I don't believe in New Year's resolutions

Welcome back to your Peak of the Week, where we explore what it means to live aligned, lead authentically, and build a life that feels as good as it looks.

This Week →

• Why most new-year goals fail by March (it's not discipline)

• The inner conflict: when what you want fights what you believe

• Four steps to resolve beliefs sabotaging your next level

Read Time < 4 minutes

You don't create a new year by trying harder, you create it by deciding what gets to be true for you.

My Turn

Welcome to January where everyone’s talking about goals, you can’t find a parking spot at the gym, and your motivation is high…until it isn’t.

Yeah… you know what I’m talking about! You set ambitious targets for 2026… Revenue goals. Team goals. Personal transformation goals.

And by March, most of them will be gathering dust in some forgotten notebook. Not because you didn’t want it badly enough or because you lacked discipline. NOPE.

Because we’ve collectively misunderstood what goal-setting actually is.

Let’s take this scenario (one of my past goals as an executive recruiter)

“I want to bill $500K this year.”

I work hard. I put in the hours. I do all the “right” things.

December rolls around: $380K.

Darn it! Now, in rolls the justification..

“The market was tough this year.” “Companies took too long to make hiring decisions.” “Maybe next year.”

Here’s what took me over a DECADE to finally get….

The goal wasn’t the problem. My belief system was.

Why Most Goals Fail:

You set a goal (column A): “Generate $500K”

But unconsciously, you have these beliefs (column B):

• “Money is scarce”

• “Growth requires grinding”

• “I’m not the type of person who…”

It’s like driving with your foot on the gas and the brake.

Your brain (and your nervous system) - that goal-achieving machine inside you - will always default to what you believe, not what you want.

This is what I call inner conflict.

What I Do NOW instead of Resolutions:

I don’t ask: “What do I want to achieve?”

I ask: “What belief needs to shift before this goal can come to life?”

Because a “resolution” isn’t a wish list. It’s a resolving of an old pattern that’s keeping you stuck.

Your Turn

Here’s the framework I invite you to try:

STEP 1: Name the goal What do you actually want? Be specific.

Example: “Generate $500K in revenue in 2026”

STEP 2: Name the resistance What belief is in conflict with this goal?

Write them down. ALL of them.

• “Money is hard to make”

• “I’m not worthy of that level of success”

• “I’ll have to sacrifice time with my family”

STEP 3: Make a new decision Beliefs are decisions you made unconsciously a long time ago (they’re hiding under the surface…and they might not even be your belief…they are ones you inherited)

For each belief, write the opposite…

Old: “Money is scarce” → New: “There’s more capital in circulation than ever before”

STEP 4: Stack the evidence This is where the magic happens. Remember, your brain is a goal-achieving machine and if you ask it a question, it will find an answer.

Ask: “What evidence do I have that this new decision is TRUE?”

At first, your brain will resist. Expect that. It’s been archiving evidence that doesn’t fit the old belief for likely decades…so you’ve got to give it time.

Give it time. And more time, and more time

The evidence will eventually surface:

• “Oh yeah, there was a year I did make money easily”

• “There’s $37 trillion in circulation in the US alone”

• “Someone just paid me $500 for work I love doing”

Keep stacking.

This is neural pruning - you’re dismantling old wiring and activating new pathways in your brain.

I used this process when I was stuck at a revenue plateau. I identified the limiting belief: “Growth means sacrificing my family life”

Made a new decision: “I can scale revenue while protecting my energy and time with my family”

Stacked the evidence: Found examples of other leaders I know doing exactly that.

Within a few months opportunities started appearing that I would have unconsciously rejected before because they didn’t fit my old belief system.

Not because I “manifested” them.

Because I became congruent with receiving them. I expected them because I had a new belief that I can scale revenue + have an incredibly family life.

Isn’t that cool???

The Shift Most Leaders Miss

They think: Result → Belief

“Once I hit $500K, THEN I’ll believe I’m capable”

But it’s actually the reverse.

Belief → Result

You have to become the person who’s already produced the result BEFORE the result shows up.

That’s not woo-woo, it’s neuroscience.

Your identity makes the shift first. Then, behavior follows naturally.

My Challenge to You

Please don’t just set goals!

Resolve the beliefs that sabotaged last year’s goals.

Take one goal and run it through the 4-step framework.

Name the resistance. Make a new decision. Stack the evidence.

Because you don’t create a new year by trying harder.

You create it by deciding what gets to be true for you…upgrading your belief system.

Desire support? Book an 1:1 call with me here​

What belief are you resolving this year?

Hit reply and tell me. I read every response and super excited to hear how this lands.

With belief in our collective rise,

Laura

P.S. If this resonated and you want to go deeper, we're doing exactly this work in Rewire - the 6-month program starting in February. Not "goal-setting." Not "accountability coaching." Belief re-wiring and operating system installation so you can stop performing the version of you that doesn’t fit you anymore. [APPLY HERE]

P.P.S. If you want more inspiration, gentle challenge, and the occasional reminder that growth happens in real life (often surrounded by four growing boys, noise & chaos)…come hang out with me on Instagram 💛