Why I Stopped Making New Year’s Resolutions

New Year’s resolutions haven’t been my thing for a long time.

Using January 1 as a hard reset has always felt forced. The intention is good, but more often than not, the follow-through is short lived. I’d make a list of ten resolutions, feel motivated for a month or two, and by December maybe one had stuck. That cycle never felt meaningful—and it certainly didn’t lead to lasting change.

I truly understood this in the winter of 2018 when an unexpected event disrupted our friend group. It led to hard conversations, uncomfortable truths, and a level of self-reflection I hadn’t experienced before. As January 2019 approached, my husband and I decided to forgo resolutions and instead give the year a statement.

We called it “trim the fat.” Not literally, but emotionally, relationally, and practically.

That phrase cut deep. It meant re-evaluating who truly belonged in our lives and who didn’t. It meant acknowledging that some good people were no longer aligned with where we were going—and that we weren’t serving their journey either. Letting go was painful, but necessary.

“Trim the fat” extended into everything: finances, home items, commitments—anything that no longer served a purpose or added value. It wasn’t about deprivation; it was about clarity.

From there, each year carried a line instead of a list.“Build the brand” stayed with us for a few years. Other themes came and went. What I loved about this approach was the simplicity: a single reminder I could carry through the year, rather than a checklist I felt guilty for abandoning.

For the first time ever, I didn’t walk into 2026 with a new year, new me mindset. That mentality no longer feels fair to the work I’ve already done—the healing, the growth, the hard lessons. Instead, this year feels like new year, better me. Not faster. Not louder. Just more grounded.

2026 is the year of: slow down—time goes so fast.

So I’m curious… If you were to tag your year with one line, one theme, one reminder—what would you call it?

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