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The start of a New Year somehow always brings with it a fresh perspective. We make resolutions to do things differently or preserve the habits that have served us well in the past year. We celebrate with our loved ones in an unsaid bid to renew our loyalty towards the relationships that make us whole. We party into the early hours of the morning, reaffirming how alive we feel in that moment and pledging to keep the energy up through the new year.
Yes, the new year brings in a fresh feeling which we genuinely hope will last longer than the first 30 days. But, most often it doesn’t happen. Why? Because thinking about resolutions or even writing them down is way simpler than changing behaviour to achieve goals.
One way to make the freshness of the new calendar last longer than your ride to work is to ditch resolutions and instead package some gifts to yourself.
Gifts always make us happy and elevate our mood. In 2020 why not gift yourself the goodness of a better life. Sounds like too much? Believe me, this list of 10 gifts will not only make you happier, but it will also add a lot of fun to your daily routine, help you save money, get healthier and closer to those you love.
Ten gifts to yourself in 2020…
- Pay your own phone bill. Believe it or not, it is a gift. It’s liberating to not have to ask your parents every month for money and then get asked why the bill is so high and how much data you are using or who you speak to for an hour every night.
Not just that, you may finally realise the value of money, because if you don’t get there soon you are likely to burn through more than you are earning. Who knows how long your parents will support you? And really why should they if you are an earning, self-respecting adult? - Stop smoking. Yes, even social smoking. It adds nothing to your life, is too expensive an addiction and makes you waste too much time. Plus, you smell horrible after that cigarette; and no, neither the deo nor mint hide anything, everyone around you can tell. It’s totally, unattractive.
- Cook at least once a week. Maggi doesn’t count. You are a fully-grown human being and it’s a shame if you can’t cook and feed yourself. Of course, you may not have the time every day, but once a week should not be hard to do. Play some nice music that makes the experience even grander. Take it to another level by cooking a meal for friends and family.
- Don’t buy useless stuff. Stop wasting money on buying flower bouquets which will die in two days, multiple cups of coffee which cost a ridiculous amount each time, salon trips for needless foot massages and on buying torn jeans. None of these adds any real value to your life. If you really want to make someone happy with flowers, gift a plant or a gorgeous dry flower bouquet, why must we cut the flower and take the beauty out of the soil? A coffee cup brewed at home is a lovely morning ritual, you don’t need to spend ₹300 a cup for insipid, milky cups of flavoured water in a café. You get the drift.
- Delete at least five useless apps from your phone. They are taking up not only your phone space but also your mind space. Multiple shopping apps should be the first to go. If you must shop online, get to the website. It takes longer and is not as convenient, which might slow down the pace of your spending! The apps that let you add cat whiskers and bunny ears are great to kill time, but if that time is in between work, it is really not that great.
- Increase the role of music in your life. The app you should have is YouTube Music or Spotify or something similar. Add music to your everyday life and benefit from how easily it can uplift your day. Music that appeals to you rather than what’s cool or contemporary. For starters, let it play in the background as to start with cooking that meal once a week!
- Walk, don’t order. Everything is available either at the push of your finger or with a call to your house help (or your parents’ house help). If you are doing a lot of ordering around, no matter on which medium, the real outcome is laziness and sooner or later it will start to show in the shape of tyres around your waist or high markers in your blood report. A better way to live is to walk and get your own glass of water or walk to the corner shop for what you need or simply get out in between your work or play and take a stroll.
- Eat more street food. The obsession with sanitised hands and living spaces has practically killed our immunity. Don’t be afraid to go out to the roadside vendor and tuck in pani puris. Indulge in that occasional samosa frying in a wok of dark, suspicious coloured oil. It’s delicious, it won’t kill you and it is easy on the pocket. The key here is moderation, don’t overdo the experience, but certainly don’t shun it either. It can make your soul happy!
- Learn to dress well. Wearing torn denim, crumpled shirts, track pants and flip flops to the office is totally uncool, no matter which day of the week it is. Comb your hair, wash your face and look like a person who has something meaningful to contribute. Looking tidy is the first step to being taken seriously. All your ideas are worth little if the person talking to you doesn’t take your appearance to be a sign of earnestness in work.
- Type out the entire word in a text or WhatsApp message. Language is a beautiful means to communicate with others, do not reduce it to half sounds and single letters. It is simpler to do, but it reflects incompetence in the basic understanding of language and shows laziness to communicate well. Not just for work-related messages, but even with your friends, take pride in your command over a language. Take pride in yourself.
If you put all these ten gifts together and adorn yourself with them, what you are really doing is making yourself proud. You will look and feel better. You will have more money saved up. More importantly, those around you will begin to appreciate the things you do for them, for yourself and your clearly communicated ideas through well-written texts!
DOWNLOAD THE LIST OF GIFTS RIGHT HERE, AND STICK IT UP ON YOUR BOARD!