Five…four…three…two…one…Happy New Year!

Every year on December 31 people gather to watch the ball drop, to start of off a New Year with family and friends, and to make resolutions for the New Year…that they will all inevitably break the next day.

We all do this, set impossible goals for ourselves and expect to accomplish them right off the bat. Now don’t get me wrong, making resolutions is an excellent idea. People take the time to see what they need to work on and improve in their lives and make an effort to change, but sometimes I think instead of a goal it becomes a wish.

For example, I’m pretty sure gym membership sky rockets after new years, as half our country vows to lose weight. Most will head straight to the gym, hoping to go home two sizes smaller after spending a mere 30 minutes on the treadmill.

Similarly, the aisle full nicotine patches and gum will be looking rather sparse as many smokers go to CVS vowing this to be the year they will quit. While these are all excellent resolutions, the point is people expect to change in three days and don’t want any hard work.

By January 7 half our country has gone back to their old ways and don’t even know what the word resolution means, which leaves me to ask, why even go through the trouble in the first place of pretending to follow and make a resolution?

Why not just make a simple one that is possible to follow. I personally am a culprit of making crazy resolutions and going back to my old self a week later.

So instead of attempting to drop 100 pounds in a week, or be able to run a marathon with no training before hand, we should create small resolutions to build to the lifestyle we want. After all, they say slow and steady wins the race.

As students, I know we could try to go to sleep earlier by not spending two late night hours before bed looking at everyone’s pictures on Facebook. It would also be beneficial to school performance to try to finish homework at home instead of in the car on the way to school or at the lunch table.

So this year I am challenging you to go small and stick with it. Making resolutions is a great tradition, but keeping them would be an even better one.