do new years resolutions work?

I don't know how I feel about New Year's resolutions. Like, when I was a kid, I didn't care. And then when I was a teenager, I was kind of a punk, a rebel. And I kind of hated everything. And New Year's resolutions were no exception. I thought the concept was idiotic. My argument was, if you have something you want to change about your life, change it in the moment, realize that there's an issue in April. Don't wait until January 1st to figure out what's wrong with your life. Do it throughout the year. Is that a valid argument? Actually, yes. However, I think it's a bit of a nihilistic perspective. It's unnecessarily harsh on the concept of New Year's resolutions. And then in my early 20s, my heart warmed up a bit. I became a little bit less rebellious, a little bit less of a hater, a little bit less nihilistic. And that's not just towards New Year's resolutions, I would say in general. It also extended towards New Year's resolutions. And so starting in 2023, at age 22 for me, I started writing down New Year's resolutions again. Why? Well, because why not? I don't take New Year's resolutions that seriously. And to me, it seemed like a net positive. At best, I'm planting a seed in my brain for the rest of the year, potentially even manifesting for the rest of the year, starting the year mindfully. And at worst, things fall through, doesn't work out, and who cares? I don't take New Year's resolutions that seriously. So I was like, it's not going to destroy my confidence if I don't fulfill my New Year's resolutions. There seems to be no downside. I briefly interrupt this episode to let you know that this episode is presented by Venmo. Okay, hear me out. Apparently, you can earn cash back with your Venmo debit card. All you have to do is join Venmo stash in boom. You get cash back when you shop at your favorite brands. It's kind of an awesome flex. With Venmo stash, you can get up to 5% cash back at your Fave brands. Just pick a bundle of your go-to's to shop with your Venmo debit card and earn cash back at them. In your freedom, it makes things up. You can easily swap out your bundle of brands every 30 days. Start earning when you do more with stash. Venmo stash terms and exclusions apply max $100 cash back per month. See terms at Venmo.me slash stash terms. I think I've also realized as I've gotten older that as responsibilities pile up in adulthood, it's actually more necessary to do things like make New Year's resolutions because I know for me anyway, I'll go months in the minutia of my life and forget to sit down and reflect. I think there is value in moments like New Year's or birthdays to sit down and think and reflect and manifest and plant seeds. Even stuff like the full moon. I have some friends who write down manifestations every full moon. Does it make a difference that it's a full moon? I don't know. But it's an invitation to reflect and manifest and potentially plant seeds in the brain that could blossom into gorgeous flowers. So I don't really think it's a bad thing. However, I don't know if it's really effective. So going into 2026, I wanted to look back at my past New Year's resolutions and see what worked, see what didn't, and try to figure out where I stand on the whole thing. I personally think that it's harmless and probably a net positive at worst, maybe in that neutral unless you're somebody who takes this stuff way too seriously and become obsessive with it. And if you don't fulfill every New Year's resolution, you beat yourself up. I usually beat myself up about stuff with this. I don't for some reason. I think because statistically New Year's resolutions usually fail. Wait, let me Google it. I think it's like really high percentage of failure. Around 80% of people quit their New Year's resolutions by February due to unrealistic goals, poor planning, and a lack of accountability. That makes sense. So many people fail at New Year's resolutions that it makes me feel better if I don't follow through. It's like, well, clearly nobody is. So all good. But perhaps through reflecting on the last few years of New Year's resolutions, I can figure out what kind of resolutions work for me and make a really solid list of New Year's resolutions for this year. So without further ado, let's analyze. 