I have not had a “New Year's Resolution” in quite some time. I have no “word” I am dedicating the year to. A year is far too complex for one word, and the dictionary is far too vast to pick only one.

I feel no need to assign myself a task for the year. Those are plentiful enough. I feel no desire to give myself a word, or mantra that is intended to define a year that has barely begun.

My goal every day is to be better than I was the day before. Listen more than I speak. Learn what I can wherever I can. Hold a mirror in front of my face and truly look at myself, flaws and all.

I don’t wait until next week to start a diet, or a new workout plan. If I'm going to do either of those things I need to do it right away, or it just won’t happen. Why would I wait to start bettering myself until the calendar page flips?

With all the noise in the world, static that clogs real communication and hinders actual knowledge; why do we feel the need to announce that we plan to be better people? Is posting these things on social media intended to hold ourselves accountable? In that case, maybe self accountability should be the priority. Maybe the announcement is to imply one’s own “better-ness” by way of intending to be better before actually doing any of the work. In this case, far more introspection is needed than anything that could be posted.

I don’t find the good intentions of others to be inspiring. Scrolling past all the “New Year New Me'' posts has furthered my resolve for no resolution. I will keep quietly trying to be the best version of myself that I can be. It's a lifelong journey, and that’s ok.