New Year. New You?

It seems to be a common theme as we move closer and closer to the end of the year. I'm sure you get asked shortly after Christmas, "What is your New Year's Resolution?"

Manage your money better. Travel more and see new places. Eat healthier. These are some of the basic, most common choices I'm sure you have heard, and even said.

I know, I know! They're not the even close to the most used: Get back in shape/go to the gym. While it's the most used, it's also the most mocked.

Don't believe me? As we're still fresh into 2019, you can watch this happen in real time. Next time you drive by the nearest gym and check the parking lot and see how popular it is. Then give it just a couple weeks and that parking lot will have half as many cars, if not more.

It's a common theme. We sit and try to decipher a way to make our lives just a bit better. Like years before it's all too common for the resolutions to be given up as we return back to regular scheduling.

What makes a New Year's Resolution so special? What makes January 1st, different than September 4th? Did last Tuesday feel any different than the day before? All that changed was you signed documents, or checks, with a nine instead of eight.

Don't get me wrong. I support people who believe in making a resolution, and even participate in it. However, I practice more broad or overarching decisions rather than a specific goal. Call it the easy way out if you want, but I look at it differently.

Ever found yourself falling sort of completing a task? There's the ping of regret, or even thoughts of failure. I'm not saying it's anything major, because you can just complete it the next day, or another time.

However, a goal is set and as the year begins and you march full speed ahead. Then life happens, causing you to halt progress. One day, turns into two. Next thing you know it's June and what you hoped to achieve has to be put on the back burner. By the holiday season, it's all but forgotten about, only to cross your mind as the new year nears.

Wouldn't this dampen things; almost to a point of saying the year was a failure? No? Then what's the point of making a resolution?

Don't get me wrong. I'm not advocating abandoning of making one. I've got two alternatives, both I actually strive for each time the year changes.

The first is simple. Rather than go specific, I choose something more broad. As I said this can be viewed as a cheap way to complete a resolution. Consider this: The more specific you make a challenge, the more likely you will to fall short of completing it. Additionally, a broad choice can almost serve as an umbrella that can cover many things you hope to accomplish.

How do I use this? Simple. My resolution for 2019 is to stop procrastinating. I've always been someone to put stuff off, from running errands to going to the gym. I decided rather than going specific, and risking failure, the best choice would be going with something that covers a wide range of areas I want to improve.

It's not just an easy way out now, is it?

The second option, and one truly believe everyone should strive for is to make the new year the best one ever. I believe we as a society want to improve the lives of ourselves, our families and friends. So, this should be always be something to strive to accomplish. You can take it day-by-day, but why not year-by-year?

For me, I've got a big year to live up to and surpass. For those that don't know me, I challenged myself in 2018 to return to finish something I started in 2004. My mission: finish my degree from Appalachian State University. This was a difficult task, considering I was returning after almost 10 years away from school, completing a degree for a field that's evolved considerably in those years.

Add to it that I lived almost two hours from Boone, NC and maintained a full-time job, I knew I had a difficult task in front of me. After many hours of driving, and a lot of stress, I achieved something that at one point I considered I would never complete.

What's next? I'm still unsure. I want to write more and share my own thoughts with you, and the rest of the world. I'm also in the process of continuing a challenge Dr. Greg Perreault laid out for me. When the time comes, maybe I'll share what it was. But, I've got to give a reason to come back, don't I?

Taking on the second option provides something we, as a society, need: motivation. Sometimes we need a push, or resistance, to push back. Life isn't easy. If it was, we'd just be floating down a lazy river watching life pass on by. What's the fun in that?

Whether you choose something specific, or more broad, I think what people strive to do is make his or her life better. It doesn't have to be major. It could be just a small improvement. Little victories stack up to make big changes.

What do you do? Do you make a resolution, or not? There's nothing wrong with either. I simply look at a new year as a clean slate. Whatever you decided, I hope that 2019 is your best year yet.

I want to leave you with a comic strip from my all-time favorite comic series, "Calvin and Hobbes." I believe it epitomizes what a new year is to me.