Welcome to 2017.  Welcome to the season for making annual commitments to change …something.

If everything goes your way and you make the right decisions, you have a whole year ahead of you to make use in meeting a goal (or several goals) that you set for yourself, in that moment of feeling like you could or should be a better person somehow. This is the time to set a reasonable (or unreasonable bar) for yourself, to commit to change the thing that thing that seems like a good idea: “self, I am pretty awesome, but I would like to be less of something, and more of something else. I want to be a better version of myself.”

I may sound ready to launch into a discussion on why I think New Year’s Resolutions are a terrible idea, but I don’t think they are. I am a big believer in personal change – I know that within every person is the ability to make changes to things that we don’t always think are possible, and I’m one of those rare pollyanna types who believes that everyone is capable of change. Everyone. Sometimes a group discussion among your peers about self-change can be a positive catalyst.

And yet, I balk at the concept of New Year’s Resolutions. Not because I don’t believe in them, but because I believe that change is possible at any time. I don’t believe in lemming down the path of making change because it’s a thing to do on December 31st. I think that if you really want to quit smoking or lose weight or be healthier, you will fucking do it when you have that come to Jesus moment with yourself and decide to make it happen. I know that you can do it, because every human being has an astonishing capacity for stubbornness and self-will that can be used for both destructive and constructive purposes.

My question is not when you will decide to change, it’s why do you want to change?  What is really important to you? Do you want to make that change because someone else doesn’t like you, or because you really do want to be a better, happier, more satisfied version of yourself?

If you really want to make a change, you will be completely serious about setting yourself up for success, and you already know that it may be much, much harder than it sounded in theory, at 11 pm on December 31st. You’ll be ready to accept that, and you will want it. Your desire to be better will outweigh all your other priorities, including laziness.

So what will you do with your shiny new year? I don’t think it matters, I’m more interested in hearing about what you want to do for yourself.