It’s the new year, now is the time to challenge yourself and set new targets before this year ends. Try and set realistic targets that you can achieve to avoid disappointment if you don’t manage to get there. No matter your target, whether that be to learn to drive, take up a new sport, or save for a property, don’t put too much stress on yourself. As long as you have made an improvement from the year before you can be proud of yourself with what you have done – there is never a rush. Below I have put together a list of 8 things you could do in the New Year as a challenge to yourself.

Learn To Drive 

The cost of driving lessons is going up and up each year, meaning the sooner you learn the cheaper it will be. By being able to drive you can benefit from an added amount of freedom, increased career opportunities as you can travel further and you can experience more things. That said, driving is also expensive so you should be ready to pay the extra expenses like petrol, MOT’s and the insurance a new drive can be expensive. Picking a new car is exciting but if you can’t afford one outright you could look to pay monthly on finance. You can use a car payment calculator to work out the costs for you. And remember to drive safely at night. 

Take Up A New Sport 

If in the new year you were thinking of getting fitter, then now is the best time to just go and do it. Why not try a new sport that you haven’t tried before, you never know you may love it. If you don’t enjoy a particular sport you can try another sport until you find one that you love. You could try and get one of your friends or family members to do it with you as a way to spend time together but also motivate each other to go regularly. Sports clubs are a great way to meet new people, make friends and exercise at the same time. You’ll benefit physically as well as mentally. If you don’t like the idea of joining a sports team, you could always do something to get fitter like join a gym or go for longer walks, the opportunities are endless. 

Save For A Property 

There is never a rush to buy a property but when you do it’s a great achievement. Saving your deposit for a property can take years, so if you haven’t started yet, then why not use the new year as an excuse to try. First off put a plan together and set out a timeframe of when you would like to have the deposit saved by, then look at setting up a direct debit into a separate bank account so that your money is instantly moved over to it. You should also consider looking at a higher interest bank account or if your country offers it, look at a government account like a LISA. A Lisa gives you 25% extra on top of what you save. Even if you change your mind and don’t want to buy a property once you have the deposit, you can be proud that you managed to save that much and will always have it as a backup. 

Beat One Of Your Fears 

Taking on one of your fears is a great challenge and something you can be proud of once you overcome it. Maybe you are scared of spiders, needles or anything for that matter. Whatever your fear is, it can be stressful when you encounter it so imagine the relief when you no longer feel stressed around your fear. By overcoming it, it may also help in other areas of your life. For example, if you are scared of needles you may be less likely to have treatment should you need it, by overcoming it you can then go ahead and have the treatment that you may have been putting off. 

Challenge Yourself 

Take on a new challenge, something you can work towards in the year and feel a sense of accomplishment when achieved. Why not sign up for a marathon or a half marathon and raise money for a charity whilst you do it. Alternatively what about a sponsored skydive, that’s a big challenge in itself, especially if you are scared of heights. As mentioned above why not get a friend or family member involved and take on a challenge together. Maybe you take on a tough mudder together or a cycling competition. Whatever you choose it will be good fun and you can be proud once you have taken part. 

Improve Your Cooking

Are you one of those people who just cook to eat, not to make something special? You are not alone, many people are the same. That said why not try and improve your cooking so that you can cook something impressive for yourself and your partner. When you start to get into cooking you will find it’s a great stress reliever and very rewarding when you make something that you couldn’t before. Once you have made a dish a few times you could host a dinner party and show off to your friend and family what you have made. You could always do a come dine with me completion between you all to make it a little competitive and fun. 

Enroll On A Course 

Education is the key to improving, as they say, with more knowledge comes more power. If you feel like you haven’t learned anything in a while but would like to try something new then an online course would be ideal. By signing up for a course you can increase your knowledge making you perform better at work if the course has something to do with your work. It may be that you want to try a new skill and look at a career change or you could just learn for fun. Most courses can be done online at the moment but you could look at doing classroom lessons if you feel you would learn better that way. 

Make A Personal Change 

Some changes don’t have to be big and grand, some can be small but something that might make a difference to someone else’s life. Maybe your challenge could be to smile more as you walk past others, to be more grateful for what you currently have or to be more positive and not be negative about yourself. It’s always important to work on yourself and to be the best version of you. Nobody is perfect but you can always make a small change to benefit others as well as yourself. Pick one thing that you want to try and see how people react when you are doing it. 

Overall, some of the above may not be relevant to you but others may be. There are so many different ways that you can improve yourself. Try and have a think about what you want to do and pick something that will make the biggest difference to you. If you try any of the above and it doesn’t work, nevermind. Try something else as that might work differently for you. Just don’t put too much pressure on yourself to completely do something. 

What challenge have you set yourself for the new year? Are you going to try anything in the list above? Have you managed to already achieve something in the list above? Let me know in the comment box below, I would love to hear from you.