Forget New Year’s resolutions – attainable, staggered goals and building on your present skills are the aim for 2026.

It’s 11:30pm on 31st December 2025 as I sit down to write this. I’ve just finished binging the last four episodes of PLUR1BUS, now I’m contemplating the year ahead whilst listening to the musical stylings of Paco de Lucía, an incredible guitarist who is no longer with us. So many greats are no longer with us. We lost many damn good ones this year alone. Not to get too morbid, but death often makes me (many of us) contemplative, usually about more death, but sometimes about life in counterpose.

(I’m going to keep this positive from now on, I promise!)

Every year, people set resolutions, things they tell themselves they’re going to do but eventually get tired/bored of. They are unsustainable in the long run. Why? Because we try to change too much too quickly. What about building on what you already have instead? Maybe you’re in the frame of mind to get fit, or you have an idea for a book, or your shopping habits are getting out of hand and you’re ready to reign them in and sort out your financial standing. Let’s take these ideas and run with them.

Top piece of advice: Don’t rush it. If you have things you want to achieve, that’s awesome, but take. your. damn. TIME. The impatient among us (me) want things now, or want to be good at things immediately (my ego), but, and now this might come as a shock, that’s not how things work (whaaat!?).

Think goals instead of resolutions. You want to lose weight? Don’t go trying to run a 5k today, January 1st. Start with a short walk tomorrow, on January 2nd (most of you won’t be fit to live on the 1st, let’s be honest). You want to write a book? Start with a plan, or if you want to dive straight in, try writing scenes that excite you and tickle your imagination. You can build on them and join them together later. You want to save money/pay off debt? Start small. Every little helps. Plan your financials for the year. It might be easier said than done (girl, understatement), but these are all pieces of advice I am taking for myself this year.

For people like me, we are very aware that we’re not getting any younger – I’m not saying I’m past it at 36, but the kicker is that, no matter your age, you’re not getting any younger. So, embrace it, embrace your wisdom, embrace what you’ve learned, and think about all that it can now allow you to do. Think about what you can do that others who’ve left us way before they should have were never able to do. Learn to say FUCK IT.

As for me? Well, I’m no hypocrite (usually). I have goals this year, perhaps too many tbh. I’m building on things I’ve already set in motion, e.g. this blog, my film website, getting serious about learning how to write articles and produce content. Today I spent hours – hoursssss – building my ideal schedule for January and potentially every month going forward (I’m more productive if I can visually see what I need to do and am a slave to a checklist). Frankly, just looking at the schedule makes me feel physically sick, my anxiety rising to the surface, wanting to close the curtains, hide in bed and play video games all day and forget about reality. But, guys, that’s where I’ve been going wrong.

I’ve allowed fear to control me for too long. I’ve also allowed my circumstances to become my excuse to, essentially, do nothing.

I’m skint, I had a hard day, I have no energy, it’s too cold, my little finger hurts. My top goal now is to push through that fear and circumvent the boundaries of circumstance by slapping myself with some reminders to push through to the more practical goals I want to achieve: ‘I’m skint’ (fair, but many resources are free, including your creativity); ‘I had a hard day’ (probably not as hard as you think, but try to put it to one side and look at the bigger picture); ‘I have no energy’ (rest a bit then have some water, or coffee if you must); ‘it’s too cold’ (put on one of your myriad jumpers); ‘my little finger hurts’ (shut up, you don’t even use that finger when you type); I will also continually say – no, shout – FUUUUUCKKKK ITTTTTTT! You only live once… or so they say. Maybe I’ve packed in too much (and it doesn’t yet include other things I want to do this year… gulp…), and I’m not saying it’s going to be easy and that I won’t have off weeks days, but I’m going to try super hard to keep the bigger picture in mind, that being what I want in my near future.

I hope some of this might help you, too. If it doesn’t, that’s ok, maybe there’s a different way that will work for you, or perhaps you’re in need of a little more soul searching before you’re ready to commit to a plan. Or maybe you’re doing just fine as you are. Whatever umbrella you fall under, just keep doing you, don’t bother about what other people are thinking. They’re probably too busy freaking out about their own goals, too. Bear in mind, as I often do: the best things are sometimes the hardest to get.

I would like to wish you a very happy and healthy new year – a productive new year, too, if that’s what you’re going for, but your health and happiness is the priority. May 2026 be kind and generous to you, especially if you struggle to be kind and generous to yourself ♡

“New year – a new chapter, new verse, or just the same old story? Ultimately we write it. The choice is ours.” Alex Morritt