If you want to know what kind of year I’ve had, a hint is that this is the first post I’ve written since I shared my 2025 Resolutions. As usual, I had a lot of hope for the New Year heading into 2025, but that was pretty much quashed when one of my closest friends of 20+ years, Brian, died of cancer on January 2. I thought I’d be better at grief this time around; the last time, when my 26-year-old cousin Matt died unexpectedly in early January 2020, I became completely unable to function.
This time, I think I faked it better, even after the loss of Brian was compounded with the death of my cat of nearly 18 years, Oliver, in mid-April. I managed to keep up with client work, including signing two new clients this year and doing some amazing work with my primary client including an amazing series of events featuring the top women scientists around the world back in October. I successfully interviewed for a new job, which I’ll be starting in January, while continuing my client work. On paper, this looked like a good year.
In reality, I was dead inside.
I did nothing creative this year. I had plans, sure, but nothing got over the starting line, let alone the finish line. I couldn’t even stick to my monthly goals, to the point that I didn’t even write any for November and December. In short, it was another bad year in a stack of bad years.
Next year cannot be bad. I don’t have the time or the energy for it. So let’s try again. Below are 5 New Year’s Resolutions I’ve set for 2026. Two big good things happened at the end of 2025 and I’m choosing to view them as harbingers of better things in 2026.
I have other goals for this year, but these are the ones that can be quantified and definitively completed, whereas things like “Be a good professor” are trickier.
1. Stick to a cadence of social media posting
This has been really hard this year, but I know from experience (both on my own accounts and from working with clients) that it’s the key to growth on social. Stepping into a new, more public-facing role, I also view showing up on social as part of my job. Here’s what seems manageable:
- Two LinkedIn posts/week
- Two Instagram posts/week
- Launching a public-facing TikTok at some point in the year
2. Start recording Who Stole the Mallomars?
This project has been in the works for a while; it’s a podcast about a low-stakes mystery from my dad’s childhood. I’ve gotten buy-in from the four people I’ll need to interview (my dad and his three siblings), I have a general idea of the format and other artifacts from their childhood that I’d like to include, and I have a theory of the crime though I am definitely more interested in The Truth. I’ve seen three of the four subjects this year (the fourth moved to Vegas and I haven’t made it out that way yet), for long enough periods that we definitely could have recorded, but I just … didn’t. I’d like to record at least two interviews this year.
3. Complete the SCADamp Advanced Certificate
I want to take as much advantage of the resources at SCAD as I can, starting with SCADamp, the university’s professional presentations studio. I think this will further the work I did a few years ago with Casey and Julie of Vital Voice Training (they’re amazing; hire them!). To get the Advanced Certificate, I have to complete all of the classes offered.
4. Draft one complete book manuscript
I actually want to write two, but I have way too much on my plate right now and haven’t written consistently in six years so let’s start here. I’m inclined to focus on a non-fiction project as that’s much easier to write than a novel.
5. Run a 10K
Thanks to my horrible adult-onset allergies, I was unable to run this year. I’m trying to be realistic about the fact that I can’t run long distances anymore, with the hope that I’ll be able to work back up to them. Going to start by running a 10K at some point this year.
How to Be Creative 