Instead of making a resolution,

meditate on…

• What have I gained in the past year? In what ways do I feel augmented compared to the self I remember from this time last year? How do I feel about that?
• What have I lost in the past year? In what ways am I diminished compared to the self I remember from this time last year? How do I feel about that?
• What important things do I believe now that I did not believe at this time last year? What are the practical consequences? What does it mean for the world to be the way that it is, instead of the way that I thought it was?
• What sort of person might I hope to be, if I knew I had a few centuries to become them? What is standing in my way of being that version of myself? What will I need to gain before I can become them? What will I need to lose?

make a list of…

• things I need to grieve, but haven’t yet.
• grudges I’m holding onto.
• things I’m grateful for from people I haven’t thanked yet.
• things I’m afraid to ask for.

• bugs.
• things about my living or working environment that get in my way, or could be better.
• things I do mostly because I feel like I’m “supposed to”, or “it’s expected”, or “it’s what I’ve always done”.
• traits exhibited by the people I admire most.
• things that make me feel fear and longing at the same time.
• things I think I’m bad at but have never Actually Tried.
• good-seeming things that feel impossible, but that I’ve never Actually Tried to cause.
• skillsets I want to level up in.
• cognitive habits I might like to install or bolster.
• limitations, incompetencies, or other obstacles that are in the way of gaining a skill I want.
• common experiences it might help to be good at noticing.

• things I would expect from the upcoming year if I were unrealistically pessimistic.
• things I would expect from the upcoming year if I were unrealistically optimistic.
• challenges I might encounter in the upcoming year.
• opportunities available to me now that weren’t available at this time last year.
• things some part of me wants, but that I feel like I’m not allowed to want.
• problems I have no idea how to solve.

• the tiniest actions I could take that would get me closer to one of my goals.
• trigger-action patterns that might cause incremental progress toward a skill I want.
• trigger-action patterns I have by default that are probably getting in my way.
• things I could try every day for a week.
• mental motions I could set a reminder to practice at random for a few days.
• things I'd like to journal about at some point.

write a sentence or three describing…

• what I expect this year will be like.
• what would happen if I just stopped doing one of the things I’m “supposed to do”.
• what I love about a cherished interpersonal relationship.
• what I’d like to change about a cherished interpersonal relationship.
• how I messed up in one of my projects from the past year.
• what I learned from one of my projects in the past year.
• an experience from the past year that reminds me of a way I’d like to grow.
• an ability that might be unlocked by skills I’ve recently gained.
• a best version of myself.
• my current bottleneck.
• the next act in the story of my life.

design…

• a transformative ritual.
• a meditation that cultivates a virtue I’d like to gain.
• a line of retreat for something I’m afraid might happen in the upcoming year.
• a crisis of faith.
• a strategy for capitalizing on the skills I gained last year.
• a weekend retreat.
• a training program.
• a strategy for getting out of the way of something wonderful that could happen.