Yes. It's a new year. For most of us, it's a new semester (or about to be). However, it's okay you do not have everything all figured out or together yet. In fact, I think we put so much pressure on ourselves to feel perfected in the first month of the new year. We have big expectations for ourselves, where we want to stay on top of our goals and by the end of the year, feel good about ourselves because we completed them. And if we didn't complete them, then we start it all over again.

So far, I have heard multiple people saying that one of their goals for the new year is to make more time for themselves. Personally, I feel like this is a very important thing to do. Yes, you allow time for others, your friends, family, partner, etc. but it's important to allow time for you.

Sometimes, you might feel like you HAVE to spend time with all of your friends. or you HAVE to go to that party because people want you to be there, or you HAVE to do this for that person because they are counting on you. But you also HAVE to spend that alone time that your mind and body needs.

Self-care is not just a thing people do for fun. Actually, it's something that researchers really recommend for humans to do. There are many different self-cares ideas in the world. Some examples are reading a book, going to run, taking a relaxing spa day, playing calming music, meditation, etc. Everyone is different so while some things might calm your friends down, it might not work for you.

Now, for some things, you probably already know what works to help you relax and what doesn't. But there are always some ideas that you haven't done that might work. For me, cleaning is very therapeutic (I know, sounds kinda strange), but for real, whenever I focus my mind on cleaning things up or organizing something, I always feel so much more relaxed and at ease after I have done it. However, I didn't always like to do this. Probably five years ago, this would have totally not helped me feel any better, but now it does.

Try some new ideas out and help yourself feel more relaxed. Your body and mind needs that "you" time. Spend a little more time on yourself this year and treat yourself with some self-care.