From all of us here at 5 Points Prep, we’d like to wish you a Happy New Year! A new year is like a blank page–the promise of a fresh start, which can be both exciting and scary. We have a few suggestions for New Year’s resolutions that are great for students who want to get the most out of 2025, but we also know that keeping those resolutions can be tough. Fortunately, we have some advice for staying on track, too.

Consider making one of the following resolutions:

1. Get organized. The beginning of the year is the perfect time to do this. Before the winter break is over, take a little time to reflect on your goals for the next twelve months and start putting together a roadmap. This might involve getting some necessary tools, like a wall calendar or a daily planner that will help you make long term plans.
2. Stop procrastinating. Procrastination is a common problem for students, and it’s often caused by anxiety about working on difficult tasks. Think of ways you can take action to avoid procrastination. This might involve setting yourself shorter deadlines, asking a friend or family member to hold you accountable, or developing strategies for managing anxiety.
3. Make an effective study routine. Test preparation should be started well in advance, but many students postpone studying until a couple of days before the test. Whether you’re studying for the SAT/ACT or a school test, get into a daily routine of reviewing notes, working through practice problems, and reading study guides.
4. Read more. This is generally good advice that can have a wide range of benefits. Reading on a regular basis builds critical thinking skills, improves vocabulary, reduces anxiety, and enhances concentration. It also makes us better writers. Reading more will help you with writing essays for class as well as getting a higher score on the SAT and ACT verbal sections.
5. Maintain your school-life balance. Maybe you got overwhelmed last year with too much studying or too much time spent on extracurricular activities. Don’t forget to leave some time for yourself and the things you enjoy doing. Create time in your schedule to hang out with friends or work on your hobbies.
6. Prioritize your physical health. It’s hard to accomplish any of your goals if you feel terrible all the time. Looking after your physical health should be your main priority. This might mean getting more sleep, developing better eating habits, or incorporating more physical activity into your daily routine. Don’t try to do too much at once, though. Look for places in your life where you can introduce small changes that will be beneficial.
7. Learn something new. Maybe there’s a new hobby you’ve been wanting to try, or maybe there are some life skills you’ve been meaning to develop. There’s no time like the present to get started! Learning new things can also mean learning about yourself. It’s possible that you won’t enjoy your new hobby and will end up abandoning it, but that’s also a valuable lesson. Who knows–you might end up deciding on a new college major or career path that you wouldn’t have known about otherwise.

So now that you’ve chosen a New Year’s resolution, how do you get started, and how do you make sure that your resolution actually sticks? No doubt, you’ve made resolutions in the past and abandoned them by the end of January. You wouldn’t be alone, either: around 8% of people who make resolutions actually keep them. So how can you avoid being in the other 92%? We have some advice that we hope will be useful.

Focus on the present instead of the future. Here’s a weird thing about human psychology: Sometimes, visualizing ourselves being successful in the future can make us feel as if we’ve already accomplished something. Rather than motivating us, it can have quite the opposite effect. The act of making a resolution can give us a sense of satisfaction, and that satisfaction can actually keep people from following through on their resolutions. Instead of fantasizing about how good you’ll feel once you’ve met your resolutions, stay focused on the here and now.

Break large goals into small ones. It’s not enough to say “I’m going to read more.” What is “more”? What does that look like in practice? The reason we often struggle to get started on our goals is that we make vague resolutions that don’t translate into specific actions. Instead, set a goal to read for 30 minutes before bedtime every night.

Be realistic about what you can actually accomplish. You won’t be able to change your entire personality overnight. If you’ve never enjoyed working out, you’re not going to suddenly turn into a full-time fitness guru, and that’s okay. If you’ve decided to increase your physical activity, start with something small, like a 15-minute walk each morning.

Be good to yourself. There are times when you will fail to follow through on your resolutions, and you shouldn’t beat yourself up about it. None of us is perfect, so give yourself some grace, and pick up where you left off. Even if it’s been days, weeks, or months since you fell off your routine, it’s never too late to start working toward your annual goals again.

Don’t give up. Starting a new routine takes lots of practice. It might feel unnatural or uncomfortable at first, but just keep going. You’ve heard the expression “fake it till you make it,” and there’s a lot of truth in that! Eventually, your new routine will start to feel like second nature.

We hope you’ve found a New Year’s resolution that you feel good about and feel positive that you can keep. Don’t forget that 5 Points Prep is here to help you with your goals, too. If you’re struggling in your classes or having a hard time sticking to a study routine, getting help from a tutor can be a great way to stay on track. Sometimes, we all need a little encouragement from someone to keep us motivated and help us keep our eyes on the prize. If that’s you, don’t hesitate to submit a sign up form and get some support from one of our amazing tutors.