Starting in October, we are bombarded with different holiday obligations between Halloween, Thanksgiving, and Christmas. The last three months of the year are my favorite because of how many holidays we have to look forward to. With all the hustle and bustle associated with the holiday season, New Year’s resolutions can be overlooked—especially when we have spent the last few weeks spending time wrapping up the year and spending time with family and friends.

With the new year coming up, it is the perfect time to reflect on the past year and reset before the next one starts. When one thinks of New Year’s resolutions, what comes to mind is how we can improve ourselves and what strategic things we can do to achieve those goals. Some common resolutions that people often make are health- or career-related.[i] I personally like to make resolutions because it’s a perfect time to improve myself. These resolutions give me something to work on and I’m excited about the opportunity to achieve whatever goals I set.

A lot of my resolutions last year happened to be career-related. This past year brought a lot of change for me personally, like joining a new firm and pivoting to a new area of law. So, for this next year, I’m setting a mix of both long- and short-term resolutions primarily focused on myself. It seems like a broad resolution, but overall, it is something that I want to try to do this next year.

One of the things I’m doing now is reexamining my current habits and trying to build better habits moving forward. One of the habits I’m trying to build now to bring into the New Year is to schedule time to do something fun that I’m looking forward to. I noticed that, on days where I’m looking forward to a fun activity, I’m typically more productive and efficient with my time. I’m not just wasting the rest of the day scrolling mindlessly after work. Plus, the next day, I’m just as ready to tackle the day.

The next resolution is a bit different! Although I’m looking forward to scheduling more activities in my daily life, I’m also trying to be more open to spontaneity. Life happens, and I want to focus on what I can control over what I can’t. Sometimes you can have the entire day planned out, but sometimes you also need to be open-minded and flexible.

Another resolution I have is to wake up an hour earlier. The additional time would allow me to start the day more refreshed instead of feeling frazzled. I’m not naturally a morning person, but I like the idea of having some time for myself before the day really starts.

Lastly, I want to learn more. Earlier this year, I transitioned from representing plaintiffs to doing defense work, and I definitely learned a lot from this change. I’ve received a lot of feedback, which really helped me understand my current strengths and areas that I can improve on.

In 2024, I learned that a lot can change in a couple of months. A lot of the resolutions that I had made the year before brought me to where I am now. So, in 2025, I hope to build better habits and really embrace what the next year has for me.

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Sources

[i] Shanay Gracia, New Year’s resolution: Who makes them and why. (Jan. 29, 2024), https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2024/01/29/new-years-resolutions-who-makes-them-and-why/