The Death of the New Year’s Resolution - and the Rise of Rest

There’s something quietly shifting about the way we start a new year.

Every January I notice a familiar cultural rhythm - a rush toward resolutions, plans and declarations of change. For a long time it has carried the unspoken expectation that this was the moment to reset, improve and push with renewed intensity. Even within the therapy room, people often spoke about needing to “get it right this year.”

This year feels different. Scrolling through social media, there has been noticeably less “new year, new me” messaging and far fewer posts announcing ambitious 2026 resolutions. That quiet shift feels meaningful; and it suggests that more people are questioning the idea that growth must be loud, immediate or tied to a specific date.

It’s something worth celebrating.

When Resolutions Stop Making Sense

Traditional New Year’s resolutions have so often carried a subtle message that something about us needs fixing or completion, and when someone is already tired or overwhelmed, that message can land as pressure rather than hope.

In my work with individuals and families, I’ve seen how often exhaustion shows up before motivation ever has a chance to. Anxiety, low mood and burnout are not signs of failure - they are often signs that the pace of life has been unsustainable for too long.

Rather than asking, “What should I achieve this year?” more people are asking quieter, more honest questions:

• ⁠What do I actually need this year?

• What would make life feel more manageable?

• ⁠How can I be kinder to myself?

• What versions of myself do I want to invest more time in?

These questions don’t fit neatly into a resolution list, and that may be exactly why they matter.

Rest as a Cultural Shift

Rest has long been treated as something to earn after productivity. What I’m noticing now feels like a shift away from that belief. Rest is being recognised as essential - not indulgent, not lazy and not something to postpone until everything else is done.

Rest can look like:

•⁠ ⁠leaving space in your days without an agenda

•⁠ ⁠noticing and responding to fatigue rather than pushing through it

•⁠ ⁠asking for help earlier

•⁠ ⁠letting go of goals that no longer fit your season of life

This isn’t about giving up on growth, it’s about redefining it. Growth that ignores limits rarely lasts and growth that includes care has room to take root.

Moving Beyond Hustle Culture

Hustle culture hasn’t disappeared entirely, yet its grip is most definitely loosening. What’s emerging instead is a quieter focus on sustainability and on rhythms that can be maintained without sacrificing wellbeing or connection.

Rather than all-or-nothing resolutions, many people are choosing intentions or values:

•⁠ ⁠intentions that allow flexibility

•⁠ valuing connection and figuring out plans to make their life richer in relationships

•⁠ ⁠intentions that leave room for life to change

•⁠ valuing care and noting how they show up in different facets of their life

This shift reflects a growing trust in our own internal signals - a belief that we are allowed to move at a natural human pace. Shifting towards values and away from standardised measures of success.

An Invitation for the Year Ahead

The decline of the traditional New Year’s resolution doesn’t necessarily represent a lack of ambition, but it does represent a discernment and a growing awareness that urgency, perfection and pressure are not prerequisites for growth. Growth can be an exercise through softening, learning and connecting, not just a response to trauma.

The “death” of the New Year’s resolution isn’t a collective failure; it’s an invitation to care for yourself as you are. It encourages you to move at a pace that honours your capacity and to build a year rooted in sustainability rather than strain.

2026 isn’t asking you to become someone new; because you don’t need to transform into a different version of yourself for life to suddenly become meaningful. Embrace each chapter as it comes, trusting that you are already equipped to handle it all and that you are enough as you are. You're likely doing much better than you give yourself credit for anyway. Isn’t it remarkable that by taking care of who you are - with acceptance, intention and aligned values - you’re riding the wave of this cultural revolution?