As we flip the calendar to a new year, it’s easy to slip into the all-too-familiar rhythm of resolutions centered around "less": eat less, spend less, weigh less, be less. This narrative of shrinking—both literally and figuratively—can feel suffocating, as though our worth is tied to our ability to diminish ourselves.
But what if we flipped the script?
This year, instead of focusing on becoming smaller, what if you were more intentional about making space? Too many people live in the margins of their lives. They’re in constant motion—doing, going, rushing, pushing. Their calendars are stacked with back-to-back meetings and appointments at work. Then, when they get home, they dart from one activity to the next, with no time to catch their breath, much less regroup or connect.
How did you finish 2024? If you’re like many people I know, you felt more fried than refreshed. If you want a better December this year, it will require doing things differently. How?
Make space, and defend it. (No one will value or respect your time more than you do.)
Slow down. (You’ll most likely find you’ll go further, faster when you do.)
Pay attention.
Breathe.
Say no.
Judiciously protect your energy.
Give, but don’t give yourself away.
Ask for what you need—and take it.
Don’t wait around hoping people will read your mind. They can’t. (And you shouldn’t punish them when they don’t).
Set your own pace.
Run your own race. (It’s the only way to actually win.)
In the end, your choices will shape your year. Have the courage to take up space. I can’t predict with precision or accuracy what the next twelve months will bring, but I know they’re full of possibility and untapped potential. Things will happen that we could never anticipate sitting here today. Come what may, the extent to which we flourish or suffer in 2025 will be largely determined by our responses to what we encounter and our decisions to exercise agency.
Let’s go.
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