A New Type of New Years Resolution
Written by Grace Lovekin
Tired of setting New Year’s resolutions that always seem to fail? We have a different approach for you to try.
I close my eyes and basically dislocate my jaw to fit what feels like the last opportunity to enjoy a homemade meal into my mouth before New Year’s Eve hits. “I will start eating right and working out on January 1st. No excuses,” I tell myself as I finish the first bite of those much anticipated holiday leftovers. New Year’s Eve comes and goes and so does my will to start working out. “I’ll just start February 1st” I say to myself.
50% of Canadian’s will set a New Year’s resolution for 2026.
I never did start working out. Instead, I did something completely different. I decided to choose three words that would encapsulate my year ahead, and to make it stick got my kids to participate. It felt like a gentler way to enter the year without the pressure of goals or resolutions, and it started a conversation about achievements, attainable milestones and motivation.
I chose these words: connection, alignment and boldness. You’ll notice not one of them relates directly to exercising, which was my original goal, but all three words do support any and all of the shifts in my life I hope to achieve.
The most common New Year’s resolution for the average Canadian is health related, with 71% of us wanting to lose weight or eat better. 58% of Canadian’s want to set better financial goals, while about a quarter of us set goals to improve our mental health.
Connection
I needed a reminder to engage with those people that truly fill my cup, to feed those emotional bonds with the people in my community and family who love & support me. “Connection” is also a subtle reminder to stay connected to myself and my needs through the busy year of motherhood and full time work.
Alignment
This year I want to keep my thoughts, feeling and actions in harmony with my authentic self . A word which serves are a reminder to trust my intuition and keep a sense of inner peace. It also helps me answer the common question, “does this align with me?” if it’s not a HELL YES! It’s a HELL NO!
Boldness
My word of encouragement to help open doors that were previously closed. Choosing to be “bold” is about acting with courage, confidence, especially in the face of fear. I hope it makes life more interesting, push me out of comfort zone.
Seven in ten Canadian’s indicate they are confident they will achieve their intended resolution.
I am the mother of three boys and as you can imagine, they’re all completely different. Different personalities, qualities and motivations. They’re bros by blood but could be from totally different planets.
My oldest son chose the word, “motivation” (to get out of bed?) (to hand assignments in on time?) to help motivate his team mates on his club soccer team to do their best in every game and every practice because “they win and lose together”. This blew my mind because I definitely thought he needed motivation to mow the lawn.
The average resolution lasts only 3.7 months.
My middle son, a creature of habit and warm human comforts chose the word, “excitement”. Although he spends a lot of quiet time alone, he loves getting excited about the small things, like baking banana bread, playing games online with his friend in Australia (when they finally get the timing right!). This word was chosen to encourage more exciting things to happen in 2026, overall.
About 9% of people fully keep their resolutions.
My youngest son chose a unique word to encapsulate his upcoming year. He chose the name of his favourite puppy from the litter of dogs which were magically (and annoyingly) born into our family this past spring. Her name was Solita and she was blind. She was so determined to behave, play and interact like her 8 brothers and sisters that she didn’t mind falling off the deck or walking into walls to prove she was normal. “She just never gave up”, my youngest son said.
No matter what words you decide to choose to hold meaning for you in 2026, let them be a gentle reminder of what you and your family can enjoy and accomplish many things in the coming year without the stress of keeping a resolution, which as we know, almost always get broken.
What will your word(s) be?
Sources:
www.logitgroup.com
www.forbes.com
www.enterpriseappstoday.com
