A New Year’s “Revolution”
I recently wrote about how traditional New Year’s Resolutions can be harmful, particularly for individuals with perfectionist tendencies who are living with chronic illness or a disability.
One of the biggest shifts in Becoming Type C is learning to listen to your body — not after it collapses, but while it’s still whispering.
In 2024, I learned the hard way that chronic exhaustion and ignoring pain aren’t signs of dedication. They’re signs that something is asking to change.
So I spent all of 2025 trying to respond with change.
The truth is that we don’t ever need a fresh year — we just have to be willing to make new choices.
Rather than creating resolutions for 2026, I have decided that I need to let go.
So I invite you to participate in the following reflection:
What are you carrying that you’ve already proven doesn’t work?
What habits are causing you more harm than good? What emotional pain are you carrying? Are you holding onto blame, resentment, or regret?
If you’re doing the same thing year after year and nothing has changed, you’ve already proven to yourself that it’s not working. Do you want to feel the same self-inflicted pain for another year? Do you want to stay in the same place if it’s not a good place? If something drained you or even broke you last year, it will do the same this year. The familiar pain may feel safer than unfamiliar change, but letting go of what isn’t serving you is your choice.
When it comes to living with chronic illness, there are so many things that are beyond our control. And sure, maybe to some extent we’re “unlucky”. But continuing to carry forward the same things that haven’t worked before isn’t bad luck — that is a choice we’re making.
We may not be able to avoid physical pain, but participating in things that are soul-sucking, repeating the same arguments with yourself or others, and overbooking your schedule and just calling it ambition are all examples of things that aren’t serving you. Let’s leave the “bs” behind.
This year, we release what isn’t working.
Where are you confusing being “responsible” with being afraid?
Are you choosing security over fulfilment? Do you call burnout normal because everyone else seems to have it? Do you run from change or growth because of what could go wrong? Are you preserving yourself today for your future or are you protecting what’s familiar out of fear of the unknown?
Fear often disguises itself as logic. People will call it “being realistic” as a way to avoid the discomfort of change.
Fear disguised as logic that often affects our happiness, our health, and our wellbeing. And when we allow fear to force us into comfort, it can act as a cage without us even realizing it.
Are you willing to show up for yourself and stop allowing fear to shrink you and your life?
This year, we show up for ourselves.
What does your body keep asking for that you ignore?
In high achievers, burnout often shows up as physical signs before you feel any mental stress. In other words, our bodies keep score; they will always collect what we neglect.
What has your body been telling you that you keep pushing aside? Do you keep pushing through exhaustion? Do you think feeling anxious is just you being productive? Are you skipping self-care or needing rest but feeling guilty for allowing that rest?
This year, we listen to our body’s whispers (before it starts screaming).
What are you justifying so people don’t judge or misunderstand you?
The right people don’t need convincing. Do you share more than what you want to share just to avoid assumptions? Do you try to soften your truth in hopes it will land better? If you even have boundaries, do you try to justify them? Do you respond to opinions you didn’t ask for in the first place?
Your energy matters far more than someone else’s expectations.
You don’t owe anyone (not even yourself) a perfectly packaged version of yourself.
People’s opinions are imagined realities that should never shape our lives.
Who is your life actually for? Is the way you show up every day just for others? How often do you feel the need to explain yourself and defend your decisions?
If you’re living for everyone else’s approval, you’re no longer the owner of your life — someone else owns it and you’re just renting it.
Your path in life doesn’t need to make sense to others.
Your life isn’t a group project — the only person you need permission from is you.
This year, freedom starts and explanations end.
What version of yourself are you afraid to disappoint?
If you could give your younger self a hug and could only tell them one thing, what would it be?
Old identities of ourselves carry so much emotional weight into adulthood. Often, we would never speak to a child the way we speak to ourselves.
Growth can sometimes feel like a betrayal of our past self or like we’re letting someone down, but you don’t owe permanence to any old versions of you or to any expectations. Clinging to an old version that no longer fits or works, or worrying about disappointing family or coworkers is just performance.
Outgrowing people and old versions of yourself doesn’t make you selfish; it makes you honest.
You’re allowed to outgrow the expectations that were set onto you by others.
This year, we let go of expectations.
If your health mattered most, what decision would you make?
You will never regret putting your health first. Sacrificing yourself is never the answer and living with chronic stress will steal everything from you.
Everything, aside from our health and our bodies, is replaceable.
Reduce your workload, even if it scares you.
Say “yes” to the 20% of your day that you prioritize and let go of the 80% that you don’t.
Prioritize rest and recovery over hustle.
Say no to environments and people who create stress. Living in survival mode is the fastest way to destroy your health and shorten your life.
Wellness should be treated as the foundation, never the bonus.
This year, we choose wellness.
What part of your life deserves privacy over performance?
Visibility is not the same as fulfilment. Not everything needs validation. Not everything needs to be shared with the world and, sometimes, privacy can be powerful.
Quiet seasons are essential for growth. Sometimes, we can be our most “productive” when we disappear for a while. This is rest we can take without the need to explain it to others.
And things often grow best when they’re nurtured and protected.
This year, we choose nurturing over momentum.
Who do you become if you stop negotiating your truth?
If something is calling, it will continue calling until we answer.
Do you need to end something that no longer aligns? Have you delayed stepping into a version of clarity for too long?
Negotiating with yourself adds so much internal conflict. And being able to find yourself is the greatest joy in life.
Be honest with who you are, what your values are, and who you’re truly becoming — because the longer you negotiate with your true self, the more it will cost you.
This year, we listen to our true selves.
You will always know the truth, even if the answers aren’t loud. You can even whisper them to yourself. And you don’t need permission, you don’t need certainty — you just need one honest choice at a time.
Becoming this version of yourself isn’t dramatic — it is intentional.
And if you’re truly honest with yourself, you’ll find all the answers.
Maybe opposing the New Year’s resolution isn’t a revolutionary concept;
But it’s the first time I’ve considered removing something instead of adding more goals to my plate — and that’s revolutionary for me.
My revolution:
Your peace shouldn’t be the price you pay for ambition.
Your health should never be sacrificed for superficial success.
Your truth should not be ignored for validation by others.