2023, 2024, and 2025's New Year's resolutions starting with 2023. I was 23 years old. First resolution, find the hobbies that excite me and lean into them. I feel like I have, I should say before I get into this, I can't remember what happened in what years. And I like to think of New Year's resolutions as not necessarily like this must happen by the end of this year. I like to think of it as like an intention going into life moving forward. So if by now, end of 2025, I've resolved these resolutions, even if it didn't happen by the end of 2023 or by the end of 2024, whatever, at least it happened eventually. And I can't remember when these things sorted themselves out. So I'm just analyzing if these things ever came true period end of story. You know what I'm saying? I'm not sticking to the exact goal of the New Year's resolution by the end of this year. This will be accomplished. I'm just, I can't remember. Okay. So relax. I do think that I have hobbies at this point in my life that excite me and fulfill me. And I also think I'm flexible with myself about them. Like I have certain things that are a part of my day to day life. Like for example, hot yoga, I love hot yoga. I'm obsessed. You know, I do it multiple times a week. I'd consider that to be a hobby. That's something that has become one of my favorite hobbies. I've always been somebody who prefers physical hobbies, exercise, hiking, sports, like for whatever reason, I've always preferred that type of hobby. I stick to it much better. I have a hard time sitting still and a lot of more artistic hobbies require a lot of sitting and I already sit a lot in my life. And so those hobbies tend to stick less, have more fleeting phases, but I even have participated in a lot of sedentary hobbies over the last few years. I've gotten into watercolor sewing. I did get into guitar for a second and then I quit again. I'm just the worst that I really thought it was going to stick the last time I got into it and it really did. It's fine though. It doesn't matter. I definitely do feel like I have hobbies in my life and I think the key to it for me has been letting it be intuitive, not forcing myself to participate in hobbies for the sake of having hobbies. Why is that such a tongue twister? I've just let myself enjoy hobbies when I'm in the mood for them. And I think that was what was getting in the way of me truly enjoying hobbies prior was that I was forcing myself to participate in them because I was like, I need to do this. I need to have a life outside of my work, outside of my social life. I need to have hobbies. I need to have things that make me dynamic and interesting. And the problem was I was forgetting what the point of a hobby is. It's supposed to be fun. It's supposed to be fun. It's supposed to be enjoyable. And you don't have to participate in a hobby every single day to enjoy it and to have it be one of your hobbies. You can enjoy it whenever you're in the mood. Sometimes I go through a sewing phase. Sometimes I go through a watercolor phase. Sometimes I go through like a fashion phase where I just want to like research fashion. Sometimes I'm too tired for hobbies altogether. It doesn't matter. There's no rules when it comes to hobbies. And I think allowing myself that freedom allowed me to participate in hobbies. But it took a while. I don't think I accomplished that in 2023. I think I probably accomplished that late 2024, maybe even 2025. I feel like I really got into my hobby flow state, which is not even really a flow state. It's like on and off whenever I feel like it probably in this last year. Okay. New Year's resolution 2023 number two. I wrote down resilience against the internet. Stop being so scared of it. Have fun with it. So that's the thing. So here's the thing about that. I still struggle with that. I still struggle with that. Have I made improvements? Yes. But I would say not in 2023. Like that happened probably again in the last year. And even still I have a lot of work to do. But I think this was sort of an unrealistic New Year's resolution. Like I've come to realize that the rational response to the unusual situation that I'm in, being a public figure, is to be a little bit afraid of it. That's actually fair and valid. It's rational because it's this big beast. It is a scary thing. And to be scared of it is normal. It's unnatural and it can get really scary really quick. So I think the expectation for myself to just get over that fear. It's like, yeah, but that's actually a valid fear. I think that's why that resolution didn't come true in 2023 because that wasn't the right way of phrasing it. I think I've loosened up a lot over the last year, I would say, through accepting the fact that this is a scary thing and that I am afraid of it, but that it's more miserable to be afraid of it and to run away than to just say, you know what, I'm afraid, but I'm going to do it anyway and just see what happens and take it day by day. And that's kind of where I'm at with it now because I spent so long being so afraid to do anything or say anything on the internet because I was just so afraid of being attacked or something. I don't know. I just was constantly living in fear and I still live in fear of the internet all the time, but it was so much worse to be scared and then to censor myself. It's much less miserable to be scared, but then to just be myself anyway and not censor myself. Just let loose. So I would consider myself much more loose these days, but that's happened in the last year. And I think it's less about not being scared anymore and more about accepting the fact that this is scary and accepting the fact that I'm going to be scared sometimes, but doing