Rather than beginning 2019 with the same goal I have either achieved or failed to achieve throughout previous years; that being to seemingly improve my physical appearance by losing weight, I am challenging myself to pursue mental strength throughout the new year.

I tend to have a negative outlook on life, and I have developed a habit of assuming the worst in every situation before it happens, as well as overthinking to the point of extreme stress and anxiety even when I am not the one in control. I believe that I am in control over how I feel and react, but I have always wrestled with negativity, and negativity has always won. This mindset reflects weakness because it is often easier to give in to negatively and give myself an excuse to give up than force myself to remain positive.

I have decided that 2019 will be my year to change my habitual negativity, and better myself mentally to make me happier, more confident, and as a result, more successful. This change will be reflected in every facet of my life because the most crucial decisions I will be fronted with and experiences I will potentially have will rely on a strong foundation of mental toughness.

The most popular New Year's resolution is, without a doubt, to lose weight or to integrate frequent trips to the gym into one's routine. Those who set this goal rarely stick to it, as a result of a lack of mental strength. Mental strength provides us with the encouragement and confidence to persist, and force ourselves to stand behind the goals we set despite the odds we must overcome to achieve them.

I have been unable to achieve the resolution of developing physical strength in the past because I did not understand how crucial my mentality is. I now know that the two really are intertwined. Tough and persistent mentality must come first because that is what will push me through my days of low self-esteem, or times when I consider giving up because my body is sore, or an exercise is seemingly too hard.

By reminding ourselves that we are tough, and we can do anything we put our minds to, we will persevere until we see the results we initially deemed as out of our reach. I believe that once we convince ourselves that we can achieve, which requires grit, we will achieve physically because our positivity will prevent us from giving up.

Before you default to telling yourself that you will spend 2019 improving yourself physically, and insisting that mental strength and confidence will come once your exterior is a closer match to your ideal, I encourage you to challenge yourself to become more mentally tough and develop a sense of grit.