Unlock Your Best Year: Actionable Resolutions for Personal Growth & Fulfillment

The concept of New Year’s resolutions often comes with a baggage of pressure and potential disappointment. For many years, I found myself in that camp, viewing resolutions as rigid deadlines rather than opportunities for genuine change. The thought of setting ambitious goals only to feel guilty if they weren’t perfectly achieved by the end of the year was always a deterrent. However, this year feels different. There’s a renewed sense of purpose and a fresh perspective that’s truly exciting.

A significant part of this shift can be attributed to the recent redesign and new name of this space. It feels like moving into a brand new home with ample room to grow, explore, and create. This fresh start has surprisingly made me embrace the idea of resolutions, but with a crucial mental adjustment: I now view them as dynamic shifts in priorities and ongoing personal growth, rather than strict, unyielding deadlines. While accomplishing these goals in the current year would be fantastic, many of them are long-term aspirations that extend far beyond any single year. They represent a desire to integrate more meaningful practices and experiences into my daily life, and some are simply exciting bucket list items I’m eager to try.

Experience has taught me that simply thinking about goals isn’t enough; writing them down significantly increases the likelihood of achieving them and fosters a stronger sense of accountability. Therefore, I’m sharing my intentions for the year ahead. These resolutions encompass various aspects of my life—some are tied to my work, blogging, and this platform, while many others are deeply personal desires and hopes I’ve harbored for a long time.

Explore Chicago More & Embrace Solo Adventures

Since relocating to Chicago in June, I genuinely feel we’ve made impressive strides in exploring our new city. I’m quite proud of how quickly we’ve become acquainted with its unique layout. Chicago, with its magnificent skyline and user-friendly street system, is incredibly pedestrian-friendly. I can confidently step out of our apartment and navigate to almost any destination without getting lost, which is a wonderful feeling.

However, there’s still an immense amount to discover! While the current frosty weather and early sunsets can make it tempting to stay indoors, I’m admittedly guilty of getting stuck in the apartment for days, venturing out only for necessities like groceries. This year, I’m resolving to break that cycle. My goal is to walk more, delve into the city’s diverse museums, wander through new neighborhoods, and generally do more things on my own. This could be as simple as a leisurely stroll to a nearby coffee shop to work for the day, or a more involved visit to an art gallery or a historical site. The essence is to actively take advantage of everything this vibrant city has to offer, right at my fingertips.

Furthermore, I want to integrate these explorations into my writing. As much as I adore sharing recipes, I truly miss the more journalistic, spontaneous element of blogging. I hope to revive that aspect this year, even if it means simple photo essays or brief recaps of our daily adventures. Sharing these personal experiences will add a different dimension to my content and allow me to connect with readers on a more personal level.

Prioritize My Time Over Money

This is an area where I readily admit I fall short. Perhaps it’s a millennial trait, a guilt complex, or a deep-seated people-pleasing tendency, but I often find myself valuing money over my precious time. For instance, if a particular task consumes a significant amount of my valuable time each week, my initial inclination is to continue doing it myself, even if that time could be far better spent on more impactful or personally fulfilling activities. It’s a classic case of being penny-wise and pound-foolish with one’s most finite resource.

The adage “time is money” is profound, yet I frequently struggle to internalize and act upon it. This resolution is about consciously reminding myself of this truth and making strategic decisions to free up time. It means learning to delegate, investing in tools that streamline processes, or even saying no to certain commitments if they don’t align with my highest priorities. The ultimate goal is to optimize my schedule so that I can dedicate more energy to truly important pursuits, both professional and personal, rather than getting bogged down in tasks that drain my most valuable asset.

Cultivate More Self-Kindness

This resolution is intimately connected with the previous one, and as I’ve mentioned before, it’s a practice many of us could benefit from. Whether it’s ingrained in my personality or a learned behavior, I tend to be incredibly hard on myself across most facets of my life. I touched upon this last year in a post about achieving work-life balance and openly admitted my ongoing struggles.

While this self-critical nature has, at times, been a driving force—pushing me to work harder and never settle for mediocrity—it can also be a significant source of unnecessary stress and, frankly, counterproductive. Constantly striving for perfection often leads to burnout rather than genuine accomplishment. Therefore, my resolution is to embrace a more forgiving and compassionate attitude towards myself. This means accepting that it’s perfectly fine to only visit the gym twice a week instead of four, or to spontaneously decide that cereal for dinner is an acceptable and even enjoyable option. It’s about recognizing that every day doesn’t have to be perfect, and there’s always an opportunity for a fresh start tomorrow. This shift isn’t about lowering standards, but rather about fostering a healthier, more sustainable approach to well-being and productivity.

