This school year, I'll be starting my first year of college. This opportunity allows me to start over in a whole new city with whole new people. Although I am extremely excited, I am also worried that I'll mess up again. Therefore, I decided to set resolutions for myself to help guide me to the best four years of my life.

Although I have a special opportunity for this because I get to start over, I truly believe this is important for everyone. Whether you are a; incoming high school freshman, returning high school or college student, parent, or teacher you have a fresh new start this school year, so why not take advantage of it.

Here are 6 of my resolutions for this upcoming school year.

Not labeling myself as a failure just because I wasn't perfect.

I have a classic type A personality, and because of this I am often extremely hard on myself when I am not perfect. I used to cry if I didn't get the score I wanted on a test, but as I grow up I am starting to realize that you're not a failure until you have given up. I also learned that if you genuinely try at something and still fail that does not make you a failure, if just gives you a reason to keep trying and to work harder. Although I know these two important messages, I still struggle with labeling myself as a failure.

Not letting my stress get the best of me

I handle stress horrible, don't believe me? Well there was literally four days my senior year of high school were I didn't eat anything because I was so stressed out and genuinely thought I was headed towards a nervous breakdown because I was so stressed. I then proceeded to make a list of 55 things I was stressed out about which just made my stress worse (surprising right). I learned from this experience that maybe I should wait a few years before I write my best seller on how to handle stress. In all seriousness, I know that college is going to make me stress out a lot, as it should, but stress is only normal if you know how to handle it in a way that does not consume your life. This summer I've began working out and writing more which helped me a lot when I was stressed (which is not just a school year thing for me, unfortunately) and it has improved me a lot. I hope that if I continue to do this it can help me as I transition to college and will help me not have a nervous breakdown which is always good.

Picking the right friends

I am notoriously good at making friends, but bad at picking good friends, like no joke if there was a competition for picking friends who are bad influences I would win every time. Don't get me wrong, I have a lot of amazing friends but I also have had friends that almost ruined my life. As I move cities and start school I am going to have no choice but to make new friends. As much as I wish I could just stay with my friends who are good for me, I can't so the best I can do is try to pick friends who share similar values as me.

Budgeting my money better

Asking my parents for money has become a really bad habit of mine, but I was given a reality check when my parents told me no and my card then declined at target. Sadly this wasn't the last time this happen. It was embarrassing and definitely a wake up call that I need to start 'adulting' and not spend all my money the day I get payed and then be left going through my car for loose change in order to get a Starbucks waiting for pay day (it has happen before-more then once). I recently downloaded an app on my phone that helps me budget, I hope it works because asking my dad for 20 bucks when I am 3 hours away from home is probably not ideal.

Stop lying and telling myself I am going to do it after I finish this episode

Because I know this isn't true. In high school I procrastinated a lot more then I care to. During my first two and half years of high school I used to do my homework as soon as got it. But towards the end of my junior year and my whole senior year I only worked on classes that I enjoyed. Although I rarely had a late or missing assignment (#nerdalert) I know at times I didn't do my best work because I was just trying to get it done. Although this worked for me in high school, it's definitely not going to work in college and I won't fool myself anymore.

Sleep more

I don't sleep without taking Tylenol PM which is awful for you, and I am trying to better myself and that also means physically. For whatever reason my brain likes to try to solve world problems and get really stressed at 2 am, and I would love for it to stop but it doesn't really listen to me. I have talked to people in my life about this. One of my friends suggested I started juuling, my doctor suggested that I do meditation and my dad suggested I start doing yoga. I am not going to do any of this I like my lungs, I suck at staying still and yoga is super boring. So as of right now, this one is a work in progress.

This entire piece was inspired by me finding an article on growth mindset, and that is the reason why they are resolutions and not goals. To me, goals seem so fixed because once they are reach your are finished, but resolutions are permanent changes to your life.

Hope you all have a wonderful school year, full of personal, academic, social and professional growth.