New year, new you?

Well, we made it!  Yet another year has come and gone, and we’re looking at 2026 on the horizon.  It’s so hard to believe that 2025 is in the rear-view mirror, but somehow, there it is.

I love the New Year.  I think it’s the idea of a fresh start and the reminder that it’s never too late to start over, even mid-stride.  I know it’s manufactured, but that’s ok.  It’s a clear point, and the opportunity to think about what’s already come and gone, what has gone well, and what could be better.

2025 was a big year around here.  A book release, a TEDx, moving to a new state, speaking all over the country.  It’s been a real whirlwind.  But even now, knowing that these are huge accomplishments, I know there’s things I’m working on and could still do better.  Self-empathy is a big one.  Yes, I’m supposed to be the expert and I still struggle with it sometimes. Some things have slipped, like my health and exercise.  I knew it when I did it, and I knew what would happen: losing health mentally, feeling yucky, wanting to hide even though I still had to walk out on stage in front of audiences.  It’s predictable, but I still walked into the same mistakes I’ve made before.  We all do it.  But we can keep doing it or we can choose another path.

New Year’s is my opportunity to put the blocks back in place that will help me create the Melissa I want to be, and that includes doing better with self-empathy.  I know it’s a practice, and that means there will be times I’m doing it really well, and times that aren’t great, but the key is to keep going.  So, even though 2025 wasn’t stellar in terms of self-empathy, 2026 will be better. And, in showing more empathy to myself, it’ll be easier for me to show it to the world.  And yeesh could the world use more empathy.

This isn’t a New Year’s resolution.  Studies show that 70-90% of resolutions fail because we don’t break them into achievable steps.  Rather, this is how I want to live my life.  I just know that I can do better with it, and my physical and mental health shows it.  Cause and effect.  But just as the power to avoid it was in my control, the power to integrate it is as well.  

Here’s to 2026 being the richest, most robust year ever, for all of us.  And, at least for me, that’s going to begin at home, by showing myself the empathy I’ve been showing others all year.   Know that if self-empathy is in your heart too, you’re in good company.