it anyway. I don't know. Okay, moving on. Next resolution I wrote down, use social media for posting instead of looking. Retrain my brain to go to healthier sources of entertainment when I'm bored. I have successfully, I would say done this. I mean, I love YouTube. I'm going to watch YouTube forever. I don't I grew up watching YouTube. It's like in my blood. It's in my DNA. It's like who I am to go to YouTube as a source of entertainment. Do I take it too far sometimes? Yes. Do I then have to create strict boundaries for a period of time? Yes, but I would say in general, I'm doing much better than I was in 2023. Okay. I guess when I wrote those resolutions, because in 2022, I was addicted to watching TikToks, addicted. I would spend probably three hours a day watching TikToks and I don't do that anymore. Do I watch YouTube shorts sometimes? Sometimes, but not for three hours a day, maybe for like 30, anywhere between 30 minutes a day to like an hour a day and an hour would be like, if I really had a rough day and I'm laying in bed at the end of the day and I'm like, fuck it. I'm going to watch a YouTube short. I don't know. I just, I'm not really as addicted to YouTube shorts. I was like really addicted to TikTok. The algorithm is just built different. But during the day on the weekend, if I'm bored, I do not go on TikTok, you know? I don't go and watch YouTube videos. I'll do a watercolor. I'll go to a flea market. I'll go to a farmer's market. I'll cook something like I do think I've successfully retrained my brain to not go to scrolling for entertainment unless it's like the end of the day and I'm really exhausted and I really think I've earned it. So I think I have absolutely succeeded at that. I don't know when that happened. I can't remember the timeline, but it happened. Next, I wrote down, associate less of myself worth in my physical body. Find it in my heart and mind. I mean, this is an ongoing struggle for me. I think because I'm a public figure, I see what I look like all the time. There are going to be moments for me where my physical appearance has a bit too much of a control on how I see myself. But I will say I've improved on it a lot since 2023. In 2022, 2021, I was not in a good place with this. And I've made some major improvements. But does that mean that I don't care about what I look like anymore? No. No. Does that mean I don't pay attention? No. Does that mean if I look kind of like shit, it totally doesn't bother me? No. You know, I'm a human being. And people are constantly looking at me and I'm constantly looking at me because of my job. And so it's, yeah, it's tough. There are moments where I still struggle with this, but I've definitely made improvements. And I think I've made improvements. Honestly, I kind of chalk it up to just maturing. And I don't know if that's accurate, but I don't really feel like I did anything actively to fix that problem. I think as I've grown older, I've realized that my physical appearance isn't that important. I don't know. I think as I've gotten older, I've realized how complex beauty is. Just through life experience, you know, it's not just being hot stereotypically, you know, it's not just fitting into the beauty standard perfectly. Like there are people that are, it's, there's so much more to that. And the older you get, the more you realize, oh, there's so many different ways to be hot and beautiful and whatever. I don't know. You just, it just changes your perspective changes. Do you realize that physical appearance only matters so much? What really matters the most is what kind of person someone is? And that wins every race. It wins every race. You know, you can be the most hot stereotypically hot, beautiful model hot. If the personality sucks, no one's going to want to hang out with you. Because, and I think realizing that might sound, it might sound a bit like, Ike, Ike, I can't tell if it's Ike, what I'm saying, but I'm just being real. Once I realized that, I was like, oh, that's the most important thing. And yeah, I think it was maturity, to be honest, just shifting of priorities, a deeper understanding of the bigger picture and what really matters. And I think it just kind of happened naturally. That's at least what I think. Okay, next, I wrote down, be more thoughtful about how I spend my money. I don't know that this happened in 2023, but it definitely did happen in long term. I used to be addicted to shopping addicted to buying clothes. And was I spending super recklessly, not necessarily like, it wasn't even about expensive items. It was more just about having a lot of items. And that was an issue. And I would say in 2024, I really hit my limit. I was like, I can't live like this anymore. I can't live with this amount of clutter. It also feels so wasteful. It's just wrong. I need to change the way I consume. And I successfully did. I donated a large portion of my closet, scaled it down to just what I love most and what I know I will wear on a consistent