2024: an honest reflection + my goals for next year

 “What a year” is the first phrase that comes to mind when reflecting on 2024. My mind has been overwhelmingly negative recently – I’ve just returned from studying in Switzerland, which was the most challenging period of my life. However, I can’t forget the joys and growth that have also happened this year. I’ve had many great experiences and even though Geneva was hard, I’m choosing to look at it as a form of character-building.

Something I’ve learned is that it’s natural for our brains to search for the worst in situations (after all, its purpose is to keep us safe, not happy) and that not all our thoughts are necessarily true.

Here are some things I did this year that made me proud or brought me joy:

1. I finished my second year of uni with a 2:1, a pleasant surprise as I was essentially nocturnal due to my job at a nightclub.
2. I’ve made new friends and become closer with people I was already friends with, most notably people from my course at uni and my classes in Geneva. I met many people from all over the world, and although I probably won’t speak to the majority of them again, they taught me valuable lessons and opened my eyes to the wider world.
3. I’ve improved my French through spending 3 months in Switzerland.
4. I’ve learned to enjoy my own company and I’m learning more about myself and my mind every day. I still have anxiety about all sorts of things, but I’m in the process of learning to manage it. For example, I’ve realised that the more I try to push thoughts away, the more they return, which is why I try to let them pass.
5. I performed at Whitby Folk Festival with my music group where I got to spend a week surrounded by some of my favourite people.
6. I got 2 more tattoos and 2 new piercings (technically 3 but I sadly had to get my eyebrow piercing removed).

This list isn’t exhaustive, but it goes to show that even when our brain tells us everything is bad, it’s lying. One of the other lies it’s recently been telling me is that I’m going to have this anxiety for the rest of my life and I shouldn’t bother with completing my year abroad because “What’s the point? We don’t even know what we’re going to do with this degree after we graduate.”

While it is true that I’m not entirely sure where my language degree will take me, it doesn’t mean I can’t enjoy doing it. Even if my degree is “pointless”, that would mean discounting the next two years of my life due to worrying about something that hasn’t even happened. My current plan is to learn to embrace the journey and not worry too much about the end goal. I know we often get told to think of the future, but thinking too far into the future gives me more anxiety as it makes me start to question if I’m doing the “right” thing for me.

Something else I’ve done is I’ve written a list of what I want to achieve next year. New Years’ Resolutions or goals aren’t exactly a unique concept, but I’ve made mine to give me a sense of purpose for next year. I’ve frequently found myself feeling unmotivated, which isn’t helped by the dark winter days, so my goals will hopefully fill my days with things that will fulfill me and benefit my mental, physical and intellectual health. I have two lists: my resolutions, which are more regular habits, and my goals, which are more general things I want to do in 2025.

My New Years’ Resolutions:

1. 10,000 steps every day – I’m not sure if this will be possible every day, but I’ve learned that physical activity largely benefits my mental health.
2. Yoga every day – a habit I’ve stopped doing since returning from Switzerland. I ought to start it again, though, because I’ve been suffering from back pain.
3. Read (at least) one article in French and German every day – fairly self-explanatory for a language student. It’s great to read articles in your target languages to enhance your vocabulary and cultural understanding.
4. Work on my self-love – this one is less tangible, but one of my largest goals next year is to work on my relationship with myself. I plan to do this through reading books, journaling, and more positive self-talk.

My Goals for 2025:

1. Read 20 books – I was originally planning on 30, but I’d rather go above and beyond what I’ve planned than not manage to achieve my goal.
2. Start learning Dutch – I’m planning to pick up Dutch classes when I return to Lancaster in September. I don’t know how fast I’ll learn it since I’ll be in my final year with plenty of other responsibilities, but simply starting is enough for me.
3. Get to C1 level in French and German – this is achievable with my year abroad. I’m currently at the higher end of B2 in French and slightly lower in German, but when I go to live in Austria next year, I know my German will improve.
4. Travel to 5 countries – I think this will be fairly easy as Austria is on the doorstep of other European countries like Hungary, Slovakia and Slovenia. I’m also including Switzerland and Austria in the list of 5 countries, so it’s a manageable goal.

My main message with this post is, you’re bound to see posts on social media at this time of year with people boasting of all the great things they did in 2024, but it’s okay if this wasn’t how it played out for you. Even if the only thing you did this year is get through it, that’s still something to be proud of. I’m not going to be a cliché and say that this year was the “best one yet”, because it wasn’t for me, but I’m still grateful that it happened. Rather than dwelling on all the bad parts of the year, I’m trying to think of the positive things that 2024 brought me, and I advise you to do the same. Make a list of things you’re looking to next year, no matter how big or small, and have optimism that 2025 will treat you better.