It’s the beginning of a new year, new academic year and you probably have your goals that you aim to achieve in the current year. In this article I share 3 basic tips that will help you have a productive year ahead. 1. Always remember your why? In every activity that we engage in, there is always a ‘why?’ that we answer, example why we wake up in the morning? Why we prefer or even play a certain sport? Why we choose to engage with a certain group of people?There is always a reason why we do what we do, so it is important to sit down and figure out why you are studying what you are  studying, why are you content with sacrificing 3 to 4 years of life  just to focus on this course. Understanding your ‘why?’ helps you understand yourself a little more and the journey that you are taking and thus prepares you mentally. My last point is that you should remember that knowing why will not always keep you motivated but it will keep you discipline. 2. Discipline over motivation You will always hear people saying stay motivated but in reality that is not possible. Motivation depends on how you are feeling both mentally and physically. As we all know we sometimes have bad days or even weeks and that affects our drive which leads low productivity. On the other hand Discipline  is waking up to do what you have to do despite how you feel, discipline is what pushes you do get on with daily activities even on your bad days. Discipline is a muscle that you have to train every single day, just like with any exercise you start small and challenge yourself daily to get better. How does one master discipline?Stay true to yourself, you can lie to anyone but yourself, so be honest with yourself  whether something is working out for you or for your goal if not go back to the drawing book and come with a better plan. Stay consistent, build healthy habits that will work for you, if you go off course don’t beat yourself up for it but work towards getting back in line. 3. Always refuel We always associate success with suffering, sleepless nights, isolation and other unhealthy habits but we are not robots, we are human and social beings so we need maintenance services like any other machine or car therefore its okay to take some time off. We need to take care of ourselves and not overwork our bodies, take much needed rest, have a downtime with friends and family to re-energize. Like any other car, you can have the fastest, high performance engine but without fuel that car is going nowhere so always remember health is wealth.