One Anti-New Year's Resolution for each NHL Team

We're not doing that sh-- this year, right?

I’m not a huge fan of New Year’s resolutions.

There’s never a wrong time to make a positive change, so there’s no need to put so much pressure on Jan. 1 as the Big Moment to do the Big Thing. Not only are you setting yourself up for disappointment if you aren’t perfect, but I’ve actually found permanent change in my life comes from choosing the right Small Things in Small Moments and compounding daily habits. More than anything, I’m most successful over time via data, realistic positivity, forgiveness, and curiosity vs. brute force and white knuckles.

When we put less pressure on ourselves to do something huge, we can examine our bumps in the road more honestly. When we don’t have to be perfect, we can remove some shame from the equation and figure out how to smoothly navigate inevitable bumps.

We don’t have to start over, we can just keep going.

Then, we look back at the road behind us and somewhere along the way, the change we desired is part of our actual, messy lives. Things didn’t get easier, and there was never a perfect time to become the perfect version of yourself that doesn’t exist.

Maybe you even find that you prefer the real, honest, resilient you to the fantasy smooth sailer.

In other words, don’t trade away the Jacob Troubas and Kaapo Kakkos of your life in a frustrated and desperate attempt to make a drastic change. Start small and be nice to the little Troubas and Kakkos in your brain, but tuck their freaking elbows in and work on their damn puck elevation skills.