Why creatives need to stop making New Year's resolutions we never keep

Noticed something? We're barely a couple of weeks into 2026, and yet the memory of those New Year's resolutions has already faded far into the distance. And here's a fact that makes that sting even more.

According to YouGov, 18- to 24-year-olds are the most likely age group to make New Year's resolutions and actually keep them. Thirty-eight percent of those who made resolutions for 2025 claim to have stuck to all of them.

And I have to admit, this does ring true. Because the thing about being young and creative is that you're still drunk on possibility.

(But if you're wanting to start something new, see my guide to beating procrastination.)

The brilliance of youth

Not surprising, really. At 23, I could genuinely wake up at 6am, do some yoga, work on my personal projects, commute to my London-based day job, network strategically throughout the day, and still have energy left for an art show opening in Camden that evening. I had resolve in industrial quantities. I was disciplined. Successful. One of those creatives who actually makes it work.

But then I got older. Discipline started to feel like a renewable resource that depletes faster than your phone battery. And I'll be honest, I've been running on about 8% since 2022.

Which brings me back to those resolutions. Because here's what happens as you age: you accumulate evidence. And when it comes to those New Year's promises to yourself, the evidence becomes increasingly damning.

First hurdle

That portfolio you were going to sort? You didn't sort it last year, or the year before that. The website you were going to build? It exists only in seven different tabs of half-finished wireframes. You've got about 40 different typefaces saved for "when you have time". You've been meaning to learn After Effects since After Effects was relevant.

The creatives I know in their twenties still think resolution-keeping is about willpower. They don't yet understand that willpower is a myth sold to us by productivity YouTubers and people who've never had to choose between finishing a pitch deck and sleeping.

We don't fail at resolutions because we lack discipline. We fail because we're exhausted.

Cruel joke

The resolutions creatives make are particularly cruel because they're always about becoming the version of ourselves we think we should be. More organised. More prolific. Better at social media. Better at literally anything that involves admin or self-promotion or not having a breakdown in the supermarket snacks aisle.

So every January, we promise ourselves we'll finally start that passion project, the one that's been rattling around our heads for three years. We'll stop saying yes to terrible briefs just because we're terrified of our bank balance. We'll set boundaries with clients who think "just a small tweak" means "redesign the entire thing by tomorrow".

But here's the thing. By the time you're in your 30s, you've made peace with your own chaos.

You've learned that the best work often comes from the gaps between the resolutions, in the unplanned moments when you're supposedly procrastinating. You've discovered that maybe you're not actually a morning person and that's fine. That your creative process involves 17 false starts and a crisis. That your portfolio will never feel finished because you'll always hate everything you made six months ago.

The resolution I'm actually keeping

This year, then, I made only one resolution, and it was this. "I'm going to stop pretending I'm going to change. I'm going to embrace being the kind of person who works in chaotic bursts, who occasionally misses deadlines, who will quietly cry over a brief at least twice a month."

And you know what? So far I've managed to keep this one. Not because I'm disciplined, but because it requires absolutely no effort whatsoever.

Gen Z can keep their 38% success rate. I'm taking my 0% and running with it.