I think New Years resolutions are absolute bullshit. Let me tell you why…
Don’t get me wrong, I love a goal and a list and future-casting and all the “planning things” but focusing on a set of distinct outcomes only promotes control and often is ineffective when it comes to actual growth and change. I know too many business owners who are actively working on letting go of controlling outcomes (myself included!) because the truth is, you can’t control outcomes. You can, however, control your intentions and how you move throughout the year.
A word of the year? I’m not stranger to choosing a word of the year. 2023 was Flow. 2024 was Ease. 2025? To be completely honest, I don’t even remember what I chose because a word isn’t enough to go on to turn that word into tangible results or changed behavior. Did I achieve flow in 2023? Hard to say. What would I even look at to understand if I did? A word isn’t measurable. It’s too vague.
If you use a word of the year, I’d love to know what you do to then embody that word for the year (drop it in the comments!).
If resolutions are too finite and a word is too vague, WTF should I do to move intentionally throughout the year?
So for 2026, I’m not just doing a “word of the year.” I’m trying something new. I’m entering an initiation.
It’s starting with a word → JOY. After being in business foundation building for a couple years, I’ve fallen into some bad habits of prioritizing work over play. For 2026, I want to prioritize joy and make choices to fully inhabit my life.
This year isn’t about fixing, optimizing, or becoming better behaved. It’s about full occupancy: fully inhabiting my joy, my body, my choices, and my visibility without hedging or apology.
Not extraordinary someday. Extraordinary in the ordinary.
This is a personal initiation I’m documenting in real time.
You’re welcome to witness it. You’re welcome to try it. I’m not here to convince you.
What Full Occupancy Means (for me)
Full occupancy means:
I stop living partially.
I stop postponing joy.
I stop softening my edges to make things easier to digest.
Doing more is not the focus. Being fully here is the focus.
So instead of resolutions, I’m committing to a year-long practice (one I can’t fake, spiritualize, or aestheticize).
The Initiation Framework
This initiation has three practices.
They’re simple. They’re uncomfortable. They’re joyful.
1. The Joy List → 100 Joyful Yeses
Joy as a discipline, not a reward.
This is about choosing aliveness on purpose:
lingering
delight
beauty
pleasure
presence
awe
Some yeses will be small. Some will be loud.
All of them will be intentional.
2. The Courage Practice → 1,000 Rejections
Failure is a teacher and I want to become unbothered by nos.
I’m tracking every ask, pitch, boundary, risk, and honest expression that could be rejected.
No over-explaining.
No chasing.
No collapsing.
Rejection is proof I’m visible.
3. The Removal Ritual → 100 Clean Removals
Joy through subtraction.
I’m removing:
obligations
habits
identities
clutter
conversations
systems
expectations
Not dramatically. Cleanly. Space is not emptiness. It creates capacity and room for more magic.
The Rule of Full Occupancy
If it does not increase:
joy
courage
or space
…it doesn’t belong in my life this year.
That’s the only rule.
Why I’m Sharing This
This is a personal initiation. I’m not turning it into a program or a challenge.
But I will document it…honestly, imperfectly, in real time.
If it gives you language for something you’re already feeling, take it.
If you want to track your own version alongside me, I’ll make that easy.
No pressure.
No performance.
Just practice.
If You Want a Simple Way to Track Your Own
You don’t need to do it all. You could start with:
10 joyful yeses
50 brave asks
25 clean removals
Or just one of the three. Feel free to adjust the language of these sections based on your word of the year. Ease? Swap joyful yeses for easy yeses. Flow? Claim removing resistance instead of joy through subtraction. Make this framework work in your language if you feel called.
Because I’m a tech girly and I can’t help making everything I do efficient, I’ll share a simple tracking template soon for anyone who wants it (let me know in the comments).
I don’t know exactly who I’ll be on the other side of this year.
But I know this:
I won’t be living halfway.
—
This is the Initiation of Full Occupancy.