basis. And I started buying smarter. I just take my time these days. I don't impulse buy anymore. I don't buy clothes unless they're absolutely perfect or super rare. And I can tailor them and make them perfect or whatever. I don't allow my closet. My closet, the amount of clothes in my closet has barely changed since I got rid of 90% of my closet a year or two ago. I've just really slowed down. And I've learned to enjoy fashion without buying clothes. And it was hard. I had to make a real decision. I really had to make a lifestyle shift. But I think what allowed it to happen was the relief of having a manageable amount of items, not having clutter around me. It felt so good to have a normal amount of clothing in my closet where I could wear and utilize every single thing in there because I didn't have so much shit. It was impossible to find anything or create anything. And even in my kitchen cupboards, only having the necessary things that I need, I don't need three lemon squeezes. You know what I mean? That's clutter. There's somebody else who could take advantage of that. I don't need three of them. Only having what I need. And definitely even more than what I need, by the way. But just having a normal amount of stuff, I always had too much stuff. And I think it felt so good to let go of it that then it was easy to not just fill my home back up with shit again because it felt so good to have the perfect amount of stuff for me. So I will say that that did eventually come true. Next, I wrote down, make more time slash prioritize projects that excite me. This has always been a struggle just because I tend to put too much on my plate. I will say that I did not succeed at that in 2023 because I just take too much on. And I think I can do it all and leave time for me to do, say creative projects that maybe aren't as lucrative or this or that. But I usually end up burning myself out with, you know, things that like I have to do. Say there's like a contract in place or this or that, you know, and then there's no energy left at the end of the day to do more personal projects. So yeah, I would say I definitely didn't do that in 2023. But that's not to say that like I didn't do anything inspiring or exciting or awesome in 2023. It's just that I think what I meant by that was like, I want to work on things that are incredibly soulful for me. And I don't think I did that necessarily. I mean, maybe I did. I don't think I did that in 2023. I think more of that stuff came later, maybe in 2024, 2025, but I don't think I did in 2023. Next, spend more time being grateful for the present moment rather than stressing about the future. Eek, I still struggle with that. I still struggle with that. I'm probably going to put that on my 2026 nearest resolutions because I am very anxious. I'm very paranoid. This is the type of person that I am. And I'm constantly ruminating about the future. I think the reason why this might be a slightly more complex new year's resolution is that I think this challenge that I have is not rooted in like, it's not a lack of mindfulness that's leading to this. Rather, I think it's actually just kind of having maybe a bit more of severe psychological issues. Like, it might be a little bit of OCD, which I did have in 2023, although I didn't really know what was going on then, severe anxiety, which I had in 2023. It's like, these are things that are a bit more complicated, right? It's not just like a little, I mean, mindfulness helps, but I think I'll give myself a little bit of grace because I think at the time I was like, I just need to be grateful for the present moment. What am I doing? I'm so anxious all the time, worried about the future. It's like, because you have a little bit, you got some serious stuff going on in the brain, girl. You know what I mean? So I give myself grace that we're still working through that. I just, I wrote down something so service level. I said, try to get more work done while walking on the treadmill. I actually have been doing that ever since. That was kind of a life changing discovery for me because my job is so sedentary. I sit so much. I'm constantly sitting typing, editing, writing, doing random shit on a computer, sitting down. And that doesn't feel good, you know, causes back pain. You end up not moving all day. It's miserable. It was miserable for me and it was making me kind of depressed. And so I decided, you know, I'm going to start getting some of my work done on the treadmill. And I did get into that and it has changed the game for me because it just, I don't know, gets me moving while I'm working. It's good. So that was good. I did do that. Oh God. And the last one is another thing that I don't even know I wrote this down as a New Year's resolution because this is like a much bigger issue than like, oh my God, this year we're going to fix this. It's like, no, this is going to be a lifelong battle. I wrote down, stop getting overly attached to people I love out of fear of losing