Never make another resolution for the New Year ever again
Have you ever created a Personal Manifesto? This year I did, and here’s why this practice will replace all others in the years to come.
What’s a personal manifesto
In personal development, a personal manifesto is a self-authored declaration of authority. It’s a written statement that defines:
how you make decisions
what governs your behavior
what you’re no longer available for
what you will return to when clarity wobbles
Unlike resolutions that map desires, and goals that describe outcomes, a manifesto defines orientation. It answers the question:
From what position do I live and act now?
Once written, a personal manifesto provides coherence in times of chaos. Creating a personal manifesto helps you end the cycle of reformulating yourself every time a decision appears, providing you language when you’re under stress so you can protect your boundaries, your time, and your energy.
If you’re tired of renegotiating yourself, you’re ready for a personal manifesto.
If a personal manifesto is too big of a commitment right now,
Here’s how choosing ONE word can help you focus in 2026
“Crossing isn’t always dramatic. Sometimes it’s simply the moment you stop standing outside the door.”
Instead of the usual vision boards and New Years resolutions, I typically choose a group of words to usher me into the upcoming year, and align my choices for the year with pre-selected principles and experiences.
But at the end of 2025 I recognized myself standing at the edge of something that has been forming for a long time. To honor that feeling, I chose a word that signifies I’m no longer waiting for permission
Perhaps you don’t need more tools or to reinvent yourself? Maybe you just need to pick ONE word to help you pilot through the year.
Stay tuned: I’ll be turning both of these writing practices into storytelling workshops!
And applying this same lens, choosing intention over reaction, is what guides how I approach my investigative work as well. 👇🏾
From the studio:
Case & Point Season 1 episodes are available
We’re officially live! Case & Point is an investigative storytelling series exploring scams, schemes, power, corruption, wellness lies, influencer culture, justice failures, and the human behavior behind unbelievable true stories.
Hosted by yours truly, each week I break down a story with receipts, systems thinking, and thoughtful cultural analysis, and ask the only question that matters when humans behave badly:
So… what did we learn?
In Season 1: Stupid | Smart we’re starting with stories so wild you can’t tell if this is brilliance or buffoonery! Find the show 👉🏾 https://caseandpoint.buzzsprout.com
zephirin & co. logo
zephirin & co. is at Teach Plus Texas
From January to July 2026, zephirin & co. will be in strategic partnership with Teach Plus Texas to create their TPTX Storytelling Lab! Here, we’ll establish a storytelling strategy and content creation pipeline for Teaching Fellows across Dallas Fort-Worth, El Paso, Houston, and San Antonio to highlight their research, and increase enrollment into their 2027 Fellows cohorts.
We can’t wait to share our progress with you!
Before you go…
If you’re creating something right now – a project, a boundary, a new way of showing up in 2026 – I’d love to hear about it!
Hit reply and tell me what you’re working on in the new year so I can support you, too!
Be curious, grounded, kind, and thoughtful.
And remember:
The stories we accept today are the ones we live inside tomorrow.
Warmly,
Asa-Mari Z.📖✨