New Year, New Habits: Small Changes For the Win

As the new year begins, millions of people worldwide are setting health-related goals. In fact, a survey by Statista found that health goals were the second most popular 2025 resolution for adults in the U.S.—to include eating healthier, exercising more, and losing weight.

Every January, gyms are packed, grocery stores sell out of fresh produce, and people swear this year will be different. But as many of us know, it’s hard to maintain that initial enthusiasm. By February, the vast majority have already given up.

Why is that? Because creating real change isn’t just about making a plan—it’s about reshaping the habits and beliefs that have long been a part of our identity. And that’s a much slower, more challenging process than we’re often led to believe.

Habit Change Requires Deep Work

I know this firsthand. When I stepped on the scale during my annual physical recently, I wasn’t surprised to see that I had lost 20 pounds over the course of the year. I’d been steadily working toward adopting a healthier lifestyle. And while it felt great to see my hard work reflected on the scale, the real victory was in the slow, gradual shift in my habits and identity over time.

For years, my unhealthy eating patterns and lack of exercise held me back. They were more than just habits—they were deeply tied to my beliefs about myself, my worth, my capacity for change, and my willingness to be uncomfortable.

I used to say to myself, "I don’t care" when I’d sabotage my healthy eating goal. I also believed that exercise was for weight loss, which really limited my interest and understanding of how exercise could benefit me. Patterns and beliefs like these were deeply ingrained and were difficult to change. But what I learned is that in order to create real, lasting change, I had to process and unlearn those patterns and beliefs, replacing them with ones that would support the habits I wanted to build.

The journey to the person we want to be isn’t fast. That’s the part most people don’t want to hear.

When we set goals at the beginning of the year—health-related or not—we’re usually in a hurry. We want to see results immediately, and when they don’t come, it’s easy to feel like we’ve failed. We get derailed by life, lose willpower, or simply decide the change we see isn’t matching our level of effort. And instead of adjusting, we often just throw in the towel.

But real change, the kind that sticks, comes from accepting that progress is rarely linear or swift. The small, steady changes I made over the past year—swapping my regular coffee for mushroom coffee, increasing my protein intake, reducing my sugar, and exercising more—didn’t produce dramatic, overnight results. Some days it felt like nothing was changing and other days I went “backwards.” But what I came to appreciate is that every time I chose to keep at it and stick with those small actions, I was actually making forward progress. I was slowly shifting my identity. I was becoming someone who values their health, who shows up for themselves, who keeps going even when it’s hard.

Identity Shifts Take Time and Resilience

To create lasting change, we have to acknowledge the weight of the old habits we’re trying to break. For many of us, those habits are tied to years, if not decades, of ingrained beliefs. You don’t just snap your fingers and become someone who works out every day or chooses vegetables over dessert. It’s a process that requires patience, commitment, and, most importantly, a plan for what you’ll do when you inevitably misstep.

Because you will misstep. That’s just part of the journey. But instead of giving up when you misstep, the key is to have a plan for how you’ll get back on track. For me, that looked like having a great deal of self compassion when I heard myself say, “I don’t care” while reaching for a sugary snack. It also felt like incredible patience and discomfort while I negotiated with my younger self to put the snack back…and forgiveness when I couldn’t find the willpower to do so.

I initiated this health journey anticipating that challenges and setbacks were going to be part of the process and that what mattered most was my willingness to keep coming back to the habits I know will serve my future self.

“The journey to the person we want to be isn’t fast. That’s the part most people don’t want to hear.”

At the beginning of each year, it’s tempting to make sweeping declarations about all the changes we want to see. But the truth is, lasting change is built slowly, over time, through a series of small, often invisible shifts in how we live our day-to-day lives. And those shifts are just as much mental and emotional as they are physical and environmental. (And if you’re anything like me, they’re always spiritual too.)

Accepting that lasting change is more complex than we often want to admit is what allows us to build the resilience needed to create the change we truly want for ourselves.

So, as you set your goals for the new year, I encourage you to think about the small, consistent actions that will help you not only meet those goals but also shift your identity in a way that supports the life you truly want. And when you misstep, or feel like giving up, remember that real progress happens in the dark—often when it feels like nothing is changing.

Selfish Reflections

Change doesn’t always require grand declarations—or in this case, New Year’s Resolutions. You can embark on changes any time you want. Ultimately, small, daily actions that align with who we want to become is what transforms us (along with an extraordinary amount of understanding and self-compassion for the younger version of ourselves that isn’t quite ready to let go).

This slow-and-steady approach is the core of my coaching practice, where I help myself, my daughter, and my clients evolve into the next version of themselves. No matter your goal,, the process is the same: self-reflection and small changes build momentum and shift your identity over time.

If you find yourself struggling to attain goals, remember that it’s normal to misstep. What matters is how you respond. Having a plan for those inevitable moments when you fall off track is what will set you apart and keep you moving toward your goals, to the future YOU. Real change takes time, resilience, and a lot of patience.

Download my 2024/2025 Reflections and Planning Journal. It’s designed to help you reflect on the insights you gained from 2024 and use them to create the 2025 you truly want. And for additional support, reach out to me to book a complimentary call. Together, we can plan how to make the changes you desire a reality.

Let's embrace the new year with the commitment to evolve, one small shift at a time.