them because I have such an unusual life. Try to find peace confidence in fulfillment within myself. I will say I do think I've improved on this in some ways. I will say like when it comes to dating, I think that this particular New Year's resolution was written with romantic relationships in mind, even though this is an issue I struggle with beyond romantic relationships. I will say I don't think that I am overly attached with romantic relationships anymore. I can let them come and go much easier now in my life than I used to. But when it comes to like my friends and family, I don't know. I don't think I'm like overly attached to the point of being clingy, but like I have a lot of anxiety about their well-being. And that's something I really struggle with. When it came to dating and relationships, I was worried about their well-being, but I was more worried about them breaking up with me. That was kind of the place I was in. And I don't feel that way anymore. And even when I felt that way, I wasn't clingy. I wasn't outwardly showing that I felt that way. It was a very personal battle. And it caused me a lot of anxiety. I think I've resolved that. Now I'm like a breakup. No worries. Now what I'm making sure is about is something bad happening to people I care about. And that's something that is going to be a lifelong battle for me. And maybe I'll figure it out. But that segment of this resolution, it's like, that's a big one. You know what I mean? That's a big one. Don't know that I'm going to be able to just get over that in a year. I think that's going to take a bit more time. I briefly interrupt this episode to let you know that this episode is brought to you by Hotels.com. Make your next trip work for you. Hotels.com just rolled out a game-changing feature called Save Your Way. And it's as simple as it sounds. When you book a trip as a Hotels.com member, you decide how to use your savings. Choose to take the instant savings now or bank the savings as rewards for later. It's your call. In vision, converting discounts on this week's day into rewards for luxurious beach get-away next year. No complicated math, no blackout dates, just you choosing how to make your travels work harder for you. Only at Hotels.com. Save your ways available to loyalty members in the US and UK on Hotels with Member Prices. Other terms apply. See site for details. Now back to the episode. Let's move on to 2024. This year I only had six New Year's resolutions and they're all like honestly so surface level. 2023 was clearly a year of existential thoughts, philosophical thoughts. 2024 I was like fuck it. I don't care. New Year's resolution number one. Read more books. Did I do that? No. Nope. I didn't. I find that it's very hard for me to really get into a consistent routine of reading. Because by the end of the day I cannot work anymore. I can't turn a page. I can't comprehend. I don't want to comprehend. By the end of the day I want to just be fed something and reading doesn't feed me. Like reading to me is a wonderful activity. However, it is work for my brain. At the end of the day I don't want to work. I want to just rock. I think that I'm just not in a phase of my life right now where having a consistent reading routine makes sense. I read a lot of articles and things like that to help stay up to date with the zeitgeist for this podcast honestly. And I'm constantly writing for this podcast. I don't know. There's something about this phase in my life. I'm just I'm too exhausted by the end of the day to read a book. And I think if I want to start reading more consistently I need to actually schedule that into my life. But maybe 2026 is the year but I think that that's what the issue has been in the past. Why I have not read more books when that's been a New Year's resolution for me because spoiler alert that was also a New Year's resolution for 2025 but we'll get into that. It hasn't happened either of those years because I'm too tired. I need to like actively make a plan. I need to actively make time. I actually need to work. I have to remove work from my play. I have to like make structural changes to my work life if I want to read more. That's the only way it's going to happen and I realize that now. And so that's something to think about. Next I wrote down watch more movies for 2024. Did I watch more movies? I actually think I did. Did I like it? No. I didn't like maybe a few times they did but to be honest it's very rare that I like a movie. But when I like one I love it. But I think my challenge with movies is that I never know what to choose and I never know what I'm no like and it's such a commitment to just end up disappointed a lot of times. But I was watching movies in 2024 socially with a boyfriend at the time. That helps. And I think that's why I actually did accomplish that goal because I was like can you just choose the movie? I don't want to think about it. Let's just put it on. You know what I'm saying? But I wanted to watch more movies