Positively Mad
We all welcome the new year in different ways.
Some people love the “New Year, New Me” energy.
Some make resolutions.
Some don’t care at all.
And honestly—there’s no wrong way.
But if you’ve been with me long enough, you know I think deeply about the why behind what we do. I wrote a short article about resolutions, click the following to read it: “New Year, New Me? Bitch, please!”, but today I want to share a practice that has worked better for me than any resolution ever has.
I started doing this in the middle of my nine-year massage career, and it changed everything—from my mindset to my work to how I handled stress. Over time, I combined different ideas, routines, and reflections until I built something that finally felt right.
I’m sharing that with you today, in hopes it inspires your own way of entering this new year.
How I Choose My Word of the Year
Before the new year begins, I sit down with two lenses:
my business goals and my personal goals.
(And yes—how to figure out your goals deserves its own full article. Coming soon.).
Once I know what I’m moving toward, I imagine what my life will look like at the end of the year.
For example, here’s what I pictured for myself:
In 2026, we are moving to Okinawa, Japan. I can already see us putting the house up for sale in April. I imagine it selling quickly and us sitting at the closing table, signing the mountain of papers that officially end the mortgage. I imagine boarding a flight with Josh and Maya, landing in Japan, finding a temporary place to stay, and beginning our search for a home and a space to grow our business. By the end of the year, I see us settling into a new home with a new rhythm of life.
When I picture all of that, one desire rises above the rest:
I want it all to flow smoothly.
Flow—not perfection.
Flow—not force.
So FLOW is my word for 2026.
Not because I expect the year to be smooth or without hiccups—moving countries comes with plenty of unknowns. But because if I stay in a state of flow, I’ll meet everything calmly, clearly, and with trust. I won’t obsess about what could go wrong. I won’t grip for control. I’ll just take each moment as it comes.
My Positively Mad Journal
Every morning, before the world steals my attention, I sit with what I call my Positively Mad Journal—my little ritual of grounding, creativity, and intention.
Here’s how I use it:
1. I write my word of the year
And I doodle around it.
Silly? Maybe.
Effective? Yes.
It sparks creativity, softens stress, and sets my tone for the day.
2. I write my goals for the day
Today’s list looked like:
Finish short article and publish it.
Start the January newsletter (which I’m doing right now).
Go to yoga.
Simple. Not overwhelming. But they’re aligned with what I’m building.
These small goals help me keep momentum—finishing my website setup, posting content, laying the foundation of my business before we leave for Japan. And yoga? That one’s for my well-being.
Balance matters.
3. I write three things I’m grateful for
Today I wrote:
My white board
My teas
My ring light
My teas are small, everyday joys—things we rarely stop to appreciate after the first time we fall in love with them.
My white board finally found a home after four years of being shoved around, unused. That deserved acknowledgment.
The ring light? That one was misbehaving—turning on and off on its own, annoying me all morning. So why include it?
Because gratitude isn’t for the object—it’s for your mind.
You don’t thank an item to change it—you thank it to change you.
This rewires your brain to look for the good, to soften frustration, to see abundance instead of lack.
You won’t realize how rich your life already is until you practice noticing it.
Side Note:
Yes, you can absolutely still write down the people you love. But the deeper purpose of this practice is to bring attention to the things—or even the people—you rarely make an effort to appreciate. The overlooked, the ordinary, the taken-for-granted. Those are the ones that retrain your mind the most.
4. End-of-Day Accomplishments
This part is saved for the evening, when I’m done working and relaxing.
Tonight, I’ll write:
Articles written
Posted one and scheduled this newsletter
Went to yoga
But on days when I don’t finish my goals, I still write accomplishments—just not the ones I planned.
For example:
Wrapped three Christmas presents
Cleaned up my gift-wrapping chaos
Took Maya, my Husky and German Shepherd mix, for a walk
These count just as much.
Why?
Because without this practice, your brain will default to replaying what went wrong… and spiral from there.
If there’s something to fix, that’s one thing.
But most of our spiraling is over things we can’t change or don’t need to analyze.
This practice stops the unnecessary loops and redirects your attention to what went well.
5. End the day with “Amazing Happenings”
Three nice things.
Three small joys.
Tonight I’ll write:
Someone held the door open for me
My brother sent me a box of Japanese snacks
I had a fun conversation with friends that made me really laugh
Ending the day this way shifts your mind out of survival mode, gives you a softer landing into sleep, and genuinely improves your emotional health.
Going to bed with pleasant thoughts instead of stress is a gift only you can give yourself.
Inside of my notebook
I took this picture the next morning after my routine, and I thought it would be fun to give you a visual of what the inside of my journal actually looks like.
I also want to point out something important: I don’t always write everything down. I’ve been doing this for so long now that I can move through the routine mentally when I need to.
But in the beginning, writing it out was everything. It made the practice intentional. Even then, I skipped plenty of days—because I forgot, because life happened, because consistency isn’t perfection.
We’re not aiming for perfection here. So if you miss a day? Don’t beat yourself up. It simply means you might need a little help remembering.
Here’s what helped me build consistency at the start:
I woke up and saw my notebook on my nightstand.
I took it with me to the bathroom.
After getting ready, I carried it to the kitchen and wrote while eating breakfast.
I left it there, because the kitchen was the first place I walked into after work.
When I got home, I grabbed it and took it to the couch to write my accomplishments.
And when I was ready for bed, I brought it with me to fill out the last section.
I don’t do this exact routine anymore because I work from home now—
and honestly, I haven’t done this practice in over a year.
But I’ve been picking it back up! And it feels so good to return to something that grounds me.
Why the Nightstand & Mirror Matter
I keep my Positively Mad Journal on my nightstand.
It’s one of the first things I see when I wake up.
Instead of my brain jumping immediately into stress, to-dos, or yesterday’s problems, I’m reminded of what I wrote the night before—what was good, what was joyful, what mattered.
Then I brush my teeth, where I stand in front of my mirror that says:
Everything is flowing so smoothly.
It brings me right back to the feelings and possibilities of this year. I get excited. I feel hopeful. I start my day in alignment instead of anxiety.
The nightstand and mirror aren’t decoration—they are gentle nudges that help guide my mind before it wanders into the shadows.
What Does This Have to Do With a Word of the Year?
Because your word—whatever you choose—can’t do its job if your mind is stuck in fear, doubt, or negativity.
You can’t move toward possibility if all you see is the potential for things to go wrong.
This practice rewires your brain to stay open, receptive, grounded, and hopeful. It keeps your eyes focused on what’s possible rather than what’s disastrous.
If you can’t envision the life you want, you won’t move toward it.
But if you can see it—clearly, daily—the possibilities become endless.
