You know those moments of realization when you evaluate your life and vow to make the changes that need to be made in order to become the best you possible? Those moments when you think you’ve reached self-actualization and that nothing can get in your way of reaching your goal. When you've convinced yourself that this time it’ll be different, that you won’t let yourself get in your way and that you’re the only person who can actually make a difference in your life.     

I make these promises to myself approximately once a week, usually after eating late night pizza or texting someone whose name I put in my phone as “DO NOT TEXT.” As cliché as it is to admit, and as cliché as it is to say that it’s cliché, convincing yourself that tomorrow will bring forth a new day and a new you is easier said than done. In fact, it’s incredibly easy to say, but almost impossible to do. Falling asleep with pizza and ranch stains on your pajamas with admirable thoughts of making drastic life changes in the morning is a recipe for failure.     

Fortunately, the new year gives people who are desperate for personal improvement a push to achieve their goals. Unfortunately, it also brings forth the notion that one must wait until after New Year's Eve to start a healthy lifestyle. Prolonging last year’s resolutions until the new year usually ends with five years of resolutions that you vow to actually achieve “this time.”     

Aside from using New Year's as a scapegoat for putting off going to the gym and class, it also gives people the false hope that a new year equals a new you. Alas, life doesn’t unfold the way we wish it would, and the time between December 31st and January 1st holds no magical power that will suddenly motivate us to reach the outrageous goals we’ve set.     

The way to combat failed resolutions is to change the way we view the new year. Instead of going on a no carb diet the minute the new year begins, until the following week when eventually we give up and wait for the next New Year's Eve to make resolutions, we should stop making resolutions altogether.     

As ludicrous as it sounds, taking “resolutions” away from “New Year’s” gives us the opportunity to make reasonable life changes on our own without the worldwide deadline of December 31st. Every year should be untainted with unrealistic goals and empty promises that distract us from appreciating the past 365 days. If you have the will and motivation to become a better person, you don’t need to use January 1st as the official day to start improvement.     

…Or at least that’s what I tell myself when I lie in bed after NYE with a hangover, pizza boxes on my nightstand and a crumpled piece of paper in my hand that reads, “Resolution: lose ten pounds.”     

Happy New Year!