7 Resolutions I'm making to be happier in the New Year

I try to be realistic and keep my list short, so I'll be more likely to put my ideas into practice. If I make my list too long, I'm probably expecting too much of myself. I might feel overwhelmed and may give up on reaching any of my goals.

Here is my list of seven ways to be happier in the coming year:

1. Take better care of myself

Daily life can be busy, complicated by careers, relationships, children, living situations and other factors that seem to bombard each of us. In the midst of everything, I want to try to take better care of myself. I can do this in some simple ways.

• Eat healthier foods

• Increase my exercise — The more exercise I get, the better chance I have of staying healthy. If I really want to get ambitious about fitness, I could try doing marathons or triathlons next year.

• Get enough rest

2. Let go of the past

One of the hardest things in life is learning how to handle painful memories. We all go through tough times and challenges, and relationships can sometimes feel like you’re on an emotional roller coaster. Pain is a very personal and difficult thing to deal with. Maybe your family pressures you with high expectations, or maybe the person you are with makes you feel worthless or abused.

I know the first step in dealing with heartache is to look at the tone of my thoughts. Try to change how I look at the situation. Know how important my own happiness is and that I don’t want to waste any time dwelling on a past that is already over and can’t be changed. If I feel sad, angry, abused or unhappy, maybe it is time to move on.

3. Set priorities and goals

What is the most important thing in my life right now? Is it my job, my relationship, my children or my hobby? When I make decisions about what I think is important, I will have a better idea of where I want to be in the future.

4. Face my fears

Self-reflection means trying to understand what I am afraid of. This can be one thing or dozens of things. Fear is like a giant obstacle that stands in the way of happiness. When I face a fear, I look at it, decide what it means to me and come up with an action plan to overcome it.

For example, if you are unhappy at your job, but afraid to quit because you might not be able to find something else, you could ask yourself if your fear is realistic. If you are unhappy in your relationship, but are afraid to be alone, you could look at why you are afraid to be alone and decide how to face that fear. We all have things that we think are obstacles in our lives that keep us from getting where we want to be. The first step in changing any of it is to look at what your fears are.

5. Do what makes you happy

There is a huge variety of career choices anyone can make today and ways to obtain the education needed for career changes. Today, fewer and fewer people remain in the same type of career as they did 20 years ago. The millennial generation is seeing exciting and innovative changes in things like workplace environments, perks and hourly requirements. More people are interested in finding out what they like to do for work because they don’t want to waste time being unproductive at jobs they don’t care about.

Nothing is more important than doing what makes me happy. Career choices are hard, but they affect your whole life and emotional well-being.

6. Invite change

Life is full of change. Some of it can seem natural, and some of it can be unexpected. This coming year, I'm making it a point to invite change in my life. Consider some new ideas. Try doing something new. Explore my interests. Expand my horizons.

7. Connect more with others

One thing that is easy to do in life is to get into a comfort zone, as far as the people you know and who you see and talk to every day. For most people, this is a handful of friends that they know from work or school. One way of changing things this coming year is to make an effort to expand your personal life. Everyone you know and spend time with influences how you feel about yourself and the expectations you have about the future. Why not reach out to more people and make some new friends?

I'm going to surround myself with people who share my interests, help me feel good and believe in me. We all need to feel loved and supported by friends and family. Life is just plain better with good friends to share your experiences with.

As I head into the new year, I will keep these simple ideas in mind. If I take better care of myself, let the past go, set priorities and goals, face my fears, do what makes me happy, invite change and connect more with others, I may find out that this coming year could be the best and most exciting year of my life.