In my personal opinion I think that New Year's Resolutions are overrated. Although the thought of eating better, exercising more or pushing yourself to find a new hobby are stellar, we often forget that we don't need a New Year to set goals for ourselves. Every moment of every day you should be thinking of new goals to aspire too. You should want to do better, and to be the best possible self that you can be.
The New Year certainly doesn't mean a new me, in fact, I am the same now as I will be then. Of course, my aspirations have changed a bit and my belt buckle may have been moved to the next notch; but in the grand scheme of things I am still the same wildly, loving, devoted servant to this earth and all that it has to offer. The goals that I set for myself each day or month, have added up into this massive accomplishment that I am so proud to look back on.
That my friends is what I believe a New Year's Resolution should look like. It should be taking ten minutes out of your day, grabbing a scrap piece of paper, and writing down all that you have achieved within this past year. It should be staring at this paper wondering how on earth you accomplished so much in what felt like the fastest year of your life.
You can start small, of course, I am not saying that everyone's list will say, "Won the Noble Prize", but you can start with, "I went back to school" or "I learned how to swim". Everyone at some point or another is sitting down scrolling through their Instagram or Facebook saying, "man I wish that was my life". My question to you is, why can't it be your life? Why do you have to wait for a New Year to start working on yourself and your life, when you can start right now at this very moment.
Why do we need a New Year to motivate us to want to do better or be better than what we are right now? The truth is we don't need a New Year to do anything other than push time forward. I have always been a strong believer in that if you do not like your life than only you have the power to change it, you are never too old or young to begin to make changes toward bettering your future. Who are you to think that you may even have a year, perhaps you will only have one day, and at the end of that day can you honestly say that you are happy with the person you are becoming?
Life isn't about paying bills and dying, it's about seizing every opportunity that is laid at your feet. This is your life and every year is your year. Live your life the way that you want to live it, because you only get to live this life once.
Take the five minutes or less that it took you to read my article and grab that scrap piece of paper.
This is your life and you choose the way you are going to live it.
-The Opportunist