I have a love/hate relationship with New Years resolutions.

On the one hand, I am in love with the idea of working to improve yourself, of setting achievable goals and a timeline to make them happen. The beginning of a new year always seems like a great time for this – new year, new beginning.

On the other hand, why wait until the New Year if you want/need positive change in your life? Why not make it immediately? Waiting until the new year makes it seem like something you don’t really WANT to do so much as you feel like you need to out of the societal pressures to make life changes at the beginning of the year when everyone else is doing the same. There’s also the high rate of failures. Come February, those goals are just a memory as people settle back into their old routines.

That said, each December I fall for the hype, though I try to deny it. Every year, I say “I’m NOT going to set a New Year’s resolution! It’s completely coincidental that I’m choosing this moment of the year in order to start eating out less, get more organized, read more outside of my normal genres, try new things…”

Here I go again this year, armed with my planner and a desire to see the world.

Are you making any goals for the new year?