Enroll in an Art Class & Develop a New Hobby

This stands as one of my most anticipated resolutions for the year, and I’m genuinely thrilled about the prospect! While the exact class or medium might still be taking shape, the underlying desire is clear. Over the past year or so, I’ve keenly felt the absence of a dedicated hobby or a regular artistic outlet. Years ago, drawing and painting were integral parts of my life, and I deeply miss the creative satisfaction they brought.

Photography and, to some extent, cooking used to fulfill this creative need for me, and they still do in certain aspects. However, I’m yearning for an activity that is completely and utterly disconnected from my blog and professional work. I want a space where I can create purely for the joy of it, without any pressure of monetization or audience engagement. Inspired by my friend Adrianna, I’m seriously considering a pottery class this summer or next fall, or perhaps enrolling in a drawing or painting workshop at Chicago’s renowned Art Institute. Not only would this provide a fantastic source of inspiration outside my usual work sphere, but it also offers a wonderful opportunity to meet new people and expand my social circle in a relaxed, creative environment.

Finally Master Meal Planning

Confession time: I am notoriously bad at meal planning! [Refer to the “Be More Kind to Myself” resolution.] I know, it’s somewhat ironic given that I create recipes constantly and manage other aspects of cooking. My primary struggle has always been my tendency to crave specific foods throughout the week; inevitably, if I plan meals too rigidly, I find myself not in the mood for any of them when the time comes. This often leads to last-minute decisions, wasted ingredients, and frequent trips to the grocery store.

However, I had what I consider a brilliant idea yesterday! I’m creating a concise grocery list for each of our favorite go-to dinners, carefully excluding common pantry staples like olive oil that I always have on hand. Once these individual lists are complete, I’ll organize them into weekly meal plans, typically five to six recipes per week. From these weekly plans, I’ll then compile one comprehensive master grocery list for each week. This master list will be our go-to reference moving forward. To ensure seamless execution, I’ll email these lists to both Connor and myself, guaranteeing that one of us always has access to them at the grocery store. This system aims to prevent forgetting essential items and eliminates the need for multiple small grocery runs, ensuring we have all the ingredients for a full week’s worth of meals.

Many of these reliable recipes, if you’re curious, were featured in my popular ‘Best of 2015’ post!

Get Organized & Be More Intentional

I’m genuinely making significant progress on this front! For reasons I can’t quite pinpoint—perhaps the fresh start with a new planner and notebook—I feel like I’m finally developing an effective and sustainable organizational system. This system will span my work, my blog, and my personal life, and crucially, it’s designed to enhance my productivity and foster a more intentional approach to everything I do.

More than ever, I’ve come to realize that I am fundamentally a paper-and-pen person. This might be a consequence of spending so much time online, but it’s simply how my brain functions best. When faced with a looming deadline and multiple tasks, I absolutely need to visualize everything in front of me, in a way that allows me to grasp the entire scope at once. Without this clear visual roadmap, I’m prone to procrastination or feeling completely overwhelmed by the sheer volume of tasks.

This year, I’m employing a less rigid adaptation of the Bullet Journal system for both personal and work-related items, inspired by Kristen and Jessica. Additionally, I’m utilizing my beloved Day Designer for broader daily planning. Recognizing that some aspects are simply more practical to manage digitally, I also recently discovered Trello, a fantastic free online organization tool, thanks to Kara! I believe this synergistic combination of analog and digital tools will prove incredibly effective in keeping me on track this year. If you’re interested in learning more about my evolving organizational strategies, please let me know, and I’d be delighted to share more detailed posts on the subject.

Prioritize Travel & Cherish Family Time

Although we embarked on a fair bit of travel in the previous year, I’m genuinely excited to explore even more in the coming months! This doesn’t necessarily mean grand international adventures, though those are always welcome. It could be as simple as a rejuvenating weekend trip to Washington D.C. to visit my parents, or venturing to New York and San Francisco to spend quality time with my sisters, brothers-in-law, and my adorable nephew, Arthur. One significant consequence of moving to a city where we don’t have immediate family nearby is that it profoundly amplifies the value of time spent with loved ones. While I’m perpetually conscious of impending deadlines and the demands of my work, I’m committed to becoming better at intentionally disconnecting and making family time a non-negotiable priority.

On a more ambitious note, I am truly hoping to make a trip to England next fall to visit my grandmother, whom I haven’t seen in far too long. Traveling is undeniably one of my greatest passions (and a topic I love to write about!), offering invaluable opportunities for new experiences, learning, and rejuvenation. I am determined to keep this spirit of exploration alive and well throughout the upcoming year, balancing work with meaningful personal journeys and cherished moments with family.

What are your resolutions for the upcoming year, and what are you most eagerly anticipating? I would genuinely love to hear your thoughts and aspirations in the comments below!