because I think movies are a high quality form of entertainment a lot of times. You need to pay attention and be patient. A lot of good movies you know can have slow moments and stuff. It's not always true but like I don't know some beautiful movies are slow and I just thought it'd be good for my brain to get into movies but I didn't really get into them on a personal level. I was kind of forcing it and I did have some fun times going to the movie theater and watching movies at home and I saw some good movies. But for whatever reason it's never been something that I've naturally been super inclined to consume whereas like really good YouTube videos that are really well made or amazing documentaries like that's always been something I'm more interested in naturally. But I you know I don't know what it is so odd. But anyway I think the goal of like watch more movies it's like I feel the same way about movies that I do about hobbies. It's like that should serve you. It should call to you. If there's like a commercial for a movie and it looks really good you're going to want to see it. Forcing yourself to do an activity like that doesn't it feels like it defeats the purpose of the activity like movies at the end of the day are entertainment and if I'm not drawn to movies if it's like a chore to watch movies like why do it. But then at the same time I think there's a lot to learn from movies for me as somebody who like loves making YouTube videos and like obviously YouTube videos and movies are very different but it's like there's value in the way that like oh what music did they choose for this type of moment or like how did they set up a shot like this. And even though again a YouTube video is so casual compared to a movie it's still there's a lot to learn from that. And so I think that was probably my intent when this was my near resolution as well was like how can I learn from it too. And in that case it being more of a chore is more valid it's like well but it's potentially helping me improve and learn in my creative outlet if you will. But I don't feel like I've really learned much from any movies that I don't know. I don't know. I have I don't know. I don't know how to feel about my relationship to movies and I'm not shitting on movies as a whole like there's a bazillion types of movies and there are a lot of great movies and then there's also a lot of bad movies as with all things. But yeah I don't know I have a complicated relationship with it. But my God do I love a good movie. You know what I'm saying like when I oh to sit down and watch an amazing movie is the best. I love a movie when it's good. It's just finding the good movies that stresses me out. Same thing goes for books. It's very hard. Anyway my next New Year's resolution only go on social media to post. Okay did I do that sort of but I still yeah I mean I think as I mentioned earlier over the years I've gotten much better about not scrolling. So I would say that happened next work at desk not in bed. That was yeah well if I remember correctly I used to split my working in between treadmill and bed and so I guess in 2024 I was like no treadmill and desk no more working in bed at all. And I actually for the most part have completely stopped working in bed unless I'm really going through it when I'm really going through it all working bed because it's just like you know what I just need to get whatever the fuck I need to get done and if that means laying in bed that means laying in bed doesn't matter. I just need to get it finished. I stopped working in bed because I would like work for six hours in bed and the next thing I knew it was 930 and it was like wait now I have to go to bed in my bed this sucks you know I succeeded at that and that has improved my life. Next I said manage my time better improve my overall productivity so that I have more time to experiment in my life. I will say I do think I managed my time better starting in 2024 but I think I really hit my stride in 2025. I think I was the most productive I've ever been in 2025 but I think the seed was planted in 2024 and I did start to improve in that area. And I think a lot of that was just mindfulness in planning the seed and then as I was making decisions from that point forward it was like hmm remember so that was a productive New Year's resolution and last but not least for 2024 I wrote down learn a bunch of new things. Did I learn a bunch of new things? No no no I don't think I did but again I think that's because learning new things is really time consuming and I think just writing down I'm going to learn new things it's like you got to make a plan you got a carve out time like that's if you want to really learn something that's a huge commitment and I think that's why that did not come to be because I just didn't make a plan I didn't carve out the time. Okay 20 25 New Year's resolutions last year okay let's see how I did okay first I wrote down maintain clear goals for my life I think I did that