Resolve to Not Resolve

As we head into a new year, I keep circling back to a phrase that feels more honest than most of what this season asks of us:

Resolve to not resolve.

I’ve never really done New Year’s resolutions. Not because I’m resistant to growth or allergic to change, but because I learned early on that life doesn’t actually operate in clean page turns. There is no snap of the fingers where everything resets, no midnight hinge where the old you disappears and a fully formed new version takes their place. That story has always felt comforting—and completely disconnected from how growth really happens.

I do love symbolism. I loved the Year of the Snake, with all its shedding and release, and I’m genuinely excited about the Year of the Horse, about momentum and galloping forward. Those metaphors matter to me. But they are markers, not mechanisms. They don’t do the work for us. At best, they remind us that we’re already in motion.

What I’ve noticed over the years—decades now—is how often people describe a year as “terrible” while pinning their hope on the next one. Next year will be better. And then the year passes. And the sentence repeats. Ten years later. Twenty years later. Still waiting.

That isn’t optimism. It’s postponement.

I believe deeply in planning, in mapping, in visioning. Anyone who knows my work knows that. My business plan gets reviewed quarterly. I map when something needs mapping. I journal when something needs untangling. None of that is tied to December or January. Growth doesn’t respond to holidays. It responds to attention.

Resolutions imply a finish line. They suggest that change is a single decision instead of a series of small, unglamorous choices made over time. But life doesn’t move in straight lines. It loops. It sheds. It pauses. It accelerates. It asks us to recalibrate while already in motion.

So instead of resolving to become someone new, I’ve chosen something steadier and far more sustainable. I resolve to do better daily. I resolve to stay aware. I resolve to adjust when something stops working instead of waiting for permission to change. I resolve to keep going, even when the progress isn’t obvious yet.

Because if you’re waiting for the world to look better before you feel better, you may be waiting indefinitely. The noise will always be there. The headlines will always give you reasons to stall. The real shift happens internally, quietly, through repetition rather than proclamation.

So this year, I’m resolving not to resolve.

I’m choosing continuity over reinvention. Presence over performance. Growth over declarations. Just steady movement forward, with intention and compassion.

And yes—fabulousness included. That part has always been non-negotiable.

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