The New Year is officially here, and the editorial staff at Imprint plans to usher in 2023 with a fresh set of resolutions. As easy as it is to quit the gym come February, these actionable, specific goals will hopefully motivate you to reinforce new habits — or discard old ones.
Here’s what we at Imprint are striving for this year.
Reading 50 pages every night
One realistic way to read more is by scheduling it during a time when you have nothing else to do. That, for me, is the hour before bed, and I’ve already noticed improvements in my attention span, sleep, and mood the next morning.
To track my progress, I use the Goodreads Reading Challenge. It’s simple: type in the number of books you aim to read in 2023 on the Goodreads app or website — a goal you always have the option to change. Throughout the year, you can see whether you’re behind, on track, or ahead of your plan. By the year’s end, you also receive a set of fun, individualized statistics on the books you’ve read (think Spotify Wrapped, but for bookworms).
— Nadia Khan, Arts & Life Editor
Try a fitness class or physical activity
When I was a kid, I was an avid swimmer. Routinely, I also enjoyed dancing, badminton, volleyball, yoga, and jump-rope. However, over the years I have lost touch with my love for physical activity (especially swimming!), and physical activity is often so closely tied to weight loss thanks to the diet industries that thrive particularly around this time of year. Personally, weight loss has been an unsustainable motive for engaging in physical activity and it sucks the fun and joy out of the experience, so this year I will attempt a fitness class or sport with the aim of becoming active – separate from notions of weight loss and diet.
UW has a variety of fitness classes and sports to try out, even if only once; presently, I’m quite interested in trying a kickboxing class! There are many benefits to physical activity that are exclusive from weight loss, thus focused more on having fun and feeling good physically and psychologically than how the body looks and weighs. It is good to stay active, and I hope to take back the ideas of fitness and the ‘ideal body’ created by the diet industries in order to try something new (even if it is intimidating), break a sweat, and reconnect with the part of myself that truly enjoyed fitness!
— Remy Leigh, News Editor
Learn Korean
Honest to god I didn’t have a resolution until maybe six hours ago as of writing this, but then I realized how easy it would be to focus on this now that stuff like Duolingo is so accessible. I’ve been interested in learning Korean for a while now. The writing system is relatively new compared to most languages, having been created in 1443, and it’s built in a way that is very logical and easy to follow. I’ve been a fan of Korean cinema for a few years now and it’d be nice to be able to watch those movies without subtitles. And in general it’s a very beautiful sounding language that I’d love to be able to understand, even if I probably won’t be able to speak it. I gave Japanese a try about eight years ago and it wasn’t really for me, so here’s hoping things go better this time around.
— Eduardo Matzumiya, Head Copy Editor
Complete even one writing project. Just one.
Since high school, it’s been an inside joke amongst my friends and I that I tend to generate far too many ideas for creative writing projects and never commit to finishing any one of them. Progress on these ideas can range to a prompt, coherent or not, in my Notes app, to an 80-page-long screenplay (a first draft, mind you). I couldn’t say whether it’s the sheer number of ideas, or how fast I bore of their potential, that has so far prevented me from completing any writing project that wasn’t graded, but as always, I’m hoping I’ll be able to break that cycle this year. Of course, the new year brought new themes, formats, and motifs to mind, and with them an entirely new project I can happily report having made some respectable progress on. I would like to aim for a cohesive second draft of the project by the end of the year, so here’s hoping that sticks.
— Alicia Wang, Editorial Assistant
Graduate and move on to the next chapter of my life
By the end of 2023 I’ll have completed my undergraduate degree at the University of Waterloo, assuming that I make it through my last two semesters without hiccup. The real goal, however, is not to simply graduate, but to do so with confidence about my next step. I know a lot of people who are insecure about their life after university – career, place of residence, family – it can all create intense pressure. The goal is to solidify my ideas, plans and dreams, for when the day comes that I am no longer a part of this institution, I will not be overrun by unknowns and insecurities. Although life is filled with issues such as these, the best any of us can do is to work towards goals and dreams that we have confidence in.
— Charlie Dickson, Opinions Editor
Cook one new recipe a week
This past fall term, I studied abroad and pretty much lived out of a suitcase. I did not have many kitchen supplies, so my meals consisted of a lot of bland rice, beans and raw vegetables. And, whenever I get caught up in the stress of work and classes on a typical term, the first thing I tend to let go of is cooking fun and new dishes. This all has moved me into 2023 wanting to make more time and space for my hobby of cooking, exploring new recipes and creating my own. It’s something fun I can do on my own or with friends, and keep things exciting during another dreary winter in Waterloo.
— Heather Ecobichon, Graphics Editor
