Here we are again, at the start of a fresh new year, the dozenth such occasion on this site. Many times in the past I began it by setting some goals, which was a convenient impetus to write and publish posts about them. Very few of those goals saw meaningful success—or even effort—so it eventually started feeling a bit dishonest going through the whole rigmarole, and I stopped.
This has created a vacancy where that easy path out of the holiday madness used to live. I was feeling inspired to write tonight, and almost habitually started another post about goals, but the above still stands, so now what?
I think that instead of trying to set some goals—which I recognize was largely a half-hearted attempt at rebranding New Year’s resolutions to fool myself into owning up to them—I can strike a deal with this new year:
Dear 2026,
I have a simple proposal for you: I’ll try my best to be better than I was in 2025, and you be better than 2025 too.
Love always, Nik
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