I Don’t Believe in New Year’s Resolutions, But I Do Believe in This.

Welcome to 2026.

Every January, we are encouraged to set bold New Year’s resolutions. And every year, the evidence points in the same direction.

Between 60–80% of New Year’s resolutions fail, many within the first few weeks. Fewer than one in five people sustain them long term.

If you are among that minority, congratulations.

For the rest of us, ambition isn’t the problem. Heroics are.

Anti-Hero Planning

We know that sustained growth does not come from heroic effort — not from individuals pushing harder, longer, or faster indefinitely. So why do we expect heroics to deliver sustained personal growth?

The businesses that grow consistently operate differently. They are built on focus: a clear long-term ambition, a small number of priorities at any one time, and disciplined execution of routines that compound over time. Breakthroughs may involve short bursts of intensity, but rarely an attempt to improve everything all at once.

Personal change follows the same logic.

Routines Over Resolutions

High-performing leaders are rarely defined by grand personal goals. They are defined by intentional routines.

• Warren Buffett protects long, uninterrupted blocks of reading and thinking time.

• Jeff Bezos avoids early meetings to preserve decision quality.

• Reid Hoffman uses long walks to process complex decisions.

• Arianna Huffington rebuilt her life around sleep and recovery after burnout nearly ended her career.

These are not resolutions. They are designed rhythms.

On their own, they may appear modest — even underwhelming. But over time, they compound. They preserve energy, improve judgement, and enable sustained performance without burnout.

Again: not heroics.

What if we approached personal growth with the same discipline?

Your Personal Plan on One Page

This is where the One Page Personal Plan (OPPP) comes in.

Developed as a personal adaptation of Scaling Up’s One Page Strategic Plan, the OPPP applies the same strategic logic used by successful scale-ups to your personal life.

It is structured around four areas:

• Relationships

• Achievements

• Routines

• Wealth

And three time horizons:

• Long term (10–25 years)

• Annual (1 year)

• Short term (90 days)

Starting with the long-term forces strategic clarity: the relationships that truly matter, the impact worth pursuing, the routines required to sustain it, and the wealth that fuels choice.

Everything and Nothing, All at Once

When I first completed the OPPP, I made a familiar mistake. I tried to include everything.

All of James Hansberger’s 5 Fs, Faith, Family, Fitness, Finances, Friends/Fun, all at once.

The trap for ambitious leaders is obvious in hindsight: attempting to materially improve all five in a single year. That is personal heroics. And like key-person dependency in a business, it does not scale.

A more effective approach is simple:

• Choose one life area to progress this year

• Choose one key relationship to strengthen

• Accept that the rest remain in maintenance mode

A Real Example

In my own One Page Personal Plan this year, I am focused on health and fitness, an area been challenged by due to the sedentary nature of my work.

At the same time, I am investing more intentionally in my relationship with my family, particularly my brother, who turns 50 this year. One of his long-held wishes has been to hike the Overland Track in Tasmania. So we are doing it together.

That decision shapes the routines:

• Strength training, three times per week

• Monthly hikes of at least 10km

• Time protected well in advance

• Regular health check-ups and acupuncture to manage existing injuries

No dramatic resolutions. Just disciplined execution.

The result is not only completing the hike injury-free, but sustaining fitness throughout the year and well beyond it. That is the achievement.

Give It a Go

If this resonates, resist the temptation to write a longer list of resolutions.

Download the One Page Personal Plan and spend 30 quiet minutes sketching it out. Start with the lifelong relationships and impact that matter most to you. Choose one life area and one relationship to focus on this year. Design a handful of routines that make progress inevitable.

You can also use an AI-assisted approach with the prompts in this article.

Run your personal life with the same strategic discipline you apply to your business — with relationships at the centre, fewer priorities, and better routines.

That is how change actually sticks.

A Word on Accountability

Writing it down is a powerful first step. But strategies — personal or organisational — rarely succeed in isolation.

Consider an accountability partner: someone who helps you stay honest and focused, without guilt or judgement. Share your OPPP with someone you trust and invite them to reciprocate.

You can even use AI as a lightweight accountability coach. Though, personally, I still prefer these accountability conversations over a coffee or cold beverage.