Every new year it's the same deal; people make resolutions to be healthier, to spend less, to exercise more... people look at January 1st as a clean slate to be more of the person they want to be, or often times more of the person society wants them to be. But I think there's something more important than trying to "better" yourself, and that is to love yourself. The version of you that you are right now is pretty great, and there's absolutely nothing wrong with liking that version of you and wanting to continue to be that version of you. Just because it's January 1st, 2017 doesn't mean you suddenly need to become a new person.

This year, instead of trying to achieve some version of myself that is not authentically me, I'm going to live my life as a more authentic version of myself, and stop apologizing for it or feeling the need to explain it. When I started college four months ago, I sort of viewed that as my clean slate, and went in with a promise to myself to not hold back. I don't think I've ever been more authentically me than when I'm with my friends at school. I'm not afraid of being silly or embarrassing myself, or talking about my craziest dreams or my deepest fears. I'm open about things I never was in high school. I absolutely love the person I've become in college, and I don't see any reason to change her now that it's a new year. All I want to do is introduce her to more people; to bring this authentic version of myself back home, and everywhere else I go.

But however you spin it, a new year can feel pretty exciting. Instead of making resolutions that you probably won't stick to and will just make you feel bad about yourself, make goals to be more unapologetically yourself, and document more of those moments so you have memories for new years to come. I have friends at school that took one-second videos every day for a year and then watched them all as a compilation when the year ended. I've seen people start Instagram accounts for the 365 days of happiness challenge. One year I wrote down something good that happened every day and put it in a jar to dump out and read at the end of the year. This year I want to try to take a picture of something positive I do every day. 2017 will come with its ups and downs just as every other year has, but I'd much rather end the year with a string of authentic memories of me spending 365 days being true to myself, than with a list of failed resolutions that were forced onto me by society. You don't need to shrink yourself or grow your bank account to have a successful year. Feeling like you lived your life the way the true you wanted to is what will bring you the most happiness come next New Year's Eve.

Alternatively, you never have to wait for a new year to make changes in your life or about yourself. If you wake up one day three months from now and decide you want to shake things up, that's completely acceptable. There doesn't have to be an explanation as to why you want to try something new. Every single moment of every single day is a clean slate, a new start. You can change and change back or decide not to change at all as often as you wish. Don't let the calendar dictate who you are.

Here's to a positive, happy, and authentic 2017!