Your New Year’s Resolution Is Going to Fail

The life you want doesn't begin on January 1st. It will begin on an ordinary day when you finally decide to start.

Your New Year’s resolution is probably going to fail.

Not because you’re doing anything wrong, but because January 1st isn’t the miracle moment we pretend it is. Most real change starts on an unremarkable day you don’t even remember later. Once I stopped waiting for the calendar to save me, my entire approach to improvement shifted.

We put way too much weight on one date. The calendar flips, our hopes spike, and suddenly we think we’ll wake up as a different person. But January 1st doesn’t erase our patterns or rewrite our routines. It just gives us a socially acceptable way to delay the changes we already know we need to make.

When I look back at the things that actually changed my life, none of them started with a resolution. My workout streak didn’t begin with a promise to myself in January. My journaling habit didn’t launch because the calendar flipped. Even my writing didn’t start with a big plan or a perfect moment. All of it began on ordinary days when I finally stopped negotiating with myself and took the smallest possible next step.

That’s the part we overlook when we cling to resolutions:

change doesn’t care what day it is when you begin.

Where Change Really Begins

My journaling habit has been the real proof of this. I started on July 14, 2023, and somehow, it’s turned into more than 900 days of writing, ten handwritten minutes at a time.

It hasn’t been perfect. I’ve missed a few days when I pushed it off until the afternoon, got caught up in something, and completely forgot. I’d wake up the next morning annoyed at myself and say, “Well… looks like I’m writing twice as long today,” and I would.

On trips where I forgot my journal, I wrote entries on loose pieces of paper and taped them in once I got home. Some entries were rushed, low-quality, or done out of pure obligation. But I did them anyway.

Here’s an example.

I’ve snuck away for ten minutes on vacations just to keep the streak alive, waking up earlier so I didn’t inconvenience anyone. And during stressful periods, those pages became grounding proof that reflection was helping me become a better man, a better writer, and someone who can actually hear his own thoughts.

Showing Up

My fitness streak did not start on a special date. It began in May 2022, mostly because I knew how easy it would be to drift once my college rowing career ended. I made one simple rule for myself: move with real intention for at least an hour a day. That meant running, lifting, biking, swimming, hiking, skiing, or anything that genuinely elevated my heart rate.

As I am writing this on December 23rd, 2025, that choice has turned into 1,311 consecutive days. And honestly, most of those days were not impressive. Some were tired, stressful, or rushed. Some happened early in the morning or late at night. Some were done out of obligation more than excitement. But I still showed up.

The streak never came from motivation or from some dramatic turning point. It came from doing what I said I would do, even when it was not convenient. Over time, that consistency became less about fitness and more about identity. It became proof that I can trust myself to follow through.

And that shift did not come from a resolution.
It came from hundreds of ordinary days where I kept a promise to myself.

Here's some views from my Strava wrapped on December 23rd 2025.

Let’s be friends!

Writing in Public

My writing journey began the same way the others did. There was no strategy or yearly plan behind it. I started in late March of 2025 after months of talking myself out of posting anything at all. I overthought every idea. I worried about how it might come across. I convinced myself no one would care what I had to say. But eventually the fear of doing nothing felt worse than the fear of putting something out there, so I hit publish.

One post slowly turned into many. Over 50 long-form pieces, hundreds of notes, and more consistency than I ever expected to find. People began to read, respond, and stick around. Today my page has a little over 20,000 views and is approaching 500 subscribers. I am also building my first book, a 365-day guided journal, which is still something I would have never imagined creating when I pressed publish for the first time.

None of this happened because I waited for the right moment or felt ready. It happened because I chose to write in public even when it was uncomfortable. The consistency built the confidence. And each small piece of work became another reminder that beginnings do not need permission from a calendar.

Here is the exact trajectory I have taken since I started on Substack.

Why Resolutions Fail

Seeing the patterns in my own life made me understand why so many resolutions fall apart. Most people try to change everything at once. They rely on motivation instead of building a system. They choose goals that sound impressive but do not match their identity or their daily reality. And once the early excitement fades, the habit collapses because there is nothing practical holding it in place. A resolution feels powerful on day one, but power is not the same as structure.

Most resolutions also fail because we underestimate friction. We assume we will magically have more time, more energy, and more willpower in the new year, even though nothing about our life has actually changed. Our routines stay the same. Our environment stays the same. Our stress stays the same. Habits only form when we remove friction, not when we ignore it. The calendar cannot do that work for us.

There is also a full industry built around the idea of reinvention. Gyms, apps, coaches, programs, and subscription services push their hardest marketing in January because they understand the psychology of the fresh start. People feel vulnerable, energized, or guilty, and businesses know how to use that moment to sell a new identity.

But an identity is not something you can purchase. It is something you build through consistent proof.

A Simple Way to Begin

You do not need a perfect plan to change your life. You only need something you can repeat. Here are a few simple rules that have worked for me.

Rule 1: Start smaller than you think.
If the habit feels too big, you will avoid it. Make it easy to begin.

Rule 2: Give it a home.
Choose a time and stick to it. Habits form faster when they live in the same place each day.

Rule 3: Never miss two days.
Missing once is normal. Missing twice becomes a pattern. Catch yourself quickly.

Rule 4: Track it in the simplest way possible.
A checkmark, a tally, a note. You just need proof that you showed up.

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Just Start.

Most people wait for the right moment to change their life. They wait for motivation, for clarity, for confidence, for a clean slate. But the truth is that every meaningful shift I have made began the same way Forrest Gump did:

There was nothing poetic about it. I was not ready. I just began.

And that is the part of growth we never talk about. You do not need to feel inspired to take the first step. You do not need a perfect routine or a twelve-month plan. You do not need to reinvent yourself on January 1st. You only need a small action that you are willing to repeat.

The streaks, the habits, the identity changes, the confidence, the clarity, the progress. All of it came from ordinary days where I was willing to show up even when it was not convenient. The beginning never felt dramatic. It just mattered that it happened.

So if you want to change something in your life, do not wait for the calendar to give you permission. Start today. Start small. Start messy. Start on a random Tuesday afternoon. Start the way every real beginning happens. Take one step in the direction you want to go and let consistency pull you forward.

And if anything in this piece resonated with you or you want to continue the conversation, reply to this email or reach out. I would love to hear what you are working on and how you are trying to show up for yourself this year.

I look forward to growing in 2026 with you.

LET’S GO!