New Years has always felt like such an awkward time of year for me. I truly hated it. “New year, new me” and “crushing resolutions” are the phoniest of sentiments and goal setting never seemed genuine. The new faces I’d see at the gym were just bodies in the way that I’d have to wait out until February and any time someone would ask me what my goal was for the year, I’d have a guttural reaction. Reflecting back on the previous year, sure! Learn from mistakes and remind myself what I don’t want, you got it! Reflecting was easy but why is it so much harder to make a plan for the future?

I graduated school with an Exercise Science degree, have worked as a personal trainer and have most recently managed an assisted stretching studio so I am no stranger to goal setting and how to do it. I’ve been happy to help others set their own goals from clients, to staff and even my husband but just couldn’t break the mental block of setting my own. The thing I find hypocritical about it, is when we would do quarterlies with staff or sit down for an initial intake for a new client to set goals, I would actually get frustrated by how hard it was for them to set their own as they always seemed so obvious. Could they actually not see it staring them right in the face? Or were they just afraid to say what they want? Am I missing the obvious or am I afraid to say what I want?

And then this year, 2025, I was hit with an epiphany of a goal. Had a head on collision with it as I was at my wits end of a (not abnormally) very busy December. Less. I want less. It was such a refreshing thought when it first came to me and felt like the chain to the cement block holding me under water broke and I could finally breach the surface to breath again. Less. The idea is still refreshing 7 days into the new year which is longer than any other pathetic goal I’ve ever tried to abide by. Was it really that simple? Is that why it felt so phony before? Was I just making shit up that I thought sounded good or I “should” say?

I don’t mean less as in “don’t do a fucking thing ever”. I mean less as in simplify and be consistent. Less overindulging in social media, food, drink, and unnecessary purchases. Less allowing myself to be pulled in every direction to benefit everyone else around me while letting my needs and desires fall short. Less comparing to friends, family and strangers I’ve never even met. Less saying yes when I really want to say no.

Staying consistent with less. Staying consistent with quality of life over quantity of life things. Consistency with checking in to make sure what I am doing is actually improving my quality of life mentally, physically and socially. Consistency with my relationships and taking care of the ones that mean the most. Consistency with my attitude and motivation. Consistency with NOT doom scrolling for hours because there is truly nothing worse than having to talk yourself off the thread you’ve been scrolling only to realize you don’t remember a single post you saw and your time has been sucked away from you by an app. And all we really have is our time, isn’t it? So instead of scrolling, I am writing, which is something I always want to do and never do and I feel fulfilled by that.