¡Feliz Año Nuevo!

It’s 2024, we’re starting fresh, and everyone is thinking about new beginnings.

A common expression that people say at this time of year is “New year, new me.” What this means is to do with New Year’s Resolutions. Resolutions are normally things that people want to  change or do during the year – goals, targets, dreams.

The ten most common are;

1. Exercise more
2. Lose weight
3. Get organised
4. Learn a new skill or hobby
5. Live life to the fullest
6. Save more money / spend less money
7. Quit smoking
8. Spend more time with family and friends
9. Travel more
10. Seguir leyendo

Personally, I love 4 and 10 from a teacher’s point of view, while a lot of students will think about travelling and exploring* new places as often as possible.

*Language note: When we go to new places, we visit, explore, or discover, but we don’t meet them. We meet new people, which is actually a resolution that some people might have. Dublin is a great city for getting some exercise. An easy way to to do so is to walk when you have the time – not when you’re rushing to work. Every week the ISI social team organise city walking tours. If  you’ve never been, this is a great chance to meet new people and get in a weekly walk.

Want to read more? ISI has a bookshelf full of materials that were, largely, donated by staff members, and the Central Library is a stone’s throw away* in the ILAC Shopping Centre. Or, you could try Project Gutenberg (https://www.gutenberg.org/) and get a free eBook.

*Idiom: “A stone’s throw away” = something is very near

While the purpose of a resolution is to improve in some way, most people do not keep up their new idea or way of life, and return back to normal by February… and that’s okay. The purpose of this post is to tell you not to put too much pressure on yourself. Reinventing yourself, or telling yourself that you “have to” do something because you said you would in January is a lot to ask.

So, with all that said, if you’re going to make a New Year’s Resolution, keep it simple. You don’t need to change everything about yourself just because the date changed and some fireworks lit up the sky.