SACRAMENTO, CA - “You can’t make a New Year’s resolution in May, Peg.” I can still hear my lifelong best friend’s skeptical voice assuring me of this fact as I mapped out a few of my newest resolutions on a dewy spring morning during our freshman year of college.

If we’re being literal, then my BFF is correct (as usual), and New Year’s resolutions are not to be formed outside the conceptual restrictions of time in which they were originally intended. But, to put it simply—I don’t care.

A New Year’s resolution gives you the opportunity to self-reflect, look within, and uncover areas of growth that really mean something to you. It’s about laying out the actions you must take to make the life around you one that you truly want to live. Why should we limit this act to only one out of 365 days?

All this to say that the New Year’s resolutions I put in place now may very well evolve throughout 2023, and that I refuse to deem it too late to tack on a new goal.

For me—for now—2023 is all about authenticity. I want to stop hiding the parts of myself that have been deemed too much or too little by society and instead strive for a standard that is set by me and me only. I want to establish my own definitions of success, happiness, beauty, health, and so on.

That’s right, 2023 Peggy is throwing up peace signs to the self-inflicted insecurities brought on by 2022.

In the wise words of Rudy Francisco, one of my favorite poets: “My highest ambition is to crawl out from under the ash and laugh at all of the things that thought they could bury me.”

Cheers to another year, industry friends. I hope your entire 2023 is rooted in both peace and power.