Many people use the new year to resolve something, those pesky New Year’s resolutions. I won’t bore you with the stats, but most of us do not keep resolutions. I never kept mine because they were too big, too vague, or just not achievable on my own.
Resolutions don’t work for me. But projects? I love to start new projects.
I have much more starting energy than finishing energy. That’s why I use checklists to finish. In effect, I use these checklists to create little bits of starting energy to finish my older work.
Is that cheating? I don’t care. All I know is I can finish my in-progress work to start something new.
Several years ago, Daniel Steinberg told me about his word(s) for the year. This year, he hasn’t yet said what his words are, but his most recent newsletter is about starting and fresh starts. My friend and colleague, Jim Grey, said is word for the year is discipline.
While I do recognize the need for fresh starts and discipline, those words do not yet ring true for me this year. Instead, my words are:
- Onward! (Yes, I hear it in my head with the exclamation mark! I love my exclamation marks!)
- Inclusive.
Those words prompt my starting energy for all my projects.
Words & Actions Can Prompt Your Starting Energy
I’m a writer, so I use words. However, you might consider actions to prompt your starting energy.
One of the most effective ways I know about actions is from James Clear’s Atomic Habits (my Amazon affiliate link): Pair one action to trigger another.
I have several exercises I do every day: Walking, specific stretching, and whatever strength training I’m currently focused on. I love walking and strength training.
I hate to stretch. On the other hand, I love when I have stretched.
So I get to pair the thing I hate (stretching) with two things I love: walking and strength training. I suspect that’s because I can see the progress when I walk and strength-train. I cannot see any stretching progress.
You might even be the kind of person who uses both words and actions.
Whatever you use, make it positive, so you want to fulfill those words and actions.
Positive Words and Actions Help Us Know What to Do
I have some bad habits that I will not enumerate because I want you to think well of me. I suspect you also have some suspect habits.
It’s easy for us to say, “Don’t do this thing.” But that’s only half the equation. What will you do instead? We need to know what to replace bad habits with. We replace the “Don’t do” this thing with “Do this other thing.” That’s what I mean by positive.
When we choose positive words and actions, we can know what to do instead of the thing we do not want to do.
We think resolutions work because many of us like that starting energy. However, starting energy only works if we can pair it with intent and actions.
You might not like words, so use actions. Maybe you’re more like me, where you need both. Whatever kind of person you are, consider all the ways you can prompt your starting energy.
Here’s to a wonderful 2026!