Christina Nixon
It’s that time of year again. You can feel it in the air (or rather, you can see it in your inbox, your Instagram feed, and the sudden, aggressive pivot of every television commercial). The world has collectively decided that the person you were on December 31st is no longer acceptable. The “Old You” is expired goods. The “Old You” ate too much junk food, didn’t read enough non-fiction, and definitely didn’t wake up at 5:00 AM to exercise. So, the marketing algorithm sells us gym memberships, organization apps, and diet plans wrapped in the glittery promise of the “New Year, New Me.” But I have a confession to make. This year, I’m ditching the list. Read why I’m not making resolutions (and what I’m doing instead). Learn how to replace “pass/fail” goals with a sustainable routine that actually sticks past January 15th.
There is a specific kind of heaviness that settles in on January 2nd. It’s the weight of expectation. But here is the radical truth I’ve come to realize: I don’t need to be fixed. And neither do you. So this year, I am not making a single New Year’s Resolution. No list, no vision board, no “this is the year I run a marathon” declaration. Why do I need to be a ‘New Me’? The ‘Old Me’ survived 100% of my bad days last year. The ‘Old Me’ navigated stress, managed relationships, and found moments of joy in a chaotic world. The ‘Old Me’ is actually pretty tough. So, this year, I’m trying something different. I’m ditching the resolutions, and I’m embracing a completely different philosophy. And who knows, this might just be the shift you’ve been looking for.
We all know the statistics…something like 80% of resolutions fail by the second week of February. But have you ever stopped to ask why? It’s not because we are lazy. It’s not because we lack willpower. Resolutions set you up for failure because they are binary.
Resolution: “I will go to the gym five days a week.”
Reality: You go five days a week for two weeks. Then, on the third week, you get the flu. You miss four days.
Result: In your brain, you have “failed.” The streak is broken. You didn’t do the thing you said you would do. And because you “failed,” the psychological motivation collapses. You think, “Well, I already messed up January, so I might as well wait until next month,” or worse, “I’m just not a gym person.”
This all-or-nothing thinking is toxic. It ignores the nuance of real life. Life is not binary. Life is messy, unpredictable, and fluid. When we try to impose a rigid, binary grid over a fluid life, we are destined to break. We treat resolutions like a contract we sign with ourselves, but it’s a contract with zero flexibility clauses. The moment we slip up (eat the cookie, skip the meditation, sleep in), we view it as a breach of contract. This triggers shame. And shame is the absolute worst fuel for long-term change.
So, if resolutions are out, what is in?
I’m Not Making Resolutions This Year. Instead, I’m Adopting the “Systems vs. Goals” Approach.
This isn’t a new concept; productivity experts have been whispering about it for years, but it is rarely applied to our personal lives in a gentle way. Goals are obsessed with the outcome. Systems are obsessed with the daily routine. When you focus on the Goal, you are constantly in a state of failure until you achieve it. If your goal is to lose 10 pounds, every time you look in the mirror and haven’t lost those 10 pounds yet, you are “not there yet.” You are living in a gap of deficiency.
When you focus on the System, you succeed every single time you perform the action. This year, I am ignoring the outcome and obsessing over the daily routine. I don’t care what the scale says in March. I don’t care how many articles are written by June. I only care about whether I operated my system today.
Before I even start my system, though, I need to address the atmosphere of January. I am officially declaring this my “Cozy January.” I am treating January like any other month—gentle, cozy, and pressure-free. If I want to move my body, it won’t be a run on a treadmill at 5 AM. It will be a fitness class at my convenient hour. If I want to eat better, it won’t be a juice cleanse that makes me miserable. It will be making warm, hearty vegetable soups.
So, how does this look in practice? If I’m not making a resolution, am I just doing nothing? No. I am doing something much smaller, and paradoxically, much more powerful.
Instead of a Resolution, I am Committing to One Tiny, Non-Negotiable Daily Habit
- The Rule: It must be so small that it feels ridiculous to say no to.
- The Scope: It must take less than 15 minutes.
- The Vibe: It must add value to my life immediately, not just in the future.
An example of a tiny habit: read 10 pages of a book every day. That’s it. Only 10 pages daily. Here is why this works:
It compounds. 10 pages a day is 3,650 pages a year. That’s about 12 to 15 books. You will achieve the “Goal” of reading more, without the pressure of the “Resolution.”
It lowers the barrier to entry. You don’t need “motivation” to read 10 pages. You can do that while you drink your coffee.
It builds trust. Every day you keep this promise to yourself,
The “Anti-Resolution” Campaign
This year, I invite you to join me in the “Anti-Resolution” campaign. Look at the “Old You” in the mirror; the one who survived the heartbreak, the stress, the long hours, and the chaos of the last year. Look at them and say, “You did good.” Don’t burden that person with a laundry list of ways they need to change. Don’t set up a binary trap that snaps shut the moment you make a mistake. Choose one tiny thing. One system. Maybe it’s drinking a glass of water before coffee. Maybe it’s writing one sentence in a journal. Maybe it’s doing five minutes of stretching. Make it gentle. Keep it cozy. Treat it like an experiment.
The year is long. We don’t need to sprint. We just need to keep taking small, easy steps. And if we trip? We don’t go back to the starting line. We just stand up, right where we are, and take the next step.
Happy New Year. Here’s to the Old You, the Current You, and the Gently Evolving You.
