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- by Charlotte King
- In Other
Posted Jan. 3, 2014
Top 5 New Year's Resolutions for Postgrads
It is easy to become a bit cynical about resolutions at New Year because so many of us fail to keep them. It doesn’t have to be this way. You can make changes to your life at this time that are going to benefit you for the next year and beyond. Here are just five of the New Year's resolutions you might consider making: Learn to Better Manage Your Stress It can be difficult for people who have never been in this position to appreciate how hard it can be to complete a master’s degree or PhD. Not only can there be a great deal of work involved academically, but you may also be struggling financially. This is why making the resolution to learn how to better manage your stress can be such a good idea. There are effective stress-busting tools to choose from such as meditation or exercise, and you can also benefit from close friendships and maybe even a bit of counselling.
Start a Blog Starting a blog can be a great idea because it gives you the opportunity to network and build your credibility online. If you write about your experience as a postgrad student, you may even find that this is a great way to blow-off some steam. Having a blog can open doors, and it may even make some money off it if you can attract enough visitors (e.g. advertisements). You can even use the content on your blog to create an eBook that you could then sell.
Go and See the World One of the advantages of being a student is you often learn how to survive on a very tight budget. This can be a great advantage when it comes to travelling the world because it means you are better able to ‘rough it’. There are plenty of great travel deals for students, and the fact that you are attending university can mean you are entitled to discounts. As a New Year’s resolution, you can decide to spend more money on experiencing the world and less money on material possessions – experiences can completely change your life but possession only ever provide short-term satisfaction.
Get a Hobby that Improves Your Career Opportunities Starting a new hobby in January can not only get the New Year off to an interesting start, but it can also improve your career opportunities . By getting a postgraduate qualification, you are going to be making yourself more attractive to potential employers, but you are still going to be competing against all those people who have similar qualifications. If you have some interesting hobbies listed on your CV, it can help you stand out from the crowd – for example, learning a new language could be useful in your new career.
Gain Control over Your Finances One of the most popular New Year’s resolutions made by postgrad students is the commitment to gain control over their finances . If the last year has been a bit of a struggle for you financially, you probably want to avoid a repeat performance of this in the next twelve months. If you are really starting to struggle with your money, it may be time to think about taking on some part-time work. Another option may be for you to do a full assessment of your income and outgoing to find out where any savings can be made – sometimes just sacrificing a few luxuries can make a huge difference.
There is no real point in making a New Year’s resolution unless you plan to keep it. The secret to being successful with resolutions is to set realistic and clear goals. It is also a good idea to write an action plan and set up a reward scheme for hitting certain targets (e.g. you can reward yourself with a night on the town for saving x amount of money from your budget).
Start a Blog Starting a blog can be a great idea because it gives you the opportunity to network and build your credibility online. If you write about your experience as a postgrad student, you may even find that this is a great way to blow-off some steam. Having a blog can open doors, and it may even make some money off it if you can attract enough visitors (e.g. advertisements). You can even use the content on your blog to create an eBook that you could then sell.
Go and See the World One of the advantages of being a student is you often learn how to survive on a very tight budget. This can be a great advantage when it comes to travelling the world because it means you are better able to ‘rough it’. There are plenty of great travel deals for students, and the fact that you are attending university can mean you are entitled to discounts. As a New Year’s resolution, you can decide to spend more money on experiencing the world and less money on material possessions – experiences can completely change your life but possession only ever provide short-term satisfaction.
Get a Hobby that Improves Your Career Opportunities Starting a new hobby in January can not only get the New Year off to an interesting start, but it can also improve your career opportunities . By getting a postgraduate qualification, you are going to be making yourself more attractive to potential employers, but you are still going to be competing against all those people who have similar qualifications. If you have some interesting hobbies listed on your CV, it can help you stand out from the crowd – for example, learning a new language could be useful in your new career.
Gain Control over Your Finances One of the most popular New Year’s resolutions made by postgrad students is the commitment to gain control over their finances . If the last year has been a bit of a struggle for you financially, you probably want to avoid a repeat performance of this in the next twelve months. If you are really starting to struggle with your money, it may be time to think about taking on some part-time work. Another option may be for you to do a full assessment of your income and outgoing to find out where any savings can be made – sometimes just sacrificing a few luxuries can make a huge difference.
There is no real point in making a New Year’s resolution unless you plan to keep it. The secret to being successful with resolutions is to set realistic and clear goals. It is also a good idea to write an action plan and set up a reward scheme for hitting certain targets (e.g. you can reward yourself with a night on the town for saving x amount of money from your budget).
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