New Year's Resolutions That Actually Stick: Hire Help Instead of Trying Harder
Every year, same script: January 1st rolls around, you make ambitious resolutions, you feel motivated for about two weeks, and then real life comes back.
By February, you're exhausted. By March, you've forgotten what you even resolved to do.
The narrative says this is a willpower problem. A discipline issue. That if you just tried harder, planned better, or wanted it more, you'd succeed.
That's nonsense.
Most resolutions fail for one simple reason: they require more from you when you're already running on empty.
The Problem With "More"
Look at the most common New Year's resolutions:
• Exercise more
• Eat healthier
• Spend more time with family
• Focus on self-care
• Grow your business
• Get organized
• Be less stressed
Notice the pattern? Every single one requires time, energy, and mental bandwidth you don't currently have.
You're not failing because you're lazy or unmotivated. You're failing because you're trying to add things to a life that's already full. And unless you remove something, there's no room.
The math doesn't work. You can't fit 30 hours of tasks into a 24-hour day, no matter how motivated you are.
What If the Resolution Was Doing Less?
Here's a radical idea: what if your New Year's resolution wasn't about adding more to your plate? What if it was about strategically removing what's draining you?
Delegation isn't a cop-out. It's a strategy. And for most busy people, it's the only way resolutions actually work.
Because here's the truth: if you want to exercise more, you need time. If you want to spend more time with your family, you need energy. If you want to grow your business, you need focus.
And you can't have any of those things when you're drowning in errands, admin tasks, and the endless logistics of keeping life running.
Resolutions That Work When You Delegate
Let's reframe some common resolutions with delegation as the strategy:
Resolution: "Spend more time with family"
Translation: Stop spending weekends on errands, shopping, and admin. Delegate those tasks so your free time is actually free.
Resolution: "Focus on growing my business"
Translation: Outsource the life logistics that eat your mental bandwidth. Personal errands, gift shopping, event coordination. All of it.
Resolution: "Be less stressed"
Translation: Stop trying to do everything yourself. Hire a family assistant or personal assistant to handle the tasks that pile up and drain you.
Resolution: "Get organized"
Translation: Systems only work if you have the capacity to maintain them. Get help setting them up and keeping them running.
Resolution: "Take better care of myself"
Translation: Self-care isn't bubble baths. It's protecting your time and energy by delegating what doesn't require you personally.
See the pattern? The resolution isn't the hard part. It's creating the capacity to actually follow through.
Hiring Help IS the Resolution
Most people think of delegation as a "nice to have" or a luxury for when things calm down.
But what if hiring help wasn't the backup plan? What if it was the actual resolution?
This year, instead of resolving to do more, resolve to delegate strategically. Make hiring a personal assistant or family assistant the first thing you do, not the last resort.
Because when you free up time, energy, and mental space, everything else gets easier. The exercise happens because you're not exhausted. The family time happens because you're not drowning in errands. The business growth happens because you're not distracted by logistics.
Delegation isn't giving up. It's setting yourself up to actually succeed.
What Delegation Looks Like
When people hear "hire a personal assistant," they often picture something massive: a full-time employee, a huge commitment, corporate-level support.
That's not what this is.
At Poppy, delegation is flexible and hourly. You book support when you need it, for the tasks that are eating your time. That might look like:
• Errands and pickups (groceries, dry cleaning, prescriptions)
• Gift shopping and wrapping
• Event coordination and setup
• Waiting for deliveries or service appointments
• Administrative tasks and follow-ups
• Household coordination and logistics
No contracts. No full-time commitment. Just reliable, in-person support in Winnipeg when life gets overwhelming.
The Real Reason Resolutions Fail
Resolutions fail because they're built on the assumption that you just need to want it more.
But wanting it isn't the problem. Capacity is.
You can't willpower your way into having more hours in the day. You can't discipline yourself into having more energy when you're already running on fumes.
The solution isn't trying harder. It's working smarter. And working smarter means recognizing what you can delegate, and actually doing it.
This Year, Try Something Different
What if this New Year, instead of making a list of everything you want to add, you made a list of everything you want to remove?
What tasks are eating your time but don't require you personally? What logistics are draining your energy? What errands are stealing your weekends?
Write them down. Then delegate them.
Because the best resolution you can make isn't about doing more. It's about protecting your capacity for
what actually matters.
Ready to make 2026 different?
Let's talk about what's on your plate (and what can come off).