When a year comes to an end, it’s time for reflection. And for resolutions for the year ahead.

A healthy habit, a desire mixed with change, novelty, improvement.

If only we had managed to turn even 10% of our good resolutions into reality, we would probably live in a world too perfect to be true. And perhaps we would have already stopped wishing for something better for the time to come -and trying to achieve it.

Maybe it’s not about stopping dreaming, nor about becoming apathetic, fatalistic, or disenchanted.

Accepting and embracing limits is what makes a resolution achievable and prevents hope from degrading into mere wishful thinking.

For those who follow a path of discipline -a martial one, in this case- this is a first, fundamental step toward ensuring a new year lived meaningfully.

But there is another attitude, no less important. If it is true that good resolutions are often broken, it is equally true that many actions derive directly or indirectly from bad resolutions. The fact that we often end the year drawing the same conclusions points to a number of underlying dysfunctions.

So here are a few bad resolutions for 2026, as far as practice is concerned.

Stop asking why.
Every discipline requires acts of trust to be transmitted and lived, yet curiosity is essential. We live surrounded by axioms, and in a discipline centered on research and the study of conflict, asking “why” is fundamental. Stopping means reducing practice to just another daily automatism.

Putting someone on a pedestal.
Whether it’s the teacher, yourself, or a training partner “better than me.” It’s a subtle form of disrespect toward oneself and others. Recognizing roles and skills is motivating. Idolizing -or asking to be idolized-creates an invisible barrier that slows or suffocates growth, which can only happen through sincere exchange.

Mistaking hypochondria for responsibility.
No one goes to the Dojo to destroy their health. Fear is a valuable resource when properly channeled. But swinging between feeling terminally ill over elbow pain and training with a high fever, injuring yourself and others, are two equally harmful extremes.

Believing your way of practicing has no impact.
On yourself, on your partners, on instructors, on the group. Great teachers (among them Morihei Ueshiba) stressed egoism as the true enemy. Practice lies in the daily effort to smooth and reduce the ego. The way practice is lived -and taught-deeply affects how much value it gives back.

And you: which bad resolutions are you at risk of making in the new year?

Disclaimer: picture by Ann H from Pexels