“New year, new me!” is something heard far too often during the start of every new year. Whether the goal in mind be weight loss, academic improvement, or blooming into a social butterfly, almost every person daydreams about where they want to be by the end of the coming year.

Considering all the interest in resolutions and self change, on average 80% of resolutions fall through. With this noted, resolutions can be eyed as a silly public stunt in order to mock the new year as a way to suddenly change one’s self. The reality simply is, typical resolutions are lofty, broad ideas that are put into place in order to aim for a new found joy as the new year rounds the corner. Unhappy with where they are by the end of the past twelve months, they set for a future better than their current state, thus planting small seeds of change that will never get sufficient water. Unfortunately the goals run farther and farther out of sight. Keeping up with them is too hard and unrealistic, ultimately leading to burn outs. To change this, here is a list of pinpointed, smaller, realistic goals that everyone should put on their calendars with the hopes of seeing growth by the end of 2020.

• Eat one healthy meal a day: As simple as it sounds, starting slow and building up this habit is a smarter way to attack this goal. Whether it be breakfast, lunch, or dinner, making one healthy choice a day can pan out to build a healthy lifestyle. A healthier choice would be to eye fruits and add colors to the plate over processed “food,” as good as it may be.

• Finish a water bottle during the school day: Water is obviously of huge importance to the body. Hydrating daily and using the bottle as a gauge to keep someone accountable over the course of a seven hour school day is one way to better oneself for the year. It is easy and will spark change. Start slow with one water and see where it can go. Being fully nourished with water can help all over the scale of health.

• Study for 10 minutes: Whether it’s the hardest class on the schedule or the easiest, hitting the books and valuing the potential of education is a path that will surely help someone to see the results over the year. Realistically, the ten minutes can be squeezed in. The phone can go down and the books up. Building smart study habits, for anyone, is a lifestyle change that won’t go away when the new year high fades as the months go by.

• Talk to one new person: Making new friends, and venturing out of one’s comfort zone is not ideal, especially in a stressful environment such as school. Despite this, friends are what get students through the harder days. Making meaningful friendships is essential to a healthy mindset throughout the spring semester, which tags behind the new years. If making friends don’t come natural to someone, a pinpointed resolution should be to begin in one class and start up a conversation with a new person. Schools are filled with like-minded people and meeting a match is simply a roll of the dice. When students begin to gamble with new friends they just might hit the lottery. Easy ways to get through ice-breakers are to ask about the other person, since it is easy to talk about one’s self. If a student begins there, by the end of the year they just might have their complement.

Aiming for the stars is flashy and inviting when everyone seems to begin 2020 there. With these relatively simple and realistically achievable goals lay on one’s schedule for the beginning of the year, they will build the habits that will take them so much farther than a simple wish to be better, like too many wide-eyed people do. If this is something small that can be done, imagine where the finish line can lie.