in 2025 I think my goals became clear to me through reflection and honesty with myself and I think I stuck to those goals and allowed them to guide me this year I really do think so and that's sort of an easy resolution right like maintaining something is much easier than like find out what your goals are I think I already had a pretty good understanding of what my goals were in my life and career and I think in 2025 I was just like okay we're just going to maintain these and let them guide and I think I did that next 10,000 steps per day I'm impressed I'm impressed with myself I'm proud of myself I got 10,000 steps a day almost every single day this year and if I didn't get it one day I like made up for it later in the week I hit 10,000 steps almost every single day my average for the year let's look my average step count for the year is 11,645 now the year before that 6,000 the year before that 4,700 the year before that 5,000 the year before that 4,500 the year before that 3,500 the year before that 4,200 the year before that it's crazy that it goes back this far 4,200 you get the idea I was not hitting even close to 10,000 before and last year above 10,000 as my average that's fucking fire and I will say walking to this extent has had a really positive impact on my life whether it's because I have learned to multitask you know work and walk which is so much more enjoyable sitting down and working is sometimes really nice and sometimes it's like I'm stiff in my back hurts and I like this is uncomfortable and I'm I just it doesn't feel as good but also I've participated in more walking hobbies like walking related hobbies like hiking for example that's pretty much the only one I can think of I've gotten into the routine of walking outside a lot you know going for walks outside just to get fresh air which I think was inspired by like oh I have to get 10,000 steps today how am I going to get there it's inspired me to do things I wouldn't have otherwise working and walking going for walks outside hiking I don't know I think it's had a really positive impact on my life and I really love walking and I use it as a time to reflect I use it as a time to unwind I use it as a time to socialize talk to people on the phone as I already said 10 times get things down like it's just become a really nice part of my routine they keeps me moving and also is productive like it's very productive and it keeps my brain moving when your body is moving your brain is moving I don't know it's good okay next I said be intentional about dedicating time towards things that are leading me closer to my ultimate goals in my career slash life I think this is always like a resolution a goal something that I'm working on and so I feel like I wrote that down just to like reiterate that I think that's kind of all of our goals all the time so like what is there to say about that I don't know did I do that I actually think yes could I be even more intentional yes I think so but I will say in 2025 I do think I took a lot of steps in the right direction leading me towards my ultimate goals in life whether that was career wise romantic relationship wise and I think the thing that's tough to recognize at times is that sometimes making intentional choices that lead you towards your ultimate goals don't seem like the right like it doesn't seem like things are happening fast enough like for example one of my goals in life is to have a family to have a partner have a family that's a huge goal of mine in my life and so but in 2025 I went through a breakup now that doesn't obviously align with that goal it's like you would think the goal what would align with that goal would be to try to lock it down but dating and in it not not working out is a part of the journey towards finding the right partner and so making that decision to end that relationship it doesn't feel like I took a step in the right direction but it actually is and so that's something I struggle with at times but I try to acknowledge the ups and the downs in the journey as being all part of the journey and career wise like something I've been trying to return to for many years is like I want you know this I want to go back to like making more YouTube videos and stuff like that and I've had so many challenges with getting back to that in a way that's consistent and feels right to me and this year I took a lot of steps in the right direction to making more time to return to self like I wanted to for so long but did I fully get to where I want to be no but that's not something that can be done in one year you know that New Year's resolution is going to move onto my 2026 New Year's resolutions probably and probably indefinitely for the rest of my life like that's a resolution that I don't think you ever fully resolve being intentional and working towards your old to make goals it's like do you ever when do you get there you know it's an ongoing journey forever so putting that on my list of New Year's resolutions it's