The other day as I pulled up my Facebook app it offered to let view a video it had made for me "Your year in review 2016". I watched the video as it pulled up most like photos and memories of my Facebook post throughout the year. What I watched and the photos it showed me made me laugh, cry a little, want to reach out, and reflect on the year.

What the video didn't show was everything I decided not share on social media. The struggles that 2016 brought me, the hardships my families were faced with, and the adversity of challenges that the world faced. My condensed little video forget to mention the failed New Year's resolutions I had written myself the year before. It reminded me of my failings to resolve to be a better person and generally do more good this year.

So this time around, I am making goals. Resolutions often carry a connotation for broad overarching goals like, "Be a better person" and "Get healthy this year". These huge resolutions weigh on our shoulders and give us no guidance in how to achieve them. I'm setting goals that are realistic and are specific enough for me to achieve. By writing myself specific goals this year I hope that the weight of New Year's Resolution and my past history of complete failure will be at rest. Instead of shooting for my dream 4.0 this next semester (to feel devastated if I don't succeed), my goal is dedicate 2 hours of homework for every hour of class. This goal is something that I can constantly monitor and work at achieving. It also (in theory) will lead me to successfully getting my beloved 4.0 GPA.

I encourage all of you to scrap your resolutions in favor of goals this New Year as well. The age old tradition of resolving to be better person fails to promote action. Be the person you want to be every day, so get writing.