The only way I can avoid making mistakes is to do nothing. The more I do, the more mistakes I make, because mistakes are a natural part of learning. The only way to improve the success rate in anything I do is by practicing. I cannot have excellent results from the first few times I started something new: a habit, a project, a relationship, a job, etc. Excellence comes with months or years of practice, depending on how complex the new skill is, on how great a mentor we have guiding us, on our self-discipline, on how vast is our genetic potential, and on many other factors. I admire people who move on and try again when they make a mistake. Only those who do nothing at all can avoid the risk of failure. Yet, failure and mistakes are just names for words describing stepping stones to success and fulfillment. They can be “new mentors”, if we allow them.

Is it just another day? Is is happy? Is it sad? Is it bittersweet? Is it bringing our expectations high from our romantic partners or spouses? Do we brace up for disappointment? Are we scared to look at the fancy chocolates on the store shelves, because sugar and chocolate are calling our name and forget our New Year’s resolutions for avoidance or moderation of certain addictive food substances? Are you going to a party with friends? Are you enjoying a day by yourself in your own company and glad you don’t have to give your time and attention to another person? Please share, if you’d like to.

What is one word that encompasses your intention for 2026? For the month? For the week or day? Mine is REST. R-E-S-T. It’s the one thing I wanted to get more of last year but didn’t. I continued to overcommit; to underestimate my reserves of energy, time and money it would take to keep my commitments to others and to myself. These are the questions I plan to ask myself more and more, meditate upon and journal about: How can I do less, rest more, and accept my limits, so I can be more relaxed and savor the little joys in my life? How can make more time for things, people and activities that I love and enjoy in my life, those that make life even more worthwhile? Please share your own thoughts if you’d like.

Thank you for joining! When you feel ready, please feel free to share about how you gained or maintained a healthy habit that helps you. Otherwise, it is fine to just check out other posts.

New Year’s resolutions have a bad reputation. Ms. Johnston, a studio manager at the local Guitar Center even said her only resolution every year is to not make any new year resolutions. Personally, I do like and set them. More like set… IT. One. Just one. One resolution. One of the common ideas I hear most often from many health coaches, personal or nutrition coaches most is that their clients have a tendency to set their goals unrealistically high. I used to be that person. I didn’t know the goals were to high, unrealistic. For example I was writing down resolutions like: - I will read 10 pages a day from a book. - I will learn 10 new Spanish vocabulary words a day. - I will run for 30 minutes a day. - I will eat plant based every day. - I will not eat sugar and salt anymore. - I will clean one room of the house every day. - I will read a chapter from the Bible every day and pray every day. I kept failing every time. If so, why do I still love New Year’s resolutions? What changed? For one, I didn’t give up. For two, I kept reducing the goals to smaller and smaller bites. For three, I kept myself accountable to others, by paying coaches, posting snippets of my workouts, and by setting appointments with exercise buddies for walks, runs, gym sessions, etc. Most importantly, I reduced the number of resolutions to no more than one or two realistic ones. Also, I picked one or two words of the year for myself, connected to my small, doable goals. For example, the two words of the year 2025 for me were MINDFULNESS and FUN. I wanted to think more before I act, before I speak, before I eat, before I commit, before I do anything. I wanted to align my actions with my top priorities: spiritual health, physical and mental health, family, friends, and my professional development. I wanted to choose the important over the urgent. I wanted to get into habits like eating healthier, exercising more frequently, sleeping better and more, and reducing my cortisol level.