Sunday Success: Dear 2013, We’re Putting So Much Pressure on You

Editor's Note: Sunday Success is a weekly blog dedicated to documenting the frustrations, difficulties and humor in developing ridiculous amounts of success in college.

Wow, 2013, you’re under a lot of pressure aren’t you? All of this talk about you being so much better than last year must exhaust your sweat glands, am I right? I mean, you’re so important you didn’t even make it onto the Mayan’s old calendar. You’re something new, fresh. January 1st is your debut! A day we’ve all been waiting for after a year of excusing to delay our terrible budgeting, grudges we’ve held on for entirely too long, mediocre work-ethics and the stack of once-desired dusty books on our shelves.

In 2013, I expect you to…

For once, stop picking up old mixes.

I get it, I get it, I get it. Nothing is as bittersweet as the nostalgia felt from years of collecting music. I’m going to request for you to lay your old ones down and venture through what the musical world will be providing your ears. Allow new artists to become a part of your conversation tactic with strangers. Besides, your taste buds change every seven years, so why are you still stuck in 2000 again? Go to cheap concerts of bands you’ve never heard of. Hate them until you realize you love them. But please, for the sake of progress, give them a chance.

Learn how to order a Starbucks Drink like an Adult

As much as a $3 hot chocolate sounds delightful, it does not scream, “Look, I’m so adult-like and stressed out and I NEED the proper addition to today’s survival kit.” Want to be taken more seriously by the complete stranger behind you? Learn the lingo to complete the perfect drink order and you’ll be accurately portrayed as the “one in the know.” Oh, and it wouldn’t hurt to consider putting your drink order on your resume to further impress those who don’t actually care.

Realize there are better ways to say what you just said

Broaden your vocabulary through action. Learn how to express yourself passionately and accurately through writing, singing, drawing and interpretive dance (if that’s your thing, and I hope it is). Share your thoughts consistently through blogging. Create a public playlist on Spotify. Avoid relying solely on updating your status to allow others to understand you better. There are much better ways to say what you just said.  

Stop taking some things so seriously, so you can begin taking things more seriously

Reshape the things you focus on with the most of your energy. Grow a worldwide concern for people and problems they face. But maintain a local concern. Worry about the amount of sugar you need in your coffee (three packets, please), but remember to take your old unwanted clothes to a nearby shelter. Prioritize your concerns, but sometimes leave them behind to see someone else’s. 

Never Have to Look at Something Twice

During an interview with Cosmopolitan’s former Editor-in-Chief Kate White, she reminded me to finish what I’ve started as to never have to return to it. Boy, will 2013 be a year of progress if I can can conquer the habit of “unfinished business.” Stop finding reasons to leave something undone. Remember the feeling of liberation whenever you’ve completed something. Strive for that feeling more often than ever, and allow yourself to feel this way toward the previous 365 days. Leave 2012 finished, and begin something new. Welcome the hell out of 2013.