A countless number of times we have made New Year resolutions that we fail to keep. It can be anything from being healthy and losing weight, to saving money or anything else. But instead of being let down by new year’s resolutions that are impossible to keep, I think it is better to focus on yourself and the importance of making this year the best one yet.

Instead of focusing on losing weight, you could turn it into trying to exercise three times a week. Setting positive goals that are attainable will be much better in the long run. Also, focusing on being happy instead of all the things that you think you need to change about yourself. There is too much focus on all the negative aspects of our bodies, personalities and just ourselves in general.

Simply being happy with yourself and what you have, seems like such an easy task but the reality is that only 33% of all Americans say that they are happy. Considering America is one of the wealthiest nations and extremely developed, I think this number should be much higher. But being happy also comes with being content. It is one thing to strive for improvement, another, being greedy.

To make yourself happy, there are also things that you may need to give up. Here are 9 things that I discovered you need to give up to be happy:

1. Complaining
2. Limiting beliefs
3. Blaming others
4. Negative Self-talk
5. Dwelling the past
6. Resistance to change
7. The need to impress others
8. The need to always be right
9. The need for other’s approval

For my 2017, I want to become the happiest and most successful version of myself. Something that I believe we all could work on. Even if you say you are extremely happy, there is almost always room for improvement or something you can do to help others happiness.