I don't do New Years resolutions per-se (the last one I kept was "quit making New Years resolutions"). What I do now is (laugh if you want) more akin to doing an Agile retrospective for the year.

I sit down and list off "things that went well", "things that did not go well" as well as "things to do less of next year" and "things to do more of next year" in a general sense, and write down some high level themes for the year. One of mine for this year involves the phrase "be more goal focused and process oriented".[1]

Now I suppose you could argue that that's just a resolution by a different name. If so, so be it. To me a proper "New Years resolution" is more like "lose 60 lbs" or something.

Anyway, the retrospective, yearly themes thing is something I've been doing for a couple of years now. So far I find the exercise valuable and would recommend it to anyone reading this.

[1]: I'm not really offering that up as an example I'd expect anyone else to find much, if any, inspiration or value in. The phrase itself is short and pithy and doesn't convey that much. But in my mind it ties back to a lot of other thinking I've done and lessons I've learned, and so it conveys a lot more "weight" to me specifically.

I want to work the equivalent of 4 days each week and maximize my impact while the time I work is fixed.

I have children and I want to spent time with them but I decided to stop cruising in my part time job and instead make most of it while not increasing my working hours.

spend no money on things i want but don't really need. the amount of money i did spent in 2023 on stuff i barely use is not something i'm proud of. so starting 2024 i only buy what i absolutely need, and nothing else. and start reselling most things i don't need at home.

Take the stairs instead of the elevator when possible.