Lessons Learned.
Welcome Back!
I was lucky enough to spend the last few days before the new year began in Thailand with my family which certainly gave me a lot of room for reflection. There’s certainly many things that went right and wrong for me in 2024 and regardless of whether something worked out, there was always a lesson to be learned.
Today we’ll be diving into some of these lessons I learned and dissecting what it is about a new year that often makes us want to strive for growth, both personally and professionally.
The value of my time.
Through my first year of university, whilst I was certainly busier than previously and learning to balance so many new things, I still had buckets of spare time (a sentiment I’m sure many other uni students will share). I had time for taking a 2 hour nap in the middle of the afternoon without having to think about it. Date night didn’t really need to be scheduled in advance, because we could always just find time, and I wasn’t meal prepping like my life depended on it because I knew I wouldn’t have time to cook a proper meal most nights.
Yet, this is the reality I now find myself in. Time is so much more precious and free time is much harder to come by. So naturally, time is now one of the things I value most highly in my life. Spare time, time for a nap, time to read and relax, time to have a sleep in. All things that I 100% took for granted and now wish I could have back.
This isn’t to say that I no longer find time for an afternoon nap if I’m exhausted, but it’s definitely become much more of a conscious choice of what else I’m sacrificing in order to have this nap.
All this to say, if you’re a first year do not take your naps for granted! Learning how to manage having much less free time is something I’m still getting a grasp on and will be sure to touch on in a future article to do a bit more of a deep dive into the things I do to find time for my precious naps.
Exercise before noon. Everyday.
I’m going to preface this lesson by saying that exercise is not a one-size-fits-all thing. For some people exercising in the middle of the night is the best thing in the world and what works best for them. For others, like myself, waking up and getting going in the morning with some exercise is almost a cure-all. Regardless, do your exercise.
I could say that I managed to single-handedly push myself into being really consistent with my exercise (I’m talking every single morning), but that would be a lie. I have my lovely boyfriend to thank for this particular lesson and although I didn’t come up with it on my own, it’s now one of the most autonomous and automatic things I do every day. Whether it’s a spin class, gym session or a morning run you can 100% guarantee I will be out the door and doing something sometime before 12pm. Not only does it mean that I get it done everyday and build arguably one of my favourite habits, it also helps set me up for a better day.
It’s no secret that exercise releases buckets of dopamine (not a doctor, obviously it’s not buckets), which for me really helps to support my mood in the morning and set me up to feel ready for my day (regardless of whether it’s a relaxing Sunday or a full day of back-to-back lectures).
So, in short, do your exercise. You’ll learn to love it I promise.
You don’t need a new wardrobe every season. Key word: need.
I technically didn’t learn this lesson in 2025, more like January this year, but nonetheless it’s an important lesson. One that’s taken me a very long time to learn. At the end of the day, I’m just a gal who loves shiny objects (particularly when they have a sale price tag and fit into my overall vibe of 19 going on 70). But I’ve discovered through dumping out my entire wardrobe and sorting through it, the insane amount of clothes I’ve managed to collect and just how many of them I don’t even wear anymore.
I take absolutely no pride in the chaos that was my wardrobe (and still is a little bit), and think it’s so important to understand the problems of over-consumption. We’ll be putting out a more in-depth article on this later this year, most likely when I find myself wanting a new wardrobe and need to remind myself why I don’t need one. Because, at the end of the day I, and many of you, are fortunate enough to have more than enough clothes. You don’t need a new outfit for dinner just because it’s Summer now. You just don’t.
So, put down the trousers with the sale tag and go home to find something you already have and wear that instead. Invest in things you truly love and will wear over and over again - that’s half of the solution. The other half is your self-restraint. Mine’s been tested. Still being tested.
Find the best schedule - for you.
I’m a die-hard bed by 10pm every night kind of girl. Some people aren’t. I know people that consistently go to bed at 2am and wake up at 10am the next day and that’s their routine. I’m also a get up in the morning and exercise kind of girl. A lot of people aren’t. The point is, I’ve got a schedule that works best for me and has been tried-and-tested to prove it’s right. Have you?
It’s so important to understand how your body works, how your brain works and work them both to your advantage. Do you have a 3pm slump everyday that you can never avoid? Do you need more than 8 hours sleep in order to properly function? Or do you function perfectly on 7 hours sleep? Taking the time to work out what works best for you will do wonders for your life and, most importantly, being consistent is the key. There’s no use in me saying I go to bed at 10pm every night if I actually only manage to do it 3/7 nights each week.
Work out what’s best for you and what’s realistic for you.
The bottom line is, working towards being a better version of you is the most rewarding task. At least I think it is. Feel free to debate amongst yourselves. Hopefully today’s article has given you some inspiration to help build better habits this year and whilst it wasn’t a deep dive into everything, I can safely say that these topics and habits will be making appearances in their own articles or other articles throughout the year.
We’ll see you in a few days for the newest Members article, but in the meantime, keep refining.
Mia