My New Year's resolutions are pretty stock standard. Each year, as I near the end of December and feel the Christmas holiday weight piling on (you know, that familiar "squishy" feeling), I get the annual wave of inspiration. Next year, I'll be different. I WILL treat my body like a temple. I might take up yoga, or maybe I'll even go vegan! This is a reoccurring resolution for me, lasting approximately two and a half hours each time.

This year, I thought it was time for a change — a proper change. Enough of these pointless resolutions that make me feel worse about myself than before! I was about to embark on my biggest journey yet. If I was going to implement a real difference in my life that I'd wanted for a while, this was the best time to do it. Moving to another country takes "new year, new me" to the next level.

I'd noticed I'd been feeling particularly frustrated scrolling through my Instagram feed each day. I was getting over the mundane, repetitive, filtered photos that have no real depth to what my friends were even doing with their lives. All I see is them standing in front of a white wall wearing designer clothes or lying on the beach acting like a contortionist to get that booty angle.

Not only was this contributing to my current levels of self-loathing and body-negativity, but it was also becoming entirely superficial and boring. Why was I dedicating hours of my day to scroll through the same photos of different people? I follow my friends because I want to keep in touch with them, to know what they are doing and who they are becoming. Instead, we've all been posting carefully crafted photos to show we have the latest trends, the skinniest legs, and the most airbrushed faces.

The worst part of this realization? I was doing it too.

I was taking a million and one photos every time I was even slightly dressed up. Selfies, solo shots, group shots, even the occasional attempt at a "candid" pic; smiling off into the distance pretending I was oblivious to my Insta-mum diligently snapping away.

My account was void of personality. It didn't even show what I was doing with my life. I would have awesome photos from traveling, fun days and nights out with my friends, and beautiful scenery, yet I was forfeiting them to post the most carefully constructed and posed pictures. If my face had any slight flaws, if my hair was disheveled, or if my body didn't look as slim as possible, then it wouldn't make it to the gram. I was becoming unhealthily fussy. My account was only made up of pictures of myself posing — why on earth would anyone find that interesting?

Instead of making a petty resolution to become more stereotypically "perfect" or to try and conform to societies latest idea of someone who has their life together, I thought I'd work on bringing myself back to my own roots. For once, I want to be unashamed of who I am. I want to show my friends my latest ventures and the incredible world I'm exploring. I want them to look at my profile, and instead of laughing at my pathetic attempt to seem like a social media influencer, I want them to see exactly who I am — unfiltered.

We've all heard the advice that deleting social media, particularly Instagram, would be better for overall mental health. I wonder if somehow, we can move away from the unhealthy monster that Insta has become while still being able to use it. Could we possibly turn it into something positive?

Now, don't go looking at my profile and call me a hypocrite (my profile is still very much self-centered and partly superficial, oops), but I've tried to make improvements. I didn't put the pressure of an unrealistic, unachievable goal on my back, such as deleting the app altogether (I don't want to live under a rock!). I made a very simple and easy rule for myself — a "baby step," if you will.

Here are my vows for 2019 when it comes to social media uploading:

1. Posts must be about experiences (the crazy and the not-so-crazy)

2. Posts must show some element of my personality (goofy with a small dash of wit)

3. Never choose the picture that I think I look best in — choose the one that better represents who I am, where I am, and what I'm doing

It's a small step, but a step towards becoming entirely unashamed of who I am. If my followers get bored, they aren't people who I would want following me anyway. It may be silly to think I'm obsessing over Instagram posts this much, but isn't that where so many of our societal problems are rooted? People constantly trying to be something they're not, promoting unattainable perfection? This is a change I've wanted to see for quite some time, and as Gandhi said, "be the change you wish to see in the world."