year that they would return borrowed objects and pay their debts
• The Romans began each year by making promises to the god Janus, for whom the month of January is named.
• In the Medieval era, the knights took the "peacock vow" at the end of the Christmas season each year to re-affirm their commitment to chivalry
• At watchnight services, many Christians prepare for the year ahead by praying and making these resolutions
• This tradition has many other religious parallels.

Image from Wikipedia

Popular goals

• Stay fit and healthy-37%
• Lose weight-32%
• Enjoy life to the fullest-28%
• Spend less, save more -25%
• Spend more time with family and friends -19%
• Get organized-18%
• Will not make any resolutions-16%
• Learn something new/new hobby-14%
• Travel more-14%
• Read more-12%

Success rate

The most common reason for participants failing their New Years' Resolutions was setting themselves unrealistic goals (35%), while 33% didn't keep track of their progress and a further 23% forgot about it. About one in 10 respondents claimed they made too many resolutions.

A 2007 study by Richard Wiseman from the University of Bristol involving 3,000 people showed that 88% of those who set New Year resolutions fail, despite the fact that 52% of the study's participants were confident of success at the beginning. Men achieved their goal 22% more often when they engaged in goal setting, (a system where small measurable goals are being set; such as, a pound a week, instead of saying "lose weight"), while women succeeded 10% more when they made their goals public and got support from their friends.

Information from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Year's_resolution

New Year's Resolutions

A New Year's resolution is a tradition, most common in the Western Hemisphere but also found in the Eastern Hemisphere, in which a person resolves to change an undesired trait or behavior.

Religious origins

• Babylonians made promises to their gods at the start of each year that they would return borrowed objects and pay their debts
• The Romans began each year by making promises to the god Janus, for whom the month of January is named.
• In the Medieval era, the knights took the "peacock vow" at the end of the Christmas season each year to re-affirm their commitment to chivalry
• At watchnight services, many Christians prepare for the year ahead by praying and making these resolutions
• This tradition has many other religious parallels.

Popular goals

• Stay fit and healthy-37%
• Lose weight-32%
• Enjoy life to the fullest-28%
• Spend less, save more -25%
• Spend more time with family and friends -19%
• Get organized-18%
• Will not make any resolutions-16%
• Learn something new/new hobby-14%
• Travel more-14%
• Read more-12%

Success rate

The most common reason for participants failing their New Years' Resolutions was setting themselves unrealistic goals (35%), while 33% didn't keep track of their progress and a further 23% forgot about it. About one in 10 respondents claimed they made too many resolutions.

A 2007 study by Richard Wiseman from the University of Bristol involving 3,000 people showed that 88% of those who set New Year resolutions fail, despite the fact that 52% of the study's participants were confident of success at the beginning. Men achieved their goal 22% more often when they engaged in goal setting, (a system where small measurable goals are being set; such as, a pound a week, instead of saying "lose weight"), while women succeeded 10% more when they made their goals public and got support from their friends.

Information from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Year's_resolution