Every year, students consistently cultivate the perfect “new year, new me” resolution list of the person they wish they were: a more athletic, healthy, and stylish version of their pre-existing self.
We all know that Rome wasn’t built in a day, so modify your list to a more realistic standard, and take a breath, because you have a full year before you can break all your resolutions again.

“I’m going to cut out all dessert foods from my diet.”
Ah, the infamous “no more carbs, no more sugar, no more fat.” Unless you have incredible self-control skills, this is one of the more unrealistic resolutions out there. The biggest issue is that when you cut out a major food group like carbohydrates, for example, there’s bound to be a struggle, especially if it’s prevalent in your every-day diet.
Set a more obtainable restriction that won’t make you hate yourself every time you slip to the dark side with a square of chocolate, or that croissant from Starbucks you totally deserved after the day you’ve just had. Try designating one day a week to indulge in something sweet.

“Every week I will work out for a total of 10 hours.”
Okay, I completely support all efforts to be a more active person, but here is a classic example of biting off more than you can chew. If you happen to be a person whose extent of working out is climbing the P stairwell to the fourth floor every day, then cut yourself some slack and drop the radical resolution.
Set weekly goals of how hard you’d like to work out, not how long. Sign up for hour-long classes that will force you to be active in a less boring environment. It’s all about balance and keeping yourself on a realistic path. Go for a bike ride, a hike, take your dogs for a long walk, try a pilates or hot yoga class. But get rid of all expectations and simply have fun.

“I’ll start my homework the second I get home from school.”
This one is for all you procrastinators out there who decided it’s time to take control of your five hour “break” after school and attack homework head on. I’m a personal fan of this idea, but as someone who is particularly guilty of procrastinating, it’s not nearly as easy as it seems.
My suggestion would be not to cut out your break after school completely. Take a 30 minute nap, (30 minutes is scientifically proven to be the most effective length for improving mental health and fatigue), have a snack and watch a short show, because after a long day of school there’s nothing more annoying than spending another four hours on homework.
Everyone deserves a moment to themselves – just be careful not to abuse the time you give yourself for rest with frequent phone checks, or starting a movie you know you’ll want to finish. Be aware of what you spend your time doing, and concentrate on each task at hand.

New Year’s resolutions seem to remind us of our failures more often than our successes. I urge you to set realistic goals and be mindful of yourself and those around you. You might be surprised what you’ll learn.