With the beginning of a new quarter at Northwestern comes the opportunity for a fresh start. You’ve probably set some goals for yourself to maintain until the end of the school year, but after the first week or two, the motivation to stay on top of them may start to fade. Check out these tips on how to keep your objectives from disappearing into warmer weather and heavier workloads.
Goal: Go to Chicago more often
Now that Chiberia is no longer zero degrees, you can’t use the “it’s too cold” excuse anymore—especially about making a trip to the city. To make sure you get yourself out of Evanston and into Chicago, check out the city’s online event calendar. Mark down a day to go do some really unique activity downtown, like visit the Chicago Chef Food Tour or a see SNL’s future stars at Second City! Once you’re already there, you can explore the city! If that doesn’t seem up your alley, encourage your friends to make their next birthday dinner reservations in Chicago. It’ll turn a special day into a fun adventure (and who doesn’t love the awesome food downtown?!).
Goal: Work out more
Wanting to show off in those cute swimsuits you just bought for the summer, you promised yourself that you’d see way more of the gym in the next few months than you have in the past few years. Make yourself an upbeat new playlist (filled with some EDM if you’re feeling especially nostalgic about the end of Ultra) and grab a couple of cute workout outfits. With new clothes and new tunes, there’s nothing stopping you from achieving your new goal.
If that’s still not enough, check out writer Manon Blackman’s article on motivating health blogs to reap some health advice from the web!
Goal: Stay on top of your work
It’s the last quarter of the year, meaning it’s your last quarter to boost that cumulative GPA. While you’re still feeling especially driven, get out all your syllabi and mark down all your major assignments in a calendar. Doing this will prevent you from experiencing the “it’s already midterms?!” anxiety. Also, take advantage of the newfound warmth that spring brings and mix up your study spots a little bit! Getting some fresh air while working by the lakefill or at a picnic table can help you approach your papers with a fresh mindset.
Goal: Find a summer job
It may only be April, but it seems like everyone around you already has some unbelievable internship lined up for the summer season. Don’t panic! Start by making sure you have a resume together, and then start looking through your Northwestern email. Go back through old messages you had thoughtlessly skimmed in the chilly winter months (when summer seemed decades away) for those job opportunity applications, and start asking around to see what’s still available. If not, talk to some older students about jobs they had in previous years—even friends from other schools—to see if they can help connect you to a potential employer.
Goal: Eat healthy
Start by deleting the Lou Malnati’s delivery man’s number from your speed dial. With that out of the way, this is a goal you’ll definitely want to grab a friend for. Keep each other from reaching for those delicious-looking cupcakes in the dining hall, and opt for some fruit instead. Have your buddy keep you mindful when you start going back for seconds (or thirds, or even fourths). Having someone around at mealtimes will heighten your awareness and keep you on track!
Good luck on finishing out spring quarter with your goals still in tact!
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