Guess I'm a resolutions person now

My NYE 2026 look positively sparkled

I've been adamantly anti-resolution. The new year is such an arbitrary time point. Why wait until then to start changing things, exploring new interests, and becoming the person you want to be? But the resolutions I made a year ago worked surprisingly well. I gave myself quarterly check-ins and actually made progress to varying degrees on all of them. I guess that makes me a resolution person now? While I'm not entirely convinced, I won't throw away something effective just to stick to my principles, so here's some thoughts on another year of trying to progress as a human:

1. Be more present. This is a really hard one to measure or concretely act on, but it's one of my biggest issues. I'm so focused on the next ten steps that I often struggle to experience the moment. I've been to a few parties over the past year that helped me focus on this, but there's a lot of work to do.
2. Compose a choreography. I followed up on last year's circus fitness goal and am absolutely in shape for this. Unfortunately, it's already looking unlikely my schedule will align to actually perform something this year, but I'd still like to fully compose an act. Still working on picking an apparatus.
3. Develop some work friendships. I've done a decent job of reconnecting at work, but it can often feel lonely. Towards the latter half of the last year, I began building some connections with mixed success. This year, I'd love to see myself really have a place in the office not based just on my skillset but also my connection with the folks I see on the daily. It would be especially lovely to have some folks who I'd properly call friends even if we no longer share an employer.

They're not exactly as sweeping or ambitious as last year. I suppose I don't really need to find myself as much as I did a year ago. But they're some decent goals for a new year.