New Years Planning and When Things Don’t Go To Plan
I’ve always loved the promise of a new year. For a long time, I was very committed to New Year’s resolutions and yearly plans — where I carefully organised my life into neat buckets: relationships, health, work/vocation, and everything in between.
In hindsight, I may have been a little overly enthusiastic about January. Some very normal things I’ve done alone or with friends include:
Drawing on windows to map out our intentions and life “pillars” for the year
Writing a five-year plan with a full gap analysis (how do we get from here to there?)
Scheduling Zoom calls specifically to talk through goals across different life buckets — education, health, finances, etc
(Absolutely no control issues here. None at all.)
And just as I wrapped up a month of reflecting and planning, my family would celebrate Lunar New Year — which felt like a second chance to start fresh. A new zodiac animal, new luck, and a reset button in case January didn’t go to plan. What this really meant was that my cycle of thinking and planning got extended… with far less actual DOING.
That was my pattern, again and again. I was great at visioning, strategising, and mapping things out. Executing those plans? Not exactly my strong suit 🙃
Over time, I’ve realised that planning was a safety blanket for me. It gave me a sense of control. However, it also made it easy to get stuck: to overthink, doubt myself, and avoid taking action altogether.
When plans didn’t work out, I didn’t just feel stuck, I felt disappointed. And that disappointment definitely didn’t motivate me to “get back on track.” Before I knew it, February would roll around and my beautifully crafted plans were already out the window.
I still think about a memory from school when I decided I’d only have two hairstyles for the entire year: hair up, or hair down with the same two alternating clips. In the second week of school, a friend said, “Why don’t you try different clips? That one’s a bit boring.” And just like that — plan gone.
Letting go of plans completely isn’t really in my nature. But over time, I’ve shifted from rigid planning to setting intentions. Now, I choose one intention for the year, and then adjust or update it as each month unfolds. And I’m still that person who writes very detailed to-do lists on busy days, which look something like:
Buy groceries — check!
Come home from grocery shopping — check!
Start cooking — check!
But instead of comforting myself with control and a strict plan, I’ve learned to comfort myself by trusting myself.
So yes, I still enjoy finding a new planner each year and taking time to reflect and set intentions. But I’m much better now at accepting when things don’t go to plan — and trusting that I’ll be able to figure out what comes next.
Are you someone who finds comfort in writing everything out and planning ahead? Or are you more of a go-with-the-flow person? Or maybe you’re still figuring out what you want from the year ahead?
Wherever you are, I hope this year of the Fire Horse brings you clarity, steadiness, and intentions that feel supportive and flowy.