The time is coming where everyone starts thinking about their New Year’s resolutions. It’s always the same; I’m going to exercise more, be nicer, eat healthier, get better grades, and stop procrastinating. How many times do you actually follow through with these flimsy goals? Hardly ever. This year, I think it’s time resolutions start having some meaning.

What does it mean when you say that you’re going to start being nicer? That’s so general. So is saying you’ll get better grades. How will you know how to do these things if you don’t sit down and make a plan? I’m not saying you have to go out and schedule every day of your entire year, but putting some sort of thought into it would be helpful. If you say you want to exercise more, make a plan of when you will exercise and what sorts of activities you will do. More exercise could mean taking up a sport, or walking your dog more, or even doing a home workout program. It’s covers such a broad range that simply saying you will exercise more doesn’t mean much.

Second, think of what really matters to you. Making ten resolutions that you won’t follow means less than making one you’ll really put effort into. Decide what you really want to improve about yourself or your life and earnestly stick to that thing. Choose something that will make you happy and that you actually want to work on and it won’t seem like a hassle. That also means choosing something feasible. It’s not such a good idea to make your resolution to travel more (which is awfully vague anyway) when you’re 15 and have no transportation. Make it something that you can do and that will improve your life.

Also, know that the change doesn’t have to be dramatic. You don’t need to make a resolution to cut all the sugar out of your diet, it could be just to eat less sweets and more vegetables, which gives you the opportunity to work up to no sugar. Then, don’t beat yourself up if you don’t hold up to your resolution. If you stray from the path, know that you can always hop right back on. You don’t have to wait until a new year to better yourself. Every day you can make choices that will make you happy.