Goodbye, 2016. You will not be missed.

With the new year comes people making new year’s resolutions and/or making promises to themselves that they never seem to keep. Making a new year’s resolution is a tradition for ringing in another trip around the sun, but on the whole it seems like people don’t do that well in keeping them. So why is that?

Using a holiday to make goals for yourself doesn’t seem all that productive. If you’re making goals just for the sake of it, or because all of your friends are, it’s no wonder that the goals you’re making will be hard to follow through with. A lot of times, people make resolutions just to make them; just to say that they have one. It’s hard to commit to something that you never really felt attached to in the first place.

Another factor in making new year’s resolutions is the idea that they should be concrete. A lot of people tell themselves that they’re going to lose weight, work out more, eat healthier, sleep more, et cetera. But perhaps the new year’s resolutions that we should focus on are the ones that impact our everyday lives. Resolutions that involve personal feelings can be more meaningful to us. (Because how many of us have told ourselves that we’re going to go to the gym more?) Instead of telling yourself that you’re going to lose weight, make a resolution to feel more comfortable in your body. Instead of promising that you’re going to work out five times a week, make a resolution that you’re going to be kinder to yourself, so you can work out an amount that makes you comfortable without feeling like you failed if you don’t meet your quota.

Perhaps the biggest problem with making (or not making) a resolution is the fear of failing. Many people make a resolution only to feel like they failed when February rolls around, which ends up being discouraging at best. In subsequent years, they don’t even bother making a resolution because they’re pretty sure they’re not going to do it anyway. The fear of failure is very pervasive in our culture today, and for a good reason. But in order to see a goal through to the end, you have to be willing to fail. Failure is healthy, and necessary, even. It can be your best friend if you let it, and will help you succeed in the end.

So, why am I not making a new year’s resolution? The connotation behind the words just don’t seem viable to me anymore. Personally, I’d rather make myself a promise or take the time to think of a goal that’s worthwhile to me. I don’t give myself until the January 1st deadline to come up with something I want to change about myself. I’m going to make goals throughout the year so that I can keep up with them and make failure my friend.

So, here’s to 2017 and the goals it holds! I hope your 2017 is filled to the brim with meaningful promises to yourself and a whole lot of fun.