Creating Your Winter Arc

If you are an avid user of social media platforms, such as TikTok or Instagram, then you have most likely heard of the winter arc. It has been defined as a shift in mindset, with many young adults choosing to become more disciplined during the winter months. The primary goal is to establish a head start on New Year's resolutions, allowing you to enter the year with a solid routine that you know works for you. A winter arc can look like becoming more disciplined with a fitness and wellness routine. It can also be as simple as building better sleep habits by turning your phone off at 9 p.m. to prepare for bedtime. There are many variations to the winter arc and an online community of people motivating one another through the long, cold months.

So, how do you create a winter arc?

Start by identifying which goals you want to meet but have yet to complete. Take a look at your past New Year's resolutions. Examine where you are in life versus where you realistically want to be in the next few months. Apps such as Pinterest, which allows users to save ideas and place them into themed collections called boards, can help you meticulously organize and find goals. With Pinterest, each goal you set for yourself can be broken down into a board with a visual representation of what you want your life to encompass. Think of the app as a digital vision board that can constantly be edited to fit your goals.

The next step is to set those plans into motion and add them to your schedule. Make use of free apps such as Google Calendar, Outlook Calendar, and Notion. For those still in school, both calendars can link to school accounts, allowing you to effectively plan around classes, meetings, and any other scheduled appointments. Notion is a free app that can be described as an all-in-one workspace. Its benefits allow users to take notes, manage schoolwork assignments and due dates, and track goals throughout any period, all organized within a customized dashboard that matches hundreds of curated aesthetics. The use of these apps can help add structure to set goals and having them documented will work as added motivation. 

Now that your goals are planned and organized into your schedule, you must carry them out! It can be exciting to start a new project or focus on a new goal, but burnout comes quickly. To prevent yourself from giving up, fostering community and building relationships with people who have similar goals is key. This will vary from goal to goal but make use of in-person as well as online connections. Going to workout classes that your campus or local gym offers and creating bonds with regulars is one way to build an in-person community. Joining TikTok, YouTube, and Reddit communities can offer online communities that are in the palm of your hand. Both communities can provide answers to questions, recommendations, and moral support.

The winter months are dark and cold, but that does not mean that we should be rejecting our personal growth and waiting until midnight on January 1st to make a change. I encourage everyone reading to embrace discomfort for a brief time and make mindset changes that can shift your life.

- Taelor is a first-year Audiology student