New Year - New You

Entering a new year is really just a symbolic thing. Nothing truly changes unless you make it a conscious purpose to bring about change.

I've been thinking about this as we head into another year - 2026.

A resolution is a kind of promise to oneself, and as we all know, most of these fail.

Why is that?

It hit me. And I'll speak from personal experience here - as usual with my blog posts, this is a message to myself more than some pedantic instruction to others.

Quite simply, we resolve the wrong things.

For example, we resolve to get in shape, or to earn more money, or to finally write that book or song - when in fact, we need to peel back a layer and focus on actions that are less grand and more grounded in the small, repeatable acts that can lead to meaningful outcomes.

The resolution, then, should not be to "write that book," but instead to schedule the first hour of every morning for writing, with a simple goal of hitting 500 words.

That adds up over time.

In his book Atomic Habits, James Clear describes the process of redefining one's identity. To achieve a tuning of identity, he argues that we need small (analogically, "atomic-level") modifications so that we begin to see ourselves as the kind of person who would write that book.

In other words, the person who gets up every morning and commits their first hour to writing is a writer. And the person who completes a book must also be a writer. It becomes reciprocal like that.

In my own day-to-day activities, I often feel the pain of self-disappointment when I strive for something and fail to reach it. One of my typical errors is overestimating how much I can get done in a given period of time - classic time blindness.

So what kind of small change can one make to put a dent in a time-blindness problem?

First, it starts with recognizing that we are rarely just victims of circumstance. We can't control the weather or traffic, but if we have an appointment that requires even a short trip, we can choose to leave early enough to account for those possibilities.

And that is really simple.

I love the idea that if you are not ten minutes early for an appointment or meeting, then you are already late.

That reframes punctuality so it becomes the default outcome instead of a lucky event.

This is really about accepting agency in achieving what you want in life.

On that note, it struck me that almost everything has a form of agency to it - particularly when it comes to virtues:

• You can't ensure loyalty, but you can be loyal.
• You can't guarantee trust, but you can act in ways that make you trustworthy.
• You can't control respect, but you can act respectfully - and doing so often invites reciprocation.
• You can't predict opportunity or outcomes, but you can be prepared for the unexpected.
• You can't force meaning into a situation, a career, or even your life - but you can act meaningfully.

The same applies to personal accountability:

• We can't always be at our most alert, but we can choose healthy bedtime rituals and habits that make good sleep - and better alertness the next day - more likely.
• We can't select our parents or our genetic map, but we can choose what we consume - and what we consume either aligns with or works against our genetics.

Philosophically speaking, you might observe that while you can't choose to be taller, you can choose to stand tall in the face of injustice.

In business, these virtue-based pursuits translate especially well:

• We can't always be ahead of the curve, but we can choose to remain curious.
• We can't always meet expectations, but we can choose to respect deadlines.
• We can't always be the best or the smartest, but we can choose to be reliable.
• We can't always know all the facts, but of what we do know, we can choose to be transparent and honest.
• We can't always control outcomes, but we can choose to prepare contingency plans and build redundancies.
• We can't know in advance what others will ask or expect of us, but we can choose to say "yes," "no," "I will," or "I won't."
• We can't ever get a full picture of the world around us, but we can choose what we focus on - and choose to put distraction aside.
• We can't guarantee success, but we can choose consistency and optimism.

It's a new year. Put aside the resolutions. Focus instead on the small changes that help redefine who you are.

To a large degree, we choose our outcomes when we choose our virtues, our actions, and how we treat others.

Note to self: Choose wisely, Paul.

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