As the new year starts, we set lofty goals for ourselves, hoping that our lives will be better than the year before. We tell ourselves that we're going to get in shape, eat healthy food, learn a new language, actively look for a partner, socialize, be a better person and so on. I think those are laudable goals to have, but you won't accomplish them unless you actually take action. We tend to think that our lives will magically change as the clock turns midnight and the year new begins, but - surprise surprise - it won't. You have to make it happen.

Don't expect different results if you keep doing the same things.

Maybe your goal is to become more social, but you spend most of your time at home wondering why no one likes you. Maybe you want to be more productive, but you procrastinate and spend a lot of time on social media. What I'm trying to say is that if you continue to be the person you were last year, nothing will change. For example, I'm a shy guy. I hate being shy because people don't get to know the real me, which has negatively affected my dating life. However, I'm slowly changing that by exposing myself to social situations that would make me uncomfortable.

Another thing that is very important is taking action and stopping making excuses.

Setting goals is nice, but you won't get what you want until you take action. I hear many people saying that they want to adopt healthy habits such as exercising, but they hardly ever do it, and when they do, they end up giving up a few weeks later. If you want to lose weight, buy a gym membership TODAY and stop making excuses. As the saying goes, don't put off until tomorrow what you can do today. If you want your year to be better than the previous one, actively pursue your goals.

Accept that it's going to suck, be painful, or be hard at first.

If you decided that you're going to learn a new language this year, just know that it's going to be hard at first. You'll struggle to form basic sentences, and you'll barely understand what you hear initially. But if you stick with it, there will come a point where you'll be able to speak with ease, and your listening comprehension will dramatically improve. If you want to get in shape, know that you're going to have to say goodbye to junk food and start working out regularly, and that can be hard at first. If you, like me, want to overcome your social awkwardness, then you'll have to strike up conversations with strangers, and it's probably not going to go smoothly the first few times, but that's fine. Pain is an inevitable part of growth.

Life is too short, so let's live it to the fullest!