There are several opinions about New Year’s resolutions. Whether you believe they’re bad for your mental health or the perfect way to begin a new year, we can all agree that we want to begin 2019 right.

It’s hard to have a great start to the new year when we set unrealistic goals for ourselves. As great as telling yourself to work out every day is, for most people, it’s completely impractical.

Changing your routine or consciously bettering yourself takes time. Daily exercise is a great example. You likely won’t be able to run eight miles on Jan. 1 if you just decided on Dec. 31 to run every day. This is especially true if you’re like me and haven’t gone for a run in months. Unless you have some naturally crazy strong leg muscles, know these things take time.

Choosing to change yourself or your routines for the better is totally O.K. Using the new year as a reason to analyze yourself and reflect is great for your mental health after all. Asking yourself questions about your motivations, strengths, and weaknesses can lead to valuable, positive improvements in your life.

Dropping a resolution before January ends is incredibly common, although it’s rarely due to pure laziness. Holding ourselves accountable or staying motivated despite all the barriers life presents can be so difficult when our resolutions often stem from a part of ourselves that we don’t entirely like.

Use the opportunity of choosing a New Year’s resolution that promotes who you are and helps you grow positively rather than one that simply makes you feel guilty.

If you feel you chose a resolution for 2019 that doesn’t feel right, don’t worry. Life changes constantly, so there’s no reason you shouldn’t be able to reset your goals for the year. If you’re feeling really ambitious and have the time, you can have more than one.

New Year’s resolutions are a trend that have been getting a bad reputation lately. Keep in mind as you grow this year that reaching a goal is never easy. It takes dedication, hard work and often a dose of self-appreciation as well.

Alison Simon is an agricultural communication major and can be reached at [email protected].