We often set resolutions by implementing strict rules to live by. Don't eat this, never do that. Well, the problem is the word never seems to actually lead to success. Cutting something completely out of your life is next to impossible. These restrictions we set conform us in a box, with room for failure, guilt and disappointment.

Quotes, however, are simply a breeze of inspiration, blowing you in a direction of more happiness, of more improvements, and most importantly, of more growth. You as a person are more likely to grow if you live a life guided by inspiring quotes rather than guilt-inducing restrictions. Here are some of my favorite quotes guaranteed to improve the way you view yourself and your life in 2016.

"Just as we can know the ocean because it always tastes of salt, we can recognize enlightenment because it always tastes of freedom." -Buddha

This is important when making decisions. When you make a right decision, you should feel free, even liberated afterwards.

"Keep your eyes on the stars, and your feet on the ground." -Theodore Roosevelt

It's important to set high goals and big dreams while remaining anchored and in touch with reality.

"Conformity is the jailer of freedom and the enemy of growth." -John F. Kennedy

Never conform your beliefs just to satisfy someone else. You are entitled to your own opinions, your own ideas, your own style. If you shape yourself into the mold of society there will be no room for growth and individuality.

"I am too good to chase someone who does not know my worth and I am too wild to keep waiting for someone who does not acknowledge my value." -Ming D. Liu

Keep your self-esteem high and your standards even higher.

"Keep your feet always toward the sunshine and the shadows will fall behind you." -Walt Whitman

That C on a quiz just means there's nowhere to go but up.

"I would die for you. But I won't live for you." -Stephen Chbosky

I would take a bullet for the people I love, but I wouldn't live every second to please them. Being there for someone shouldn't be an enduring, everlasting burden. There's a fine line between being a shoulder to cry on and being a matt to walk on. It's okay to care for your loved ones, stand up for them, do them favors — what's not okay is consuming your every thought and every action around an individual.

"When someone shows you how little you mean to them and you keep coming back for more, before you know it you start to mean less to yourself. You are not made up of compartments! You are one whole person! What gets said to you gets said to all off you, ditto what gets done. Being treated like shit is not an amusing game or a transgressive intellectual experiment. It's something you accept, condone, and learn to believe you deserve. This is so simple. But I tried so hard to make it complicated." -Lena Dunham

Stop making it so complicated.

"I'd rather be hated for who I am, than loved for who I am not." -Kurt Cobain

"Life is a journey, not a destination." -Ralph Waldo Emerson

We all struggle with "until-then syndrome". We tell ourselves we'll be happy when we get that girl, when we lose this weight, when we get that job, when we buy that house. Stepping stones in life are important and exciting but they will never define your happiness. If you place all your happiness in major life accomplishments, you will only be disappointed when you finally achieve something and still feel like something's missing. The only way to fill that void is to learn to be happy in the present moment. Those achievements will come to you eventually, you might as well have fun on the way there.

Happy 2016!