New Year, Same You — Let Values, Not Resolutions, Lead the Way

The start of a new year often comes with a familiar pressure: reflect, reset, improve, recommit. January can feel like an invitation to draw a line under what’s gone before and promise ourselves a different version of the future.

Whatever today looks like for you, I wish you a day that supports your psychological wellbeing.

Each January also brings a well-worn ritual of setting resolutions — and yet research suggests that most of these intentions quietly fall away. While many people begin the year with enthusiasm, studies indicate that only around 8–10%maintain typical New Year’s resolutions over time, and fewer than a quarter are still actively working on them beyond the early weeks.

This doesn’t mean people lack motivation or discipline — particularly in high-responsibility, safety-critical roles like aviation. It suggests that change framed as rigid targets often struggles to survive real life, especially when routines shift, energy fluctuates, and demands are unpredictable.

🧭 Values as a compass, not a checklist

To me, values are best understood as directions rather than destinations. I often describe them as the points on a compass. You never actually arrive at “north”, but choosing to travel north shapes every decision about heading, route, and course correction along the way.

Values work in the same way. You don’t complete or finish a value. Instead, values give direction to your goals and actions. When a value is clear, it helps you decide how to move, even when circumstances change. You may not reach an endpoint called “professionalism” or “connection”, but you can continue moving in the direction that aligns with your values.

This values-based way of thinking comes from Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT), the psychological framework that underpins much of my work.

For example, if professionalism is an important value for you, the goals that sit underneath it might include maintaining certain standards of behaviour at work, preparing thoroughly for duties, or communicating clearly with colleagues. The specific goals may change, but the direction remains consistent.

🎯 Knowing your values

If you do feel inclined to reflect at the start of a new year, reflecting on your values can be a helpful place to begin. Values are a core part of what we often refer to as psychological flexibility — the set of skills that support living a meaningful and fulfilling life.

I’ve previously shared a simple exercise — the Values Bullseye — which can help clarify what matters across areas such as work, relationships, health, and personal development. It isn’t about changing who you are; it’s about noticing where you’re already aligned and where you might want to adjust course gently.

You don’t need to define everything at once. Even identifying one or two values that feel important right now can provide a helpful sense of direction.

🐖 Your mental health piggy bank

Throughout my recent blogs, I’ve used the idea of a mental health piggy bank to describe how small, values-aligned actions build psychological reserves over time. A piggy bank, though, isn’t just for making deposits — it exists to allow withdrawals as well.

If you’ve developed habits of making regular deposits by acting in ways that align with your values, it can be helpful to remember that those reserves are there to be used. Making a withdrawal is a deliberate choice to draw on something you already know supports your wellbeing.

That might involve returning to a familiar routine that helps you feel steady, intentionally recalling a moment where you acted in line with your values, or choosing a behaviour that has reliably supported you in the past. It can also be as simple as reminding yourself that you have navigated demanding periods before — and that the skills, judgement, and perspective you used then are still available to you now.

Importantly, using the piggy bank isn’t about forcing positivity or manufacturing motivation. It’s about recognising what you’ve already invested, and allowing yourself to benefit from it. Withdrawals are part of the same values-consistent process as deposits — not a sign that something has gone wrong.

🌒 Working with winter, not against it

January brings short days and long nights, and it’s worth acknowledging that energy, motivation, and mood often shift with the season. This isn’t a failure of willpower — it’s physiology.

A values-led approach works particularly well here. On lower-energy days, values help scale expectations appropriately. You don’t need to do everything; you just need to choose the smallest action that still points in the right direction.

In aviation psychology, we talk a lot about managing capacity. Values help you do exactly that — matching your actions to what you have available, without abandoning what matters.

💛 My New Year message

You don’t need a new version of yourself this New Year. You may find it more helpful to reflect on the specific values that matter to you, and how translating those into meaningful goals and actions can support you through the challenges any new year brings.

Wherever you are today, and however the year is beginning for you, I wish you a steady sense of direction, moments of ease, and the confidence to keep moving in ways that align with what matters most to you.