As we step into the first week of the new year, filled with hope and potential, many of us are making resolutions we won’t keep. Not because we can’t, or have reached too far and too high, but because somewhere, along the way, we lost the energy needed to continue improving ourselves. Doing nothing is always easier – why train new habits when the old ones are so familiar?

The trouble is that life never stands still. What was great yesterday may be merely mediocre tomorrow. We all need to relearn this lesson every year. The treadmill of life increases its difficulty setting all the time – we have to run harder and faster just to keep pace. This is just as true for the eighteen year-old as it is for the eighty year-old. School gets tougher by the year; professions change and expand without exception. New ideas and technologies shift paradigms. Personal relationships are never static, either. They are always coming or going, growing or failing.

So we resolve to improve. Maybe get to the gym a bit more often, which always sounds great until the alarm sounds in the morning. Perhaps eat the right things…right after this next pastry. Starting tomorrow. If only there was a magic potion. Or, better still, a magic button.

Sometimes, the answer really is that simple. A touch of Botox, a nip or a tuck, and everything is back. But maintenance requires a little more every year. Applying sunscreen every day really matters; the benefits stack and increase as time passes. That moisturizer you didn’t need in your twenties may become important in your thirties and critical as the decades add up. Dermal fillers such as Juvederm, which were once just for the lips or to improve the contours of your nose and chin, may now be improve the deepening lines framing your face.

The great difficulty is getting yourself up to and out the door. That’s why we all need a buddy to get us through those last few steps. Someone like a trainer at the gym. Someone to convince you that your efforts are worthwhile before you get to see the results. A reminder to apply sunscreen every morning, even on those days when it’s raining outside. A friend who can help you do what you need to do, and who will be there when you finally see the fruits of your labor. That healthier figure, that improved skin complexion. Someone who will celebrate with you when you achieve your goals.

So this year, as you make your New Year’s Resolutions, get a buddy to help you see them through. Eat healthier, exercise, or start that novel you always meant to write. Celebrate each step you achieve, whether that’s one more day you made it to the gym or one less donut you ate. And, of course, here at the Chow Center for Facial Plastic Surgery, we hope you look good doing it!

Cheers! Here’s to a happy, healthy, stunningly awesome, gracefully gorgeous and fulfilling 2016!