Last year on this exact day, I wrote a post called "Say No to Resolutions, Say Yes to Experiences." If you read it (or remember it, you dedicated reader you), the piece radiates with optimism for 2016 and even joked that Trump may win the presidency. And, well, that's no longer a joke.

I also encouraged you and myself to seize opportunities and learn and grow in a new year. 2016 couldn't be a loss that way. I still stand by that. Okay, I'm about to admit I may have misled you.

Resolutions are challenges to yourself that are binary in their outcome: you either succeed or you fail. There's rarely middle ground. And life is not black and white. That is why you should embrace experiences. You can't fail at those. Even your failures are experiences.