Danica Corin Photography

There are exactly 36 days left in the year of 2017 and now is a good time to start reflecting on (1) how you have grown, (2) where this year has taken you physically, mentally, and emotionally, and (3) what improvements you need to make as we step into the new year.

As necessary as it is to reflect and create a plan for 2018, I personally think that the concept of "new year, new me" aids and abets the procrastinator in all of us. In fact, most of us may not have even made a dent in our new year resolutions that we wrote down at the end of last year.

I can only speak for myself, but I often find myself in cycles where I feel good spiritually, mentally, (maybe academically), and physically and then something goes awry. This forces me to either take action to get myself back on track or do nothing and watch my wellbeing begin to suffer. The length of the cycle is definitely not 365 days and this year I am challenging myself to start early to get myself at least in the vicinity of the railroad. Unlike the start of new calendar year, we have the power to start improving ourselves whenever we want.

A few of my goals are to work out more regularly, spend more time in the Word, be more proactive about school assignments, and to nurture positive relationships. Why wait until December 31 to envision a plan? It's okay to be ahead of schedule sometimes.