like okay that's like a big one that's not going to get resolved this year next I said by the least amount of stuff possible consume less I definitely did that I definitely did that I think my consumption has gone down progressively every year I feel like I consume less and less which is great and feels good and it's kind of just a part of my lifestyle now now that I'm not addicted to shopping anymore it's quite easy for me to just buy things mindfully and also my choice to not impulsively buy things is constantly being reinforced by the relief that comes with not having too much stuff so it's like kind of a gorgeous situation where I enjoy the feeling of not having too much stuff so much that it makes it easy for me to not go out and buy junk next I wrote down read more fucking books please we already discussed why Emma is struggling to read her books okay so if I really want that to happen I'm gonna have to really carve some time out in my last 2025 New Year's resolution is the same as 2024 learn a bunch of new things maybe for real this time LOL I wrote that down I'm so silly on my New Year's resolution list as I said it's like reading books and learning new things I really if I really want to do that I need to carve time out of my schedule I need to make time to put energy towards those things because what I've realized is we almost have like a set amount of discipline and energy that we can put towards working on things and I'm sorry but reading and learning new things that's work it can be amazing and fun and awesome but it also is work and so I use all of my energy towards working which working also does teach me new things for sure but you know and I do read things as well but it's like not what I'm talking about here I only have so much energy it feels like I have finite energy to dedicate towards these things and I hit my limit and then it's like but once I hit my limit it's like oh well I've been working all day and I didn't I hit my limit and now there's no time for anything else that requires that kind of energy so going into 2026 if I want to make that shit happen I need to carve out the time so I just need to think about that if 2026 is the year from analyzing all of these New Year's resolutions I've realized that the more specific the better like 10,000 steps a day walking it's like there's a number that I want to hit every day and I've figured out ways to like integrate it into my life and my routine that's a great example or like buy less stuff it's like I mean that's obviously hard to quantify it's like hard to but that's just like a mindset and it's easy to act upon because you know when you're buying stuff seems like the New Year's resolutions that were less productive were ones that were either too broad or they weren't really thought out like watch more movies it's like why and how and what's the reason what's the exact reason and what kind of movies and what's the intention of watching the movies I think the key to New Year's resolutions is realistic goals clear understanding of the reasoning for the resolution and making a plan I think that's the key I haven't written my 2026 New Year's resolutions yet but I will and maybe I'll share those maybe I'll share them at the end of next year and we can see if I if I fall through because I sometimes get sort of superstitious about saying things allowed before I do them so we'll see if I get over that and make an episode about my New Year's resolutions or if I have a mental breakdown and don't anyway well that's it for today's episode I hope that you enjoyed it 2025 was such a wonderful year with you all I really really enjoyed making episodes podcast episodes for all of you and hanging out with you all twice a week which I have some good news and some bad news anything goes will be going down to one episode a week in 2026 why because I need to make more time for other mediums of entertainment listen I love making the podcast but two episodes a week takes up a lot of my time that I could be dedicating towards making YouTube videos making God knows what else I I want to diversify the types of entertainment that I put out into the world and I think going down to one podcast episode a week will help me do that so moving forward new episodes every Thursday tune in all the same places that anything goes has ever been okay anything goes is on social media anything goes I'm on the internet I'm a Chamberlain in my coffee company is on the internet and in the world at Chamberlain coffee I really really appreciate you all listening to anything goes this year and hanging out with me it was such a joy it was such a pleasure I wish you all a happy New Year and I send you all warm hugs going into it I love you all I appreciate you all happy New Year I will talk to you in 2026 baby talk to you then 2026 is about to be a fucking vibe okay now I have to knock on wood okay knocked on wood so it won't be jinxed okay see you next year see you next year talk to you later love you bye