The start of a new year often comes with a lot of noise. Quiet pressure to do better. To fix things. To level up. To somehow become the “best version” of yourself overnight. But this year feels different. The world feels a bit heavier, and many of us are walking into January already tired.
Instead of chasing big goals or trying to do it all, maybe this is the year to be gentler with ourselves. To stop measuring our worth by productivity, reinvention, or discipline, and start paying attention to what actually makes us feel good. What if the resolution wasn’t to do more this year, but to do less?
This idea hit me hard late last year when Lisa Weagle wrote about a similar sentiment in her piece, Why saying no might be the most courageous thing I’ve done. Saying no, she argued, isn’t selfish – it’s an act of self-respect and clarity. It’s a reminder that our time and attention are finite, and protecting them can be a courageous choice in itself.
Of course, living that way is easier said than done. Breaking the instinct to do more, be more, work harder, and constantly reinvent yourself can feel almost impossible. That’s why, when a friend mentioned this idea to me – giving yourself just one day a month that’s truly yours – it immediately clicked. It felt doable. This year, that’s what I’m trying: not an overhaul, not a massive resolution, just a single day each month to pause and invest in whatever I need most in that moment.
Some months, that could mean taking a full day off without guilt. Other months, it’s finally tackling a small project I’ve been putting off, booking a long-overdue massage, or spending an afternoon in nature. And sometimes, it’s simply resting – without turning it into a productivity exercise or a checklist item.
I’m hoping this approach creates space to pause, reflect, and takes away some of the pressure to have this big moment of reinvention. Over the course of a year, however, those days will add up – not into a “better” version of myself, but into a version that feels more grounded, more present, and more fully me.
Maybe this year, that’s enough. Maybe it’s exactly what we all need: permission to slow down, savour the moments that matter, and give ourselves the time and space to simply be, without constantly searching for a more productive, more polished, or “better optimized” version of ourselves. Not giving up on who we are in the name of improvement. And often, in doing less – in giving ourselves that one intentional day each month – we end up gaining more: more clarity, more joy, and hopefully more of ourselves.
