Resolutions
Happy new year! I've never been much of a new year's resolutions kind of person, I always have the impression of them as big life changes that you try to force overnight and those just don't work, so I don't try! I'm sure a lot of that is because of the stereotypical/marketed resolutions of going to the gym more, reading more books, etc.
Recently I have seen a couple things that have challenged this style of overnight, lasting change. This video from Magnify proposes formatting your new years resolutions into a Bingo card, which I think is a great idea and one I'm going to try. Thinking about this approach also reframed a lot of my thoughts about resolutions, from routines you have to keep up or else you've failed, to activities that at worst you haven't done yet but still can. To return to the stereotypes, turning "go to the gym every week" into "have a session with a personal trainer", or "read a book every month" into "get a library card and check out a book" changes it from a potential failure looming over your head to an opportunity to push yourself to do new things, even if they might not work out.
In this theme, Katie Notopoulos on Bluesky shared her resolution to create a website this year. She also shared a Discord server in the thread where people can share resources and help keep each other accountable. I am going to try this myself this year, as I want to replace my homepage, currently made with Carrd, with something I made myself. Given the state of the internet and the platforms on it, I think this is a goal worth pursuing for anyone that wants an online presence.
I still have some goals that fall more into the routine/habit building camp. Continuing to write on this blog is one of them, having somewhere to give my jumbled thoughts form and get them out into the world has been very beneficial for me. Best wishes for 2025!