Countdown to end year: Why I’m not concerned about my 2026 new year resolutions
Caricature of new year resolutions
Only two months remaining: Are your new year’s resolutions still alive?
Lakini, kwani mwaka imeenda wapi? One minute we were welcoming 2026 with fireworks, dance and a list of resolutions long enough to qualify as a government development plan. The next, it is October, and we are being forced to confront the uncomfortable truth that some of us have been on autopilot since March.
January I was a very ambitious woman. I had plans. Big plans. I was going to wake up at 5am, hit the gym, save money, read a least 2 books a month, travel more and finally become that girl who has her life together. I even had the audacity to believe that drinking two litres of water daily would solve half my problems.
Fast-forward to October, and waking up at 5am is now a personal insult. The gym shoes are somewhere in the house, probably wondering whether their owner is still alive, while the savings account is looking at its balance and asking, “Mimi nimekosea nini?”
And now, with barely two months left before the year ends, the internet has started reminding us to lock in. Lock in for what, surely? Some of us are just trying to survive Monday without mentally resigning from our jobs.
The pressure to review our resolutions is real, though. You open social media, and someone is announcing how much they have achieved this year, another is celebrating a promotion, and someone else is posting a video from Seychelles. Meanwhile, you are calculating whether you can afford to buy groceries and still have fare for the rest of the week. Wueh!
Then there is the end-year fatigue nobody adequately prepared us for. Work is demanding, bills are multiplying like they have discovered mitosis, family responsibilities are calling, and somehow, we are expected to maintain a skincare routine, exercise, network and build multiple streams of income.
Still, perhaps it is time to look at those resolutions again, if only to establish what happened. Did we abandon the goal, change our minds or simply underestimate how expensive and exhausting being an adult would be?
Maybe the savings plan needs adjusting. Perhaps the five-kilometre morning runs can become evening walks. That online course might finally get an hour of attention, and the business idea gathering dust in your notes app deserves an honest conversation.
But let us also be realistic. Not every unfinished resolution needs a dramatic comeback before December 31. Some goals can wait, some need rewriting, and others can be respectfully buried.
The year is ending, yes, but there is no need to turn the remaining weeks into a punishment for everything we did not accomplish.
Come December, we will still be asked about our achievements, and someone will inevitably ask, “So, what are your plans for 2027?”
Jameni, can we first finish paying for 2026?
Because at this point, the only resolution some of us are confidently carrying forward is to enter January with our sanity, a little money and fewer unrealistic promises to ourselves.