If you’ve been on Twitter lately, it’s all about 2016 being the worst. And I’m not going to disagree, there has been a lot of bad this year. But to keep perspective, I know a lot of people who have had very good personal things happen this year (I did too! Logged all in my travels this year). However if you ask me if 2016 was a good year… I’m going to go with no. It’s been kind of rough all over.

I don’t believe that the start of 2017 is going to reset the world, but bad is always balanced by good, and it’s about time for an up swing. So whether you think a clean slate comes Saturday at midnight or you’re just hoping this time next year you can say that it’s been a good year here are some insights. Actually- that’s the wrong word. These are just things to keep in mind as we start 2017.

• You’re only so much in control, but what you control matters. The fact is, you’re probably not going to make the world a different place in 2017, but you can make your life different, you can make someone else’s life different. People act like all good work happens on a political scale, and if your not there you’re not doing much. Guys, personal happiness, compliments, boosted self confidence, good advice, gifts of food and time, these kind of things are what the world needs more of right now. These are things we have so much control of.
• You have to look for good. If you spend all of 2017 looking for things that have gone wrong, let me tell you, there is going to be a lot to see, but if you spend all of 2017 looking for the good the same will happen. You have to keep a perspective. You have to look away from the bad news and listen to your friends engagement stories, about medicine making breakthroughs. You might have to a look a little harder, because our world likes to talk about the bad more than the good, but it’s still there.
• Resolutions only last a few months. Okay, there it is. I said it. Most of us only keep our resolutions a few months, most of the time it’s because they’re only big picture. If you have a goal that you really want to reach in 2017 you need to be setting up mini goals that spread over the entire year. You can’t just write a goal on a list then not have any plan on how to make it happen. Also, try to keep them realistic, we really can do amazing things, but keep it real.