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# On Resolutions, Goal-Setting, and “Starting Fresh”
- URL: https://andilgregory.com/adventuring-through-life/on-resolutions-goal-setting-and-starting-fresh/
- Published: 2026-01-30T19:00:24.000Z
- Updated: 2026-09-10T20:48:56.000Z
- Author: Andi Gregory
- Tags: Author Musings & Updates, Goals, Goal-setting, resolutions, new year's resolutions, 2026 resolutions, 2026 goals, starting fresh, writing goals, reading goals, #Migrated-1787683573322, #sqs, #Import 2026-08-25 14:46, Adventuring Through Life, blog

We’re at the end of the first month of the year: the time when the “novelty” of New Years’ resolutions and goals begin to wear off—moving out of the “honeymoon phase,” if you will. Many people who came into 2026 gung-ho and raring to “crush new goals” have fallen off of the shiny new routines or the belief that “this year, I can make it happen.”

*There are several reasons for this happening* for people, but for many, I suspect it’s similar to my own struggles in this area for many years: you feel like a failure because you didn’t “stick to your goal” or the routine you needed to accomplish that goal. **And instead of trying again, you allow the guilt and shame of failure to halt you entirely.**

Sometimes this is due to the scale of the goal, because it’s far beyond what’s feasibly doable with current skill, time, or life circumstances. **In other words, it’s out of your control.** Except we don’t view it that way—we view it as *our fault,* even when it isn’t. For instance, I foolishly made a lofty goal of drafting 5 books in 2025\. **Five.** That meant writing 42,000 words a month, or around 2,500 words a day (excluding holidays), when I’d barely completed one short story in the last two years due to creative burnout. I’m also not a “write every day” writer, because it burns me out. I’ve *never* been someone who writes every day, and yet I was absolutely ready to write almost 10,000 words a week.

**Spoiler alert: it didn’t happen.**

Instead, I learned something about myself and goal-setting. *It’s okay to realize something isn’t currently achievable, and then change the goal.* When it became glaringly obvious I definitely wouldn’t finish five books in the year, I **pivoted.** Instead of wallowing in the guilt of getting behind on my “weekly word count” and shame of not reaching my goal, ***I reevaluated what I needed.***

In 2025, I didn’t need to try to be Brandon Sanderson and write five books in a year. *What I needed was to rediscover myself* after years of rote, day-to-day routines meant to help me survive the stress and circumstances of life. **I needed to rediscover a love and joy for the *process* of writing,** rather than focusing on the fact I didn’t have a book published yet, didn’t have an agent, and wasn’t *remotely close* to where I’d hoped to be when I graduated college.

**Reevaluating what I needed and pivoting my hopes for the year meant I ended 2025 with a sense of *accomplishment*.** Instead of lamenting that my writing habits were abysmal (they still were) and allowing guilt and shame to shape my hopes for the next year (as so often happens when we’re guilty about not accomplishing something), **I was proud of what I’d done.** I found a joy and love for writing again. I dabbled in several projects and made some headway. And I *finally* finished drafting a novella I’d been chipping away at for two years. **Instead of feeling disappointed I only managed to finish one writing project, I felt *so very accomplished* for finishing it.**

*By refusing to allow myself to feel shame or guilt for things out of my control,* I regained so much necessary to even begin reaching for a potential “I’m going to write five books this year” goal. *This mindset has made all the difference in the world*. Not only have I avoided the unnecessary guilt/shame wallowing, but **I’ve gained an important outlook on setting goals, resolutions, and hopes for the new year**—and it’s definitely helped in deciding what I’d like to accomplish in 2026.

**The other thing to note here is that goals and resolutions can be set at *any time*. It doesn’t have to be at the turn of a year.**

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When it came time to think over 2025 and set goals for the new year, I moderated myself—**instead of asking “what do I *want* to accomplish this year?” I asked, “what *can* I accomplish this year?”** What do I already have the skills to do, or how do I build those skills in easy, doable bites?

With that said, here’s what I’d like to accomplish in 2026 *that’s absolutely within my control:*

- Decide on a publishing path (quite a hard decision—a lot to consider here)
- Draft Project Snow Swan
- Edit Project Snow Swan
- Research & Edit Project Fox
- Expand Adventuring Through Life blog
- Edit 2 to 3 client projects per month (this is on the borderline of what I can/can’t control; what is in *my* control lies within marketing consistency)
- Read 4-5 books per month

**These goals aren’t set in stone.** Sure, they’re what I’d like to accomplish this year that feels within the grasp of my time and skills. But life has a funny way of changing the script when we’re not ready for it. **I’m holding these goals loosely, ready to reevaluate if necessary.** (I also have some stretch goals, and some goals that are completely outside of my control.)

**Goals shouldn’t be a way for us to shame and guilt ourselves—instead, they should push us just enough to learn new skills, build new habits, or accomplish something we’ve wanted to for a while, but never had the means to.** And if the goals you set at the start of your year aren’t working for you, *it’s okay to pivot.* To put those aside and find new ones that are doable for the season of life you’re in. *Even if that goal is simply “survive.”*