I have a love-hate relationship with this phrase: new year, new me. What does that even mean? That we have to trash who we were to grow into someone better? That we weren’t good enough the way we were?

Out with the old, in with the new?

I, for one, choose to believe that the New Year isn’t about erasing who you are, or what you’ve done. How else, as human beings, would we grow and learn from our mistakes? I choose to handle the New Year as a motive for positive change, a time to learn from past mistakes and change the things in my life that I’m not happy with.

Notice how I called the New Year a “motive” for positive change. We’re allowed to change at any time we choose. Whether it’s the dead of summer or the turn of fall, we can choose to start a morning routine, buy a gym membership, or study harder for that next test whenever we decide we need that change. We don’t need a glittering ball to drop at midnight to do any of those things.

But for a lot of people—myself included—I like the idea of starting fresh with the New Year. There’s a sense of formality to it, the closing of one chapter and the beginning of another. And what better way to do that than to build a list of resolutions to help make you a better, happier version of yourself?

Here’s a list of why New Year’s Resolutions aren’t stupid:

1. Fresh starts are nice.

We all have to change at some point. Maybe we grow apart, find new friends, or move halfway across the world. If the year’s going to be changing, why shouldn’t we join it?

2. Not everyone has an endless supply of motivation.

Maybe you don’t need a shiny, brand new year to get off the couch and start training for a 5k. That’s nice. Good for you. But some of us have been putting it off for a few months, because life is busy and running a 5k is hard, so we just need an extra little push to motivate us to start over and try again!

3. It's easier to reach a definitive goal than a daydream.

The whole point of having New Year’s resolutions is to specifically lay out what you want to achieve, and then go about achieving them. It may be easy to daydream about the perfect body or relationship or job, but it’s another thing to write it down. Tell yourself this is what you’re doing, and then go out and do it.

4. Maybe you just really like lists?

Life is such a wreck, it’s a lot easier to put goals into nice, even rows and figure them out one by one. Writing lists is also pretty soothing, but IDK maybe that’s just me.

Here’s to 2018!