The Question I Am Taking Responsibility For This Year

For many of us, last week was back to work, back to school, back to daily life after the holiday breaks and festivities. Whether you love January vibes or not, 2026 is truly here.

I do not believe in resolutions, and to be honest, I do not think January pressure is very useful. “New Year, New You” is a myth, another wellness narrative that often sets people up to feel like they have failed when, a couple of months later, they cannot keep up with pressure-driven habits.

New Year, you continue to grow, learn and evolve.

I prefer reflection and a slower, steadier easing into the year. Aspirations I can take action on step by step, maintain and, if needed, adjust as life unfolds.

The first few months of the year, especially in colder climates in the northern hemisphere, are still a sleepy time. A time for reviewing, planning, preparing, working behind the scenes and setting the stage for springtime energy, which arrives closer to March here in Ireland.

With that in mind, every year I choose a question to explore. Not a goal or a resolution, but a question. Because questions shape how we live far more than answers do.

The question I am taking responsibility for this year is a simple one, but not an easy one.

How do we live well inside modern life, rather than in spite of it?

Not by escaping it.
Not by romanticising another time.
Not by pretending we can opt out.

But by learning how to live with more presence, more meaning and more humanity, right here, where we actually are.

This question sits at the heart of everything I write, research, speak about and build. And it feels more urgent now than ever.

We have more access, more choice, more convenience and more information than any generation that came before us. We can work from almost anywhere, order almost anything, talk to almost anyone and learn almost anything.

And yet, many people feel quietly exhausted.

Not burnt out in a dramatic way, but worn down. A little flattened. A little disconnected from themselves and from each other. Not because they are doing something wrong, but because the way we live now asks a lot of us.

Our attention is constantly pulled. Our time is fragmented. Our nervous systems rarely get a proper rest.

Most of the advice we are given about modern life and wellbeing does not really help. We are told to do more, optimise more, track more and fix ourselves. Or else, to opt out completely.

Neither of these paths truly fits most people’s real lives.

I am not interested in telling people to delete their lives. I am interested in helping people inhabit them.

My background is in cyberpsychology, and my work sits at the intersection of food, culture, technology and human connection. I spend a lot of time paying attention to how modern life actually feels, not just how it is described. I do not see these as separate topics, but as one tangled, very human story.

Because our wellbeing is not simply a personal responsibility. It is shaped by the environments we live inside. And if we want different lives, we need to start noticing the rhythms, expectations and assumptions that shape our days.

I do not believe real change happens through grand gestures. I believe it happens through ordinary moments.

How we eat.
How we speak to each other.
How we rest.
How we work.
How we move through our days.

Not perfectly and not performatively, but honestly.

This kind of change is slower. It is quieter. It does not always photograph well. But it lasts.

This year, I am focusing on finishing my book, developing new talks and workshops, and continuing to explore how food, presence, technology and connection intersect in everyday life, not as ideas, but as lived experiences.

Not because I have all the answers, but because I am willing to stay with the questions.

And because I believe that how we live matters, even when nobody is watching.

If you like modern life but feel tired inside it, if you are ambitious but quietly longing for something gentler, and if you do not want to escape but simply want to live more fully, then we are probably asking similar questions.

And that feels like a good place to begin in 2026.

If this resonates, I would encourage you to consider what questions you are carrying into this year.

YUMMIE TAKEAWAY

A Yummie life is not about escape or optimisation. It is about learning how to live well inside modern life, through small, ordinary, human moments.

How we eat.
How we rest.
How we work.
How we connect.
How we move through our days.

This is where real change begins.

This article is part of my ongoing exploration of modern life, wellbeing and human connection. I explore these themes through my writing, research, talks, workshops, events and collaborations with organisations.