With the Christmas season ending and New Years coming rather quickly, late December and early January are the most hopeful time of year. The coming of a new year brings many opportunities for self-improvement and growth. For some people (like me), crafting a vision for the coming twelve months is somewhat of a guilty pleasure. Looking at the next 365 days excites me more than a kid on Christmas because I'm a planner. I look at every possible avenue for growth and I make step-by-step courses of action to move forward. With that being said, here are my seven New Years resolutions for 2018:

1. Get more sleep.

As I took on more and more this past year, I began getting less and less sleep. Shocker, right? I noticed myself becoming tired and cranky more quickly than ever before, and getting out of bed was the biggest struggle every single day. I resolve to get more sleep not only because my schedule is about to be even crazier than it has been, but because adequate sleep is essential to staying healthy and being at the top of my game.

2. Be smarter with my money.

Growing up, I was really good at saving money for bigger purchases, but now that I'm older I catch myself spending little bits of money here and there that add up to amounts larger than I would like to acknowledge. With law school on the horizon, I need to start saving. My biggest weakness in 2017 has been using my credit card. Part of my plan to be smarter financially is to only swipe that Visa when it's truly an emergency, not because I'm spending money I don't have, on something I don't need.

3. Take care of my hair and skin.

Throughout high school, I was a serial pimple popper and it shows on my skin today. Freshman year of college, I went through a personality crisis and chopped my hair short (think: the chin length, "I want to speak to a manager" mom haircut). While I've been doing better with my hair and letting it grow, I've become a person who routinely sleeps in my makeup. This is the cardinal sin of having healthy skin, so moving forward into 2018 I want to wash my face before bed and truly take care of my skin.

4. Build my personal brand.

Looking into the future, I see myself needing a personal brand on which to base my career pursuits, so why not start now? I'm not sure exactly what I want my personal brand to be, but part of building a personal brand is defining it so I'm not too worried about that now. If you have any suggestions, let me know!

5. Take steps to preserve my mental health.

Over the years, I've struggled with anxiety and depression while remaining relatively quiet about it. I have a feeling that in 2018 the conversation about mental health will shift from one of "Hey everyone, I have this" to "Okay, I acknowledged that I'm struggling. How do I work to take care of myself?" Part of my plan for this resolution is to go back into counseling. As I've stepped more into the spotlight with my work on student government and in sorority life, I feel that I'm going to need a more direct outlet for my emotions than writing articles.

6. Establish a goal-focused fitness routine.

In high school, I was an athlete so I always had exercised in my day. Now that I've been in college for two and a half years, I can honestly say that I haven't utilized the resources around me effectively. This semester I will be taking three fitness classes through Kent State, so we'll see where that takes me. The most important part of this resolution will be trying to find a way to eat more nutrient-dense foods. I am a picky eater- as in the only vegetable that I eat is a carrot- so this detail will be the real challenge for me.

7. #haleyquitsmen2k18

In 2018, I will be working on self-love. In the past, I've looked to feel complete by being in a relationship and have since realized how toxic that actually is. The ironic part of this is that while I was doing this, I was preaching against it to other people. I couldn't follow my own advice and that's the most hypocritical thing of all. The best way that I could think of to combat this is taking a step back from the constant search for my other half. In 2018, I will be learning to love and appreciate myself, sans a man by my side. Now, this is not to say I won't explore the opportunity should one present itself, but rather I am deciding right now that I will take my time before giving such a large part of myself to another human being, as it has only exhausted me in the past. Any relationship that develops for me in 2018 will be one that has been carefully considered, which is more than I can say for most of my previous relationships, save the most recent. I want to no longer be a leaf being blown around in the wind, but instead the wind that decides where it gets to go.

I look forward to these next twelve months and hope that in a year as 2019 is approaching, I will be feeling equally as motivated as I am now. I wish all of you the best, most healthy New Year and I look forward to watching all of you grow. Cheers!