Planning for 2026: What Are You NOT Doing?
As we come down to the wire on the turn of the year, I have no doubt that lots of people are setting goals and making New Year's resolutions for 2026.
Sadly, so many moments of ambition and inspiration seem to end with a quiet fizzle... some after a matter of weeks or even days.
Lack of willpower? Bad ideas? Unrealistic expectations?
I can't help but think that perhaps our good intentions are a little misdirected!
So often, I find myself reminding people that a new year doesn't magically bring longer days with more hours in them.
Which is where I ended up with the title of this post: It's great that you have all these new goals, but during the previous year you were already stretched thin just keeping up with daily life... and now you want to not only add new things but you expect to keep up with your existing workload, as well?
Get over yourself!
I don't intend that in a mean sort of way, just as a reminder that the many abandoned New Year's Resolutions likely come about because they weren't thought through, very well.
When you say that you resolve to spend an hour a day being at the gym, getting in shape, what are you planning to remove from your life in order for that hour to become available? Because that extra hour isn't magically going to manifest out of thin air!
Right there is one of the primary reasons why so many New Year's goals fail.
Another primary culprit is the "need for perfection" we place upon ourselves.
Spending an hour a day? Really? Life isn't made that way! Kids fall and sprain their wrists and need to go to the minor emergency center. Water pipes burst. Unexpected work obligations come up. Relatives fall ill and need a helping hand.
Instead of committing to doing something every day, we would be far better off saying something like "I will not MISS more than two days in a row!"
I'd submit that the older we get, the more we need to recognize that if we've already gone decades without being able to maintain a daily habit, chances that we'll suddenly start now are pretty close to zero.
Just being realistic, here.
While I generally avoid making resolutions, any goals I'll be setting for 2026 will be tempered by first examining what I am going to give up to create space for those goals. It's not that I'm trying to take the easy way out, I would just rather succeed than fail.
Thanks for stopping by and have a great New Year's Eve!
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Created at 2025.12.31 00:59 PST
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