No Resolutions

I don’t do New Year’s resolutions.

They’ve never been how change happens for me.

I try to do noticing.

That doesn’t always work either.

But I do know I don’t need Spotify Wrapped to tell me I played Taylor Swift, Haim, Fleetwood Mac and Kygo more than anything else on my eclectic digital jukebox.

I don’t need a LinkedIn appraisal to tell me that sometimes I post something real that resonates with people and sometimes I post something too raw or long and it doesn’t.

These annual recaps and arbitrary Dec 31st promises we break with ourselves ‘that from tomorrow I’ll be different’ do not create awareness or change.

I do however like a periodic scan through my camera reel and journals to see what moments I tried to capture the feelings of.

And then finding the beauty in what I already know and what I’m ready to trust.

Because if I’d written my bingo card or resolutions this time last year, it wouldn’t have included leaving my job, cancer treatment, writing a book, speaking for 500 people, reconnecting with past friends, yoga headstands or relearning to trust myself.

None of this arrived neatly on January 1st.

None of it came from a resolution.

It came from the choices made in the middle of ordinary days.

Some things worked out, some things I had to work through.

But all of it gave me something to take with me.

So as the calendar flicks from 25 to 26, instead of asking what do you need to fix or change, perhaps ask what already is beautiful, and how intentionally noticing it might shape whatever comes next?

If it’s useful, here’s a few prompts to help you notice the patterns on your own bingo card, rather than just the random numbers, and what I noticed in mine.

🟪 A challenge you didn’t see coming

Showed me I am more resilient than I realised.

And I don’t control outcomes nearly as much as I thought I did, but I do always control how I show up.

🟧 A conversation that changed your direction

Taught me loyalty to something or someone else should never come at the expense of loyalty to yourself.

🟨 A decision you avoided

Showed me endings always have a quiet beginning tucked just behind them.

Trust the unfolding.

🟦 A moment that surprised you

Sometimes the worst things you can imagine can take you to places you never would have chosen, but wouldn’t undo.

🟩 A moment that stayed with you

That impact isn’t always visible.

And sometimes people forget you and sometimes they remember you.

Both of those things can be true, and freeing.

In this scanning, my noticing also confirms I will likely continue to have more photos of the dog than my humans, selfies that are mostly there to check I don’t have something in my teeth, photos of food I once ate, screenshots of articles or ‘important things’ that I never actually remember to go back to, and pages and pages pretending I’m ‘just noticing’ when I’m actually deeply overthinking and reflecting.

I resolve to keep doing all of this.

Happy new year when it comes. Slàinte mhath 🥂