Every end of the year people ask each other "What's your New Year's resolutions?" and a majority of the time it has to do with weight loss, eating better, drink less, smoke less, blah blah. And the sad part of this being that there is no sincerity to these resolutions, people want an easy out that will give them the least amount of effort. Why make ourselves better? Why help ourselves grow as individuals? This tradition started somewhere, someone thought that if they made a goal for them self to be better the next year, why not keep that promise to themselves? As the years have gone on, people have become less and less involved with their resolutions, making everything almost a joke. Soon it will be 2017 and a new year means why don't we care a little more about ourselves? People keep talking about loving ourselves and to be happy about who we are and what we are as a whole. Now is the time to make a resolution that counts, one that we can stick with and be proud of what we accomplish instead of giving up two days into the new year.

Now, to make a resolution that you will keep you got to be specific about the goal, it doesn't matter how big or small the goal, how short term or long term it is, as long as you stick with it throughout the year. Yes, you can choose losing weight as a resolution, but don't stop just there right at the simple statement, make the goal specific. Instead of saying "lose weight" say "I want to lose x amount of pounds by May" or "by the end of 2017 I want to be this weight" or "fit into this size dress or pants". This way it gives you something to look forward to, and a plan can be made off of that, you only eat something that's bad for you once every few weeks. Making a plan is easier than just saying one large goal that doesn't stick.

If you want to quit smoking, say you want to only smoke a couple cigarettes a day or week, cut it down every month, start slowly and build it up to the goal. That is how you will improve yourself over the year and also you won't lose interest after a few days into the new year. Even if you don't want to do something big, start small, something like smile more often or talk to a new person or say hi to a stranger every once in a while. Just try to make yourself happier, that is the ultimate goal, to be happy with yourself and your life, don't waste the new year on being lazy. Try to see what there is to improve, even at a small level, no matter what it could be and you will feel better about yourself.