New Years Resolutions

January is the time where everybody sits down and comes up with a never-ending list of New Year's Resolutions in a bid to become happier, healthier, and a better person. But, with hindsight, shouldn't we come up with that 'list' when we feel it's necessary, and not just to mark a new beginning? If you have something you feel you need to change about yourself, whether thats your image or your attitude, don't wait till the 1st of January to do that. Change whenever you feel is necessary, whether that's the beginning of the year, or the middle.

The New Years Resolutions we set ourselves are either really basic, or unrealistic. Basic being, lose 2 stone, and unrealistic being, become a Kardashian. New Years Resolutions are the same as society's expectations of yourself. The perfect face; the perfect bedroom; the perfect job; the perfect body; the perfect lifestyle. Being perfect shouldn't be an expectation from society, or a New Years Resolution. If you want to change something about you, then do it. If you don't, then don't. Simple as that!

Instead of thinking of the physical Resolutions, maybe we should think about the emotional Resolutions instead, like being happy or confident. Here's my 'New Years Resolutions', or just things I want to change and be in 2016:

Be Confident

I am an incredibly insecure and self-conscious person, and have been for years. I may always be that way. But I can at least begin to try to appear more confident, and have more faith in myself. I'll wear those thigh-high boots and strut around like I'm Kim Kardashian. I'll wear the bold red lip for any occasion, just so make myself feel more confident. I'll say whatever I want to anybody, as long as that's what I feel and what I want to do. We should all be confident, or at least show some confidence if you're an insecure person like I am. 

Be Kind

Don't like the person you have to work with? Don't like the family member that's coming down to see you and your family? Don't like the girl sitting opposite you? Smile. Show everybody that you're a good person, and that you're not going to let mean and inconsiderate people get in the way of you being nice. Smile at the girl you hate, and the guy that broke your heart last year. Show them that you're twice the person they'll ever be.

Say Goodbye to Negativity

Do you have a friend that constantly brings you down, or constantly insults you and insists it's just 'banter'? Get that out of 2016, and out of your life. Negative people will only make you miserable, and you'll become just as negative as they are. I made the best decision in 2015 to erase a handful of people from my life, and was it difficult? Yes. I was terrified of being alone and having nobody. But I'd rather be happily alone that miserably crowded by crap people. You meet new people eventually: I did! This insecure 18 year old met so many new people last year, just through working, and they constantly make me laugh and smile. You can do the same.

Want it? Go get it!

You want that £65 bag so desperately but you don't have the money for it? Save up. Get a job. Do chores around the house. You want to talk to that girl who smiles at you at work or in class and seems really nice? Go talk to her. Tell her you like her outfit. Ask her if it's okay to go sit with her next lesson. Go grab a coffee. You want that A* in your A Level, or a brilliant grade in your next Uni assignment? Work hard for it. Get off Facebook and Twitter and Instagram, as hard as that may be, and revise. Practice, work hard, and concentrate. If you want something, go and get it. If you want it so badly, do everything in your power to get it and achieve it, no matter how hard it may be. You can do anything you set your mind to if you really believe in yourself and if you really work for it. Things don't just happen.

Say What's on Your Mind

Don't bottle things up. Ever. If there's something bothering you, talk to somebody about it, whether its a friend, a family member, or an online forum. Even if nobody has the advice or help to give, there's somebody out there who will listen and take it all in. If there's a friend that's bothering you, speak to them. If you don't, it'll only get worse and will eventually ruin that friendship. Having troubles at home? Speak to somebody. The best person to speak to would be a close friend who you can trust with your life. If you don't have one of those, confide in a colleague or a teacher. If you have nobody to talk to, write yourself a letter. Address it to yourself, write out exactly what's going on and how you feel, then slip it away somewhere. You may even want to give it to somebody. You can do that too. Just don't bottle things up, because it won't ever make things easier. It'll make them way more difficult.

Cherish your Solitude

This was one of the best things I read last year. 'Take trains by yourself.' Don't rely on other people to make you feel happy. And don't rely on company. Go out on your own. Sit in Starbucks by yourself, read a magazine, and sip on a hot chocolate. Go up to London by yourself. Go into the shops, explore the underground, explore the city and find places that will become personal places to you. Go for a long walk, but don't plan it. Just go. Walk as far as you can, and go wherever you want to go. It doesn't matter if you get lost, you'll find your way home. Solitude gives you independence, and independence can be the key to calmness and happiness if things are getting on top of you. You don't have to worry about anybody else, and you don't have to play the day by anybody else's rules. You can do what you want to do. Your independence and your own company can make you feel happy and so mature.

Cherish Every Moment

Don't let a single moment go to waste. A lay in can be cherished just as much as time with family can be cherished, or time by yourself. Cherish what you have and who you have, and be eternally grateful. It goes without saying.

These are some of the things I'm going to live by this year and from now on. A New Year isn't about Resolutions or a 'New Me'. You don't have to reinvent yourself to become happy or 'perfect'. Just live by your own rules, and be the happiest you can be.

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Happy New Year xo