What I write down every year on my birthday

Hi, love.

It’s my birthday today — and, as I do every year, I’m sitting down with a cup of coffee and my journal for an honest conversation with myself.

Every birthday, I look back on the year and write it all down: what I did, what I accomplished, what I didn’t get around to, and what I quietly wanted but was too afraid to say out loud. Not to judge myself, but to see things clearly. It’s astonishing how much of your own life you can forget until you put it on paper.

Then I write down what I want for the year ahead. Not a vague wish list, but real things, in my own handwriting. And over the years, I’ve noticed something almost magical: the things I write down often find their way into my life.

Here’s the little method I keep coming back to. First, look back honestly — at the wins and the things that didn’t go as planned. Second, write down what you want in simple, clear words. Third, break your bigger goals into one small next step you can take this week. That’s it. Simple, but meaningful.

And please, write it on paper. Not in a note on your phone, not just as a thought in your head. There’s something about moving your hand across the page that makes a goal feel more real — that turns it from a daydream into a decision. I don’t fully understand why it works for me. I only know that it does.

So that’s my birthday ritual. And now it can be yours, too, if you’d like. Look back with kindness, look ahead with honesty, and put it all on paper. Then, as the year unfolds, take a quiet moment now and then to see how much of what you wrote has found its way into your life.