The turn of the year marks a time for new beginnings, new adventures, and new goals. Why? Because everyone says so.

I usually have a New Year’s Resolution, something like “lose some weight” or “work harder in school” or “stop eating like a pig.” But these resolutions never lasted me more than a week.

The first day, I would gleefully spring out of bed in the morning, put on some cute running clothes, and run off to the gym. If I was offered any carbs or sweets, I would proudly announce that NO, I AM A HEALTHY, INDEPENDENT WOMAN WHO DON’T NEED NO PIZZA. My positive go-lucky attitude would be infectious, and I would impress even myself with how absolutely amazing I am.

But my resolve would eventually fade, and before I even realized it, I was back to my gluttonous, sedentary lifestyle (my other resolution was to learn more vocabulary).

However, this year I decided to create a resolution that was more detailed, more tailored and, hopefully, more motivating than my previous ones. I decided that every day I would write something. Anything. Whether it be a letter to myself, a giant rant or a quick spiel about my day, my words needed to be let in some form or another. I figured it was something that I would enjoy and would not have a lot of trouble doing. Simple enough.

I blew off the cobwebs from my Wordpress account and started writing. I put my fingers to keyboard and just started typing, and the words just seemed to flow out. After publishing my first post, I felt so accomplished. The next day, I just talked about what happened during my ever adventurous day (staying at home watching Scandal, like you do), and I felt good about doing something that I love.

But slowly, this small task became more of a burden. My goal of writing once a day became a set-in-stone deadline, and I felt pressured to fulfill it. And although I had told myself that these post would be low-stakes and fun, it became more difficult to think of fresh ideas. Also, being witty and charming is just so gosh-darn hard to do on a daily basis; I don't know how I do it. 

The first time I didn't write an article, I told myself it was a fluke. I was gone pretty much all day and was exhausted when I got home. I promised that I would write two articles tomorrow to make up for it. But again, I was busy and missed my personal deadline. After that, I just didn't bother to catch up. I already broke my resolution; there was no point anymore. 

That's my biggest problem with New Year's resolutions — as soon as something goes wrong or the resolution is broken, it's given up on completely. Promises of "I'll try again next year" or lamentations of "It just didn't work out" should not be the result of this. The first day of the year can be a starting mark for a goal, but it should not be the end-all, be-all. 

There are 365 days to start accomplishing things. Don't limit yourself to just one.