By Trinity Hall Tribune Editorial Staff

Why wait for a new year to start? Why can’t you start now? When you have the opportunity to make a necessary change, why would you want to wait? While New Year’s resolutions give some people the mindset that a new year means a new start, you can make goals for yourself at any time of the year. When you wait for that one day a year to make a change, you put unnecessary pressure on your resolution and waste so many opportunities for growth. This causes people to often start with the best of intentions but rarely achieve their goals.

Setting smaller goals instead of strict resolutions can make them easier to achieve. Making these goals relevant to everyday life becomes less of a daunting task and more of a habit. A major setback for students is the stress of schoolwork, which often comes as a result of procrastination. A worthwhile goal could be making an effort to attend student support more often in addition to trying to begin homework right away, instead of wasting time at home that could be used to get ahead on work. In addition, apps such as Forest help people to manage their time, which can allow students to focus on homework.

Another common New Year’s Resolution is getting more sleep. This can be accomplished by spending less time on social media and becoming more efficient with homework. In getting more sleep each day, students will have more energy and motivation to be attentive and productive with their schoolwork.

The key to maintaining a resolution is to have the right mindset. Starting the New Year off with a negative attitude leads many people to drop or change their goals mid-year. We believe that getting to the place you want to be does not have to consist of a major and life-altering change once the clock strikes midnight on New Year’s Eve. Building your dream life starts with little decisions. Wake up, have a goal in mind, and write it down. Having something physically written allows you to remind yourself of the person you want to become. Try to accomplish that goal by the end of the day. By choosing smaller aims, you can see your progression as you achieve them without being discouraged as you might when taking on larger plans. Additionally, if you don’t achieve your goal one day, you have the next day to start fresh and begin again.

So don’t worry if you didn’t set any New Year’s Resolutions or if you’ve already broken them. You can start a new resolution on Jan. 31 just as well as you could on Jan. 1. Why wait until 2020 to get started?