New Year's is the time of year where you're either a pessimist who looks down on those who create New Year's resolutions or you're someone who is taking the opportunity to actually better themselves in some way. If you fall into the category of being the person who wants to be better, you probably often find yourself slipping back into old routines and completely forgetting about the changes you try to make.

The key is consistency and starting out small. Most people who try to starve themselves to lose weight or try to stop smoking by quitting cold turkey are probably going to fail. They say that you form a habit after 28 days, so if you create a plan that you can stick to for about a month, you should be able to do it without even trying from then on out.

If you don't have anything specific in mind, these are small steps you can take to just be better in general. Some require more effort than others, but overall they are just small steps in the right direction.