On New Year’s Day, I like to take some time to unwrap my calendar for the new year, check out all the photos (usually dogs doing silly things), and then fill it in with all of the important things to remember throughout the year.

Birthdays, anniversaries, weddings, due dates, vacations, business trips, annual macaroni and cheese competitions (wait, everyone doesn’t do this?), graduations and more are all inked into the year’s plan. It is amazing how many wonderful things we have to anticipate each year, and then there is the anticipation of not yet knowing what might fill up the rest of your calendar for the year. Will you receive an unexpected wedding invitation? Will Nsync finally schedule a reunion tour? Will you have the opportunity to take a trip for work?

And what about resolutions? Are New Year’s resolutions something you make? There’s arguments on both sides of the fence as to whether resolutions should or shouldn’t be made. For what it’s worth, here are my two cents: the new year is a perfect time to resolve to do something better, or many an improvement, or learn something new. There is something psychological about the changing of the calendar that makes it feel like I am making a fresh start. My goal is to be better every day than I was the day before. If setting a goal at the start of a new year can help someone become better than they were previously, I am all for it.