NY Resolutions - Taking The Pressure Off
It’s That Time Again: New Year’s
For many people, New Year’s represents a blank slate—a fresh opportunity to map out what they want to accomplish in the coming year.
Vision boarding, planning, and dreaming ahead can be exciting, but they often come with immense pressure. Are my goals too ambitious? Am I doing too much? Or not enough?
We rarely talk about the relentless pressure goal-setting brings—or how it can wreak havoc on your emotions and mental health when you fall short.
So, for this month’s blog post, I want to explore New Year’s resolutions and how to make goal-setting pressureless.
Take a Moment to Reflect
New Year’s often symbolizes looking ahead, but I believe we can find even more inspiration for future ambitions by pausing to celebrate the accomplishments of the past year.
Before we give 2025 the stage, let’s revisit 2024 one more time.
What are you proud of yourself for in 2024?
Did you face a fear?
Travel to a place you’ve always dreamed of?
Rekindle a relationship (platonic, romantic, or familial)?
End a relationship for your own good?
Start a new hobby?
Beat your uncle at chess for the first time?
Keep your plants alive?
Pay off debt?
Prioritize your mental health?
Perfect a new recipe?
Finally make that scary doctor’s appointment?
365 days—each one 24 hours long—is a lot of time. We often get so caught up in autopilot that we forget to celebrate the wins we casually brush off as just checking items off a to-do list.
On New Year’s Eve, I reflected on what 2024 meant to me, and I can say without hesitation: 2024 was one of the best years of my life.
It was the year I felt most like me.
I turned 30.
I reveled in meaningful connections that were safe and aligned with my identity and needs.
I let go of relationships that no longer served me.
I spent a month in London
I finally got my wisdom teeth pulled (after putting off surgery for a decade)
I got a digital nomad visa and prepared to move abroad.
I started learning a new language.
I finished my sleeve tattoo.
I did my first topless photoshoot.
I wrote and directed a feature film.
I launched a blog, released a photo series, and wrote a book.
But most importantly, 2024 wasn’t about accomplishments. It was about saying yes to what I wanted and unapologetically rejecting what wasn’t for me. That alone was my biggest win.
Before you start planning for 2025, take a moment to reflect on and celebrate what you’re proud of from 2024. You might just discover that your past year has already set the stage for the year ahead.
Diversify Your Resolutions Like Your Stock Portfolio
If you’ve ever dabbled in investing, you know the golden rule: diversify your portfolio. Why? Because putting all your money into one high-risk stock is a recipe for disaster. A well-balanced portfolio—blending low-risk, medium-risk, and high-risk investments—helps you weather the unpredictable swings of the market.
And honestly? Life is just as unpredictable as the stock market. Things crash, plans fluctuate, and unexpected curveballs are inevitable. That’s why it’s so important to diversify your resolutions.
Instead of setting all-encompassing, ambitious resolutions that hinge on perfect circumstances, aim to balance your goals across three categories:
High-Risk/High-Reward Goals: These are your big, ambitious dreams—the ones that might take a lot of effort, time, and even a bit of luck to achieve. Think starting a business, running a marathon, buying a home, or learning a new language. Even if you don’t fully achieve them, progress in these areas can still be a win.
Mid-Tier Goals: These are meaningful but achievable goals that push you out of your comfort zone without feeling overwhelming. For example, reading 12 books in a year, decluttering your home, or taking a professional development course.
Low-Risk, Guaranteed Wins: These are small, attainable goals you know you can accomplish no matter what. They’re about building confidence and giving yourself wins to celebrate along the way. Think drinking more water, calling a loved one once a week, or trying one new recipe a month.
By diversifying your resolutions, you allow for flexibility and resilience. If life throws you a curveball (because it will), you can adapt. Maybe that big goal of running a marathon becomes a 5K. Or Buying a house turns into meeting 50% of your savings goal. Maybe that mid-tier goal of reading 12 books turns into finishing six. And those small wins? They’ll still keep you motivated no matter what else is happening.
My high-risk, high-reward goals this year are moving abroad full time, spending another month in London for my birthday, meet my savings goal, and adding five standout brand strategy projects to my portfolio. My mid-tier goals include releasing my second photo series and launching my first fiction podcast. As for my small, achievable goals, I plan to continue my twice-weekly Spanish lessons and finally learn how to horseback ride.
The beauty of this approach is that it gives you permission to pursue big dreams while also acknowledging that success isn’t linear. It’s okay to have some goals that stretch you and others that are purely about consistency and joy.
Remember: just like a diversified stock portfolio, the key to taking the pressure off of new year's resolutions is balance.
Base Your Goals on You and You Alone
The age-old saying, “Comparison is the thief of joy,” couldn’t be more true. So much of our collective happiness hinges on whether we feel like we’re doing “good enough” in life. But the toxic cocktail of societal expectations, social media’s curated realities, and arbitrary age benchmarks for milestones (marriage by 30, dream career and 2 kids by 35, etc) leaves so many of us feeling inadequate and, well… miserable.
When you map out your goals for 2025, take a moment to comb through your list and ask yourself one simple but profound question:
“Why do I want to accomplish this goal?”
If your answer involves:
Proving someone wrong
Keeping up with societal expectations
Peer pressure
Parental pressure
Or anything that isn’t truly about you
…it might be time to reevaluate that goal.
Goals are deeply personal. And honestly? They’re optional. Your New Year’s resolutions should reflect your unique desires and aspirations, not anyone else’s. This is your life—not your parents’, not your friends’, and definitely not Instagram’s.
One of the most powerful ways to take the pressure off your resolutions is to ensure they are rooted in what brings you joy, fulfillment, and well-being. When your goals align with who you are and what truly matters to you, they stop being a source of stress and become stepping stones toward living a life that feels authentically yours.
So, as you plan for 2025, give yourself permission to leave behind goals that aren’t for you—and embrace the ones that genuinely light you up
As the New Year approaches, remember that resolutions aren’t about pressure or perfection—they’re about intention. Celebrate the progress you’ve made, embrace goals that truly matter to you, and give yourself the grace to adapt when life throws its inevitable curveballs.
Happy New Year, Loves.
I hope 2025 is a good one.