🌿 Welcome Back to The Reset Room

Happy 2026! Welcome to the first edition of The Reset Room for 2026.

If you are new here, WELCOME! Here you will learn new tips and strategies weekly to help you do a reset on some of the things in your life that may be leading to distress.

Click Here for Past episodes.

In last week’s newsletter, you were challenged to set up your new year with a list.

You didn’t try to change everything.
You didn’t pressure yourself to be perfect.
You just took time to get things out of your head and onto paper.

You created your — full list of “shoulds” and “need tos” — with your brain dump.
​
This week, we’re building on that foundation.

🌟 A Quick Story From the Therapy Room

I recently had a client who was struggling with getting things completed.

During our session, they shared their goals for the day and used phrases like:

• “I am going to get the room organized.”
• “I will try to get the laundry put away.”

I paused and told them something gently but honestly:

I said to them…… “I think I can predict what you’re going to get done today — and what you are not likely to get done.”

They looked at me surprised.

I explained that based on their wording, I was confident the room would get organized —
but that the laundry would likely still be waiting for them the next day.

I said this NOT because they were lazy.
NOT because they didn’t care.

But because their language revealed their level of intentional belief.

“I am going to” carried commitment.
“I will try” carried uncertainty and “an out”.

A few sessions later, this same client came back and shared that this mindset shift had stayed with them. They had suddenly become more aware of how they spoke to themselves — and had been working intentionally to pay attention to their “I’ll try” internal dialogue and recognize their level of “intention”.

They noticed something important:
When their language changed, their follow-through improved.

That insight is the heart of this week’s RESET.

🌟 This Week’s RESET: Intention vs. “I’ll Try”

Many people move into a new year saying:

• “I’ll try to be more consistent.”
• “I’ll try to stay calm.”
• “I’ll try to get organized.”
• “I’ll try to follow through.”

Here’s the truth — said with compassion:

When we tell ourselves “I’ll try,”​
the odds of follow-through drop significantly.

Not because we don’t want it.
But because trying is vague, and the brain struggles to act on vague commitments.

🧠 Why “Trying” Keeps Us Stuck

“I’ll try” often means:

• No clear plan
• No defined action
• No commitment to give our subconscious an “out” to spare us from guilt.

It keeps goals safely in theory — where they feel hopeful, but remain incomplete.

Intention, on the other hand, signals something very different to the brain:

• This matters.
• I’m getting this done.
• I’m choosing this on purpose.

Intention gives direction.
Trying gives escape.

✍️ The Practice: Revisit the List You Made Last Week

Pull out the list you created from last week’s newsletter..... or make one today if you haven’t..... with your “need to” and “should do” items.

As you read through it, slow down and notice your internal response to each item.

Ask yourself:

• Does this feel grounded and doable?
• Or does it carry hesitation, dread, or avoidance?
• Am I quietly telling myself, “I’ll try” with this one?

If so — that’s not failure.
That’s awareness.

🌱 Two Intentional Choices You Can Make

For each item on your list, prioritize by doing the following:

1️⃣ Put a Star ⭐️ or Checkmark ✅ by those that feel doable and exciting to you. (The ones you are highly likely to do).

These are not necessarily easy things but things that you feel you really need and want to get completed in the near future.

2️⃣ Put a ❓ by those things that give you an uncertain feeling or a feeling that is “ugh” or an urge to want to put it off. This is your “I’ll try” tasks. Don’t remove them from your list, you are just being realistic and need a way to make them more intentional.

Now prioritize and get into action with your⭐️intentional list to start feeling success.

Then pick JUST ONE thing from the❓“I’ll try” list and ask the following:

If the goal truly matters, ask:

• Why do I want this?
• What’s underneath my resistance?
• What would make this feel more realistic right now?

Then adjust it:

• Smaller
• Clearer
• More compassionate
• More aligned with your capacity

Trying fades when intention becomes specific… and then pick a time and DO THAT ONE THING.

Once you do one of those❓items and see how you shifted from “try” to “intention” you just taught yourself a new skill!

👇🏻 Read the Coparenting Reset or skip to the bottom for a summary.

🤍 A RESET for Coparents: Intention Over Reaction

Coparenting goals often fall into the “I’ll try” category too.

“I’ll try not to react.”
“I’ll try to be the bigger person.”

Instead, consider:

• What does intentional response look like for me?
• What helps me pause before reacting?
• What boundary protects my peace and my child’s emotional safety?
• How about… “I will not react”… “I will be the bigger person”

Children benefit most when parents respond on purpose — not from habit, hurt, or exhaustion.

🌿 Why All of This Matters

Trying keeps us stuck in self-judgment.
Intention moves us into self-leadership.

You don’t need to push harder.
You need to choose more clearly.

✨ This Week’s Gentle Reminder

Notice your language.
Listen to your inner dialogue.

If you hear “I’ll try,” pause — and ask:

Is this something I want to commit to, refine, or release?

That awareness alone is a powerful reset.

Happy 2026. I am so glad you are here. 🎉

👉🏼Forward this to someone you care about that would benefit from RESETS in their life.

Hit “reply” and share with me one of your “I’ll try” tasks you will work to change to an “I will” task in 2026! 🤩

​
— Tina