It’s that time of the year again. The time when everything starts winding down in preparation for a new year, a new opportunity to make big life changes, a new start...

Or is it?

I always used to be super gung-ho about making my New Year’s resolutions. Topping the list was what tops all of our lists every year: exercise and eat healthy. Then there were other things, like try harder in school, be more frugal with money, try to be a nicer sister, blah blah blah. And there is nothing wrong with wanting to do those things – in fact we should have goals and things we want to improve about ourselves.

The problem is not that we set these goals, the problem is that we wait.

We wait until January 1^st every single year, no matter how long we’ve wanted to make these resolutions, to finally put them into action. We create our list and say to ourselves, “great, so I can eat as much crap as I want until January 1^st and that’s okay because after that I’m just going to start being healthy.”

I don’t make New Year’s resolutions anymore because my thinking is that if you wanted something bad enough, you would've started working for it by now.

Hearing everyone around me make all these resolutions for the new year is honestly one of my biggest pet peeves, because I just sit there thinking if you really want to do this thing, why are you just sitting around, waiting for the calendar to read January 1^st, 2017?

Why do we need to wait to start improving ourselves or working for things we want? Humans have this awful habit of saying “I’ll do it tomorrow,” and New Year’s resolutions are like the ultimate procrastination mechanism. To me, calling something your New Year’s resolution is just an excuse to keep putting it off until that all-important date that for some reason convinces you it will "change everything."

I agree that the end of the year is a good time for self-reflection. I think it can be helpful to look back at everything you achieved in the past year and everything you wish you had done better. But I also think that if you have some big life changes you wish to make, you shouldn’t have to wait until the new year to start them. If you want it, don’t wait. You don’t need to use a calendar date as a reason to start changing your life.

Real changes in your life happen when you want them to and when you have pure, unforced intent. New Year’s resolutions almost never stick with you because the motivation is artificial. You convince yourself that everything will change and your life will be “reset” on January 1^st, when really it’s just another day in winter marking the passage of time.

Then again, that’s just how I see it. Maybe the turn of the year is the motivation some people need. But I do encourage you to stop waiting to make your goals a reality, it just prolongs achieving them. Life is short and unpredictable, so do your best to live without regrets and unmet dreams. That’s my resolution for today and every day.