This isn't the usual type of article anybody would be expecting to read (or write) in February. January is over, and everybody has already erased, scribbled out, and thrown away their New Years resolutions. Nonetheless, 2018 has just begun, and its legacy is still open for interpretation.

Self-improvement, however, usually isn't the top priority on most resolution lists, if you don't count the "workout more/eat healthier" goal that always goes down the drain. Positive mental health and self-esteem images are vital factors into discovering who we are and can become.

By going throughout our daily routines without stopping to think about ourselves, the days can start to feel way longer than just 24 hours. For the rest of 2018, let's think about us. Here are some strategies to start making ourselves a priority.

Make Time To Take Time

Being a college student, my days are usually jammed packed and scheduled right down to the minute. With that being said, it's so easy to find myself laying down for a nap at any spare moment.

What if we scheduled time in our days for us?

By simply taking time to sit down and do something we genuinely enjoy that isn't usually a part of our day, we can actually look forward to tomorrow.

Grab a book, canvas, jump-rope, camera, plant, baseball bat, or whatever else radiates joy in your life, and get at it! Although, if you do happen to stumble upon a reading mindset, may I recommend that very articulate and respectable John Green? A true legend if I do say so myself.

Fake It 'Till Ya Make It

Frankly, I used to think this phrase was too overused and redundant, but the more I thought about it, the more it made sense.

Everybody does it. When's the last time you had absolutely no idea of anything that was going on in the environment around you? Nobody wants to be that one person who isn't in the loop, so you hold on to tiny clues that are personally relatable.

Eventually, the relevancy of the subject starts to become clear to you, and you're just another one of many - simple right? You'll catch on.

Write Down Your Emotions

I'm sure right now you're picturing a pre-teen girl sitting alone on her beautiful unicorn duvet covered twin bed with a fluffy pink diary open, writing page upon page about how in love she is with the current blue-eyed blonde-haired teen-idol.

However, there is no shame in writing down your unsettled feelings. What there is shame in is displacing those feelings among people unrelated to the core of your emotions, because you couldn't figure out exactly how you felt. Understand yourself and your feelings by writing them down and coping with its aftermath.

Following Your Callings

Think about that one thing in the back of your head you've secretly hoped for so long would happen, but have been too scared to execute the plan you've already made and re-made a million and a half times. What's holding you back from it?

Life is meant for living, my friends. Be courageous and step out of the invisible comfort zone you've confided yourself to live in for this long.

Believe You Are Capable Of More

We all do it. We find ourselves getting cozy in whatever predictable lifestyle that is easy and known for our family to congratulate us on at the next holiday party.

We all think we're destined for a certain future, and there obviously isn't much we could do about it anyway, life happens you know? Life has a funny way of sometimes throwing us the most twisted curveball imaginable, but that doesn't mean we aren't a Jackie Robinson (or Yadier Molina - GO BIRDS!)

Nowhere in life is it expected for you to do the expected - halls of fame weren't created for vacancies.

Mental health and self-esteem issues are a subject most everybody knows is a problem, but don't seem too interested in getting involved with, until it's their problem. Let's start early by not only making others, but our own sanity, a topic to highlight, bold, and underline to the world.

2018 is going to be our year.