At the close of another year, it appears that so many people are more than prepared to wave bye-bye to 2017, eyes set towards the fast approaching future of 2018.

Which then begs several questions. While I'd like to address several points about how I do not feel that this is a reasonable mindset, for now I'd like to question why so many people think that one single day and the change of a calendar is suddenly going to change life around.

New Year's Resolutions are all fine and well. This year is going to be the best year of your life yet, you might say. It's something that is said each time the ball drops in Times Square. This is the year that your life is going to change and it's going to be for the better. The pieces are going to form the beautiful picture you've been waiting for because '17 changed to '18.

Call me the bearer of bad news, but the change of a single digit means nothing. The days change every single day as we mark off our calendars, but that means nothing to you, or so it seems. It only matters when you realize just how fast the years have gone by. 2012 may feel like it was only yesterday, and it's often that someone mentions how the 1990's were almost thirty years ago.

Let me put it to you this way: you cannot count on the new year to make the new you. Time is a man-made construct, after all, and it cannot align the stars to shine favor on you. If you want to lose weight, then you need to change your own ways. If you want your grades to magically go from C's to A's, then it's time to crack a book. The list goes on and on, but each example starts with you.

You cannot play the victim of time, because you need to be the manager of your own life. Get rid of the toxic person holding you back, get off the couch, and make something of yourself. Results do not come from simply waiting for the new calendar to be mailed to you, because that will do nothing but give you need pictures of underwater puppies to flip through each month.

Perhaps the reason so many people feel that 2017 has been a poor year is because they were expecting some miracle, some genie to come from a bottle and give them everything they ever wanted. But, believe it or not, reality is not like it is in the movies.

Take charge of your own life, because the calendar certainly will not aid you in the way you might be praying it will. Instead of making a resolution and giving up when you forget about it after two days, remember it and make it happen by your own accord. This is life, and you need to make your own product with the tools you have. Be proactive and achieve your goals, because you are the only one who can.