By Zach Schanzenbach

Senior Staff Writer 

New Year’s resolutions. Lots of people make them. 99 percent of people break them.

No, that’s not an official statistic. I wouldn’t be surprised if it was, though, given the knowledge of how easily these resolutions are made, only to be broken in less than a week. Of course, there are those who successfully stick to their resolutions, but they are few and far between (or so the culture has told me).

These past couple of years, I tried making resolutions, or some variant thereof, but I would wind up with a scatter-brained mess that lacked a solid foundation. Oh, I had the materials for the foundation, but I never bothered laying it out before January 1. Next thing you know, it would blow to smithereens.

Okay, that’s a very rough (and puzzling) sketch of how resolutions have failed me, but you get the point and, unless popular culture has thrown a massive lie to me, you can probably relate.

Last December, as the year was nearing its close, I reflected on the year that just went by and briefly considered making resolutions before I abandoned the idea. What good are resolutions if you can’t – excuse me, you won’t – follow through with them? Exactly. So this year, I did something a little different.

Instead of listing a bunch of stuff I wanted to change or do differently, I decided that there was only one thing I wanted to change about myself and how I do things.

I decided that I wanted to be more dynamic.

Dynamic has two popular meanings: constantly changing and full of energy. If you asked our Editor-in-Chief if I was a dynamic person, she would probably say yes. If you asked the people I went to high school with if I was a dynamic person, they would probably say yes (assuming that they remember me). After all, I got voted as having the most school spirit as a senior. My energy, however, has dwindled significantly since I left high school, and I want to bring it back up.

I’m doing okay so far.

But enough about me. The point is, instead of listing a bunch of things to change, I decided to pick one word and focus on improving that part of me in 2015. I could have picked a number of words: selfless, kind, patient, outgoing (actually, I wouldn’t pick that one).

There are a lot of words I could pick, and there are a lot of words you can pick, too. If you don’t feel up to the challenge of writing a list of things, or you know you’re gonna fail, pick one word, one concept, and resolve to work on that throughout the year.

If resolutions work for you, then go ahead and make them. But they probably don’t. So take my advice: one word or concept. It’s simple enough… and I’m sure you’ll get results. I know I am, even if they’re small to start.