The New Year symbolizes the start of something new or a good time to have a “do-over.” We want to get healthy, or pick up hobbies, or travel more, however, most resolutions fail. Forbes Health found that most resolution goers only last around 3-4 months. This isn’t news to us, we hear about this every year. But how do we maintain these goals? This can be by starting small, being something attainable, and not feeling like you have to let go of the goal just because you stopped doing it for a week. If you want to lose 50 lbs by the end of the year, I have some rough news for you. This goal is too general, how are you going to do this? What else needs to change in your life? How significant is this change? Will it be easy? And yes, resolutions have to have an easy aspect to it.

Where did resolutions start? The recorded earliest act of promises and goals for the new year was with The Babylonians. Then seen again with the Romans by making sacrifices to their Gods. But the modern practice we see today can be traced back to as early as the 19th century with writers in Walker’s Hibernian Magazine, Little Gidding, and Susan Sontag.

For my last blog post of 2025, I wanted to visit this idea and break it down so you don’t feel so alone! I always saw the time of January as a time to become something different, that this was my only chance to actually make changes. Although now grown up, time is a social construct and we can change whenever we want, this window never closes. However, there is something spiritual that lies in that change of the little numeral at the the end of the year that sparks something in us.

My Past Resolutions

I was one of those people who believed if I think about it, I’ll probably end up doing it. I want to work out more this year, “yeah of course that will happen.” I want to eat better, “yeah I know that will be easy.” I never actually made a plan or found ways to approach this. So I attempted some “planning” such as mood boards, 12 nights, and just creating a basic resolution. Mood boards give the aesthetic and reminder of an overview of your goals but they don’t actually give you the necessary tools to achieve these goals. It was pretty, but it kind of lost its meaning since these were goals I wanted but that’s all it was. 12 nights or Rauhnächte is a tradition stemming from the Germanic/Celtic culture during December 25th – January 5th. You write down thirteen wishes on separate pieces of paper, burn each one for each night without reading it but then on the last night you open the last piece of paper and read it. Each paper you burn, the tradition goes, the Universe or Higher power will guide these wishes to you. But that last wish is the one you must complete by yourself without the Universes help. I found that Rauhnächte and the mood board didn’t help. Or at least I don’t remember what I wished for so I don’t know if it was something that I accomplished. Also the mood board just gave a general overview, like I guess I “completed” it but how do I measure that?

So with those outlets not fulfilling that “accomplished void” I just made my 2025 resolution simple, read more. No not those insane 100 books in the year, but something realistic like 10 books. Small, attainable, accessible, and easy to pick up and put down. Which felt accomplishing to look back and see that I achieved! So now I want to push farther.

My Current Resolutions

This year I’m definitely more ambitious. I’m approaching my goals with a little pusheen notebook, my favorite ballpoint pen, and a new outlook. I’m not going to beat myself up for only working out once in a week or eating a comfort meal every Friday. I’m human and imperfect, but I making a change that doesn’t require me to become a different person overnight. I’m making goals tailored to me. I’ve broken each goal into a different category: Health, relationships, career, personal growth, and financial. You obviously don’t have to specify them as such. Do more or as little as you want. I chose these by thinking back to all of the rough days I’ve had and how I spoke to myself. So how can I beat my thoughts to it and make those changes in a healthier light? I don’t want to workout so I can look like the patriarchal standard, I want to work out to keep my bones healthy and my body active. I want to set goals at my job, but I don’t want to do it to impress my boss and show off to my coworkers, I want to do it so I can challenge myself and develop my skills. Doing this prioritize myself and makes my goals more attainable.

In Conclusion…

Don’t listen to everyone else about how to make goals. Don’t look at Instagram models and say “yeah that, that’s my goal.” Don’t save 20 different “how to become that girl” posts on Pintrest to get lost amongst the rest of your pins. What is something that can help you physically, mentally, and spiritually as a human to maybe even add longevity to your life. You’re different, you may not lose weight the same as everyone else, you may not read as fast as everyone else. So why make goals impossible that can lead you to feel worse about yourself? In 2026, be selfish, start small, and end the year looking back with pride in your chest.

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