2026 - Welcome, New Year!

Sarah
Jan 1
3 min read

Today is January 1, 2026 - New Year's Day. Today is the day that many people create a New Year's resolution to be "better" in some way, shape or form.

Dieting to remedy binge eating from the holidays, quitting smoking and other unhealthy habits, or dedicating an insane amount of exercise to the rest of the year are some common "resolutions" that I hear people say a lot of. They are also all ones I have had planned for myself in previous years...

I have so many "resolutions" this year that I had to write them all down just to remember them.

I feel that the last few years, for myself, have gotten out of hand with unhealthy habits - and not just unhealthy for my waistline, unhealthy for my overall wellbeing.

This year, I decided to break down my resolutions for 2026 into more manageable pieces, and set them into category goals, since there are so many of them. I set relationship goals, work goals, school goals, self goals, and spiritual goals. I further subdivided these down by tasks I plan to accomplish. Waking up "perfect", especially by my own personal standards is an impossible goal, but giving myself manageable "tasks" seems very likely to chip the list down at a good pace and set myself up for success.

I am not sure if you are a goal setter or a New Year resolution holder, but I did want to offer some inspiration, even if small.

You got this! I have faith in you! You are not alone!

We now live in a world that is so hustle and bustle, and striving for quick results, that I am not sure how everyone doesn't have some form of anxiety at this point.

Move faster - This is what I hear all around me when I am driving, shopping, working, even doing my daily evening household tasks. It feels like no matter how fast I go, it just isn't fast enough to keep up, and time flies by so fast, that anymore, I feel guilty for sitting down to take a 10 minute break when I have been going for hours...

Maybe it's my age? I am 43 after all, and not getting any younger!

Remember when we were kids and summers would last for forever? Sometimes I would get so bored that I got excited for school to start just so that I had something to do!

Not anymore! I can't keep up. There are 24 hours in a day, and I feel like we should have a minimum of 36 hours a day just so that I can accomplish everything that needs to be done - in a day.

It can feel unmanageable.

Sometimes I think that the stress that we are all under contributes to poor overall health, depression, and a ton of other negative "side effects". Though not one of my noted "New Year's resolutions", being more mindful is something I have been trying to accomplish for a while now.

At any given moment, I am getting upset about something that happened 15 years ago that I can no longer change, and a few minutes later, I am upset that I'm not going to accomplish what is due in 3 months. But "now", the time period that I CAN control, flies right by with nothing being accomplished, and becomes something to get upset about later, now that it is the past. It feels like a loop that just will not stop because I don't let myself stay in the "here and now".

Here's an example of my 2026 New Years resolutions.

Relationship Goals:
- Socializing more
- Investing my energy into people who want me around, not to the ones who don't
- Finding/maintaining genuine relationships with friends/family
- Conserving some of my energy that's been spent on helping people who refuse to help themselves in the process
Work Goals:
- Putting my all into my full-time job
- Putting my all into my Photography business
- Welcoming growth as much as possible
School Goals:
- Graduate with Bachelor's degree March 2026
- Consider future Masters degree
- Consider learning graphic design
Self Goals:
- Take care of myself better - body, mind, & spirit
- Make healthier choices
- Forgiving myself more
- Moving more
- Make more memories and collect less "stuff"
Spiritual Goals:
- Listen to my inner voice more
- Make more time to connect with spirit
- Read/listen/observe/understand/feel more