Most people abandon their new year’s resolutions after less than four months, yet we keep setting them anyway. Instead of resolutions, CCI columnist Mary Shirley recommends compliance teams adopt a theme word for the year — like “proactive,” “partnership” or “scrappy” — to create joint focus and keep everyone rowing in the same direction.
As we transitioned from 2025 into 2026, my social media feeds were filled with a couple of themes that didn’t focus on the usual achievements and accomplishments of the past year and “new year, new you” goals. Instead, the posts reassured folks that if you just survived 2025 and made it through, that was something to be proud of and you don’t need to make a new you, who you are is just perfect.
I wholeheartedly support this healthy messaging as a good-enough-beats-perfection kind of a gal. That said, where opportunities lie to seize self-improvement, I support grabbing for those as well, just not necessarily by way of making new year’s resolutions.
One of the first recorded appearances of the term “new year’s resolution” was in a Boston newspaper in 1813, and the phrase has become understood as taking stock of the year prior, our current circumstances and aspiring to positive change.
Improving our fitness and finances are classic areas upon which new year’s resolutions are often based, and these often sound like excellent wellness initiatives. There’s just one small problem: We don’t commit thoroughly to these resolutions.
A 2023 Forbes Health poll found most people give up resolutions after less than four months, and only 1% said they stuck with their resolutions for 11 or 12 months. So why do we keep setting resolutions when the majority are doomed to fail?
Instead of resolutions, I’ve had far more success choosing a theme word for the year: A trait to amplify or acquire, or a practice to live more meaningfully throughout the coming year. This theme-word practice can be equally applicable to your team in the workplace, creating joint focus and promoting everyone rowing in the same direction.
Perhaps yourself, as the leader, selects the word to signal a growth opportunity for your team or to highlight a pain point. Has the team received criticism for slow turnaround or not staying in their own lane? Identify a word to help keep those issues and their associated fixes front of mind.
You could take a different approach if you’re concerned about buy-in. Call for submissions of ideas and cast a vote. Give the team a heads-up that every quarter they will share their own favorite example of how they exemplified the chosen value in a round-robin discussion.
Some example words that work well for compliance departments include “customer-centric,” “partnership,” “transform,” “proactive,” “empower,” “momentum,” “challenge” and “scrappy.”
Give reminders to the team periodically about collecting their examples and watch this team continuously commit to this goal all year long.
Wishing all “Living Your Best Compliance Life” readers a happy and prosperous 2026!
