Have you set any New Year’s resolutions that would actually make your life better?
Not the vague ones. Not the recycled promises. I mean the kind that would genuinely change how you feel about your work, your time, your health, or your future.
Because here’s the uncomfortable truth: most New Year’s resolutions are dead by mid-February. Often earlier. Gym memberships gather dust, journals sit half-written, and that “this is the year everything changes” feeling quietly fades into the background noise of everyday life.
Why does this happen?
It’s not because people are lazy. It’s not because they lack ability or intelligence. It’s because most resolutions are built on wishful thinking, not conviction. They sound nice. They look good on paper. But they don’t mean enough.
A resolution like “I should…” or “It would be nice to…” has no backbone. When things get busy, uncomfortable, or inconvenient—as they always do—those goals are the first things to be sacrificed.
Real change starts somewhere else entirely.
It starts with passion.
If you want something to stick, the goal has to connect to something deeper. It has to matter. It has to become a white-hot burning core inside you—a must-achieve, not a nice-to-have. Something tied to how you want to live, who you want to be, or what you refuse to tolerate anymore.
When a goal reaches that level, excuses stop sounding reasonable.
But passion on its own still isn’t enough.
The next step is what most people skip: a plan of action. Not a vague intention, but a clear, practical roadmap. What are you doing next week? Next month? What changes first? What habits need to go? What new ones do you need? What needs to be built? Without a plan, even the strongest motivation slowly leaks away.
And then comes the most important piece of all—accountability.
This is where things either happen or they don’t.
Left to our own devices, we are brilliant at rationalising. We move the goalposts. We tell ourselves we were “too busy” or that it “wasn’t the right time.” And because no one is watching, no one calls us out on it.
That’s why coaching works.
Not because I’m smarter than you. Not because I have some magic answers. I don’t.
It works because I won’t let you off the hook.
I will ask the uncomfortable questions. I will bring you back to the commitments you made when it would be easier to forget them. I will challenge the stories you tell yourself when you start drifting. And I will hold you accountable to the version of your life you said you wanted.
If you’re serious about this year being different—not just busy, but better—start by asking yourself this:
What do I want badly enough that I’m willing to be held accountable for it?
Because that’s where real change begins.
Happy New Year Everyone
By Andy Walter
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