I didn’t really do a “New Year, New Me” moment this year. Instead, the start of 2026 has felt more like a slow reset — one that’s been happening gradually over the past few months rather than all at once in January.
We all put so much pressure on the beginning of January to essentially become new people – new routines, new habits, just new everything.
But this year, i didnt.
January came around quickly (as it always does), and I felt completely unprepared. So by the time February rolled around, I was only just starting to think about the things I would usually have planned weeks earlier.
I didn’t write my goals until the end of February, and I only recently made a fitness plan, and it took me two months to pick up a book again.
This is all very unlike me but maybe its not a bad thing. I’m simply not the same person I was this time last year — and my life doesn’t look the same either.
Rather than force myself and put pressure on my already anxious mind to reinvent myself when the clock ticked over, I decided this year I would be doing a slower reset. I gave myself a few extra months to figure out what I want from this year and have slowly been adding in some new hobbies and routines to see if they are sustainable, and so far its working.
The Pressure to Start the New Year Perfectly
It is hard seeing posts on social media and the internet with people starting the new year ‘successfully’ with new goals being made and talking about them non-stop, making it feel like the only way to have a good 2026 is to have everything figured out from day one.
But I’ve realised you don’t actually have to spend money on new planners, workout equipment, or completely reinvent your life just to have a “good year”.
I’ve found that mindset to be completely unsustainable. It creates so much pressure, especially when its coming from people we trust to ‘influence’ us, who are pushing all of these products that we apparently desperately need in order to have a good 2026.
The new year is meant to feel like a fresh start, but this year I chose to do it at my own pace, without the added pressure that I am doing it too late or not doing it well enough, because all of those influencers are inundating my feed with new years resolutions that are frankly doing more harm than good to my mental health.
Whilst I am the first one to admit I do love a reset, I love getting a few new books or clothes to make me feel good about myself or where I am at in life, but sometimes its just too much, and far too much pressure to change.
2025 was a huge year for me, both mentally and physically. I had some serious highs – I finished my degree, I graduated university, I moved overseas by myself. Then I had some really bad lows – a substantial period of unemployment and struggling with making new friends and settling in to life overseas (I spoke more about this in my recent moving to London post) and away from my home and my family which inevitably led me to revert back to some old bad habits, poor mental and physical health.
Now that it is April 2026, I am happy to say that I have made an effort already this year to prioritise both my physical and mental health, something that I have neglected for far too long. For me, it was in doing this, that I felt like my new year or new beginning had begun.
My New Years Goals
So instead of setting strict resolutions at the start of the year, I gave myself time — and this is what I’ve landed on.
For me, a lot of 2026 is still unplanned, as I am overseas and on a working visa, I still don’t know if I will be still in this new country until 2027 or if I will move home at the end of this year, that much is still unclear. So, in saying that, I focused my goals and resolutions on things that I would like to accomplish in general, that didn’t focus on a specific location that I would be living at the time. Some of my goals include:
- Journalling every day
- Move my body 3–4 times a week — whether that’s runs, walks, or workouts.
- Try to make some new friends even though it honestly terrifies me.
- Read 50 books (for me I believe this is doable – but if I am not able to, I will not be angry with myself because a hobby stops becoming enjoyable when you are strict with it)
- I have a dream to get into travel writing. That is something I really want to prioritise in 2026, especially whilst I am in the northern hemisphere and am so close to some of the greatest cities in the world, it would be wrong to not go and write about them!
- Prioritise my mental health – and for me that is seeking therapy
These are the goals I am focusing on this year. I am not putting a time limit on them or forcing myself to do them but I am adding them to my gentle reset.
I think what I’ve learned so far this year is that a reset doesn’t have to happen overnight. Sometimes, it’s something that happens slowly, over weeks or even months, and that doesn’t make it any less valid.
So, if your year didn’t start perfectly in January, you’re not behind. You’re just doing it differently.
What are your goals for 2026 and how are they going so far? Do you think that social media puts too much pressure on starting the new year right?
Talk soon,
-Soph xx
