Actor: Still in Progress, No Deadline
- Pilar Uribe
- Dec 30, 2025
- 2 min read
I'm navigating the New Year as an actor, balancing my voice and on-camera work, creative life, and the simple act of having fun—without making promises I can’t keep
Yes folks, it's that time again: the dreaded New Year's Resolutions. Everybody's talking about them online. All the holidays finish merging into one big happy family in December: Christmas, Hanukhah, and Kwanza, to name a few (there's also Buddhist Bodhi Day and Õmisoka, Japanese New Year's Eve). Everyone's celebrating and indulging because it's the end of the year, right? In Colombia they celebrate by burning a colorful effigy of the old year (año viejo). New Year! New habits! New life!
Yeah, right. Over the past two decades, I've read dozens of articles discussing 'things to do in the coming year.' New Year's resolutions are all over the map: join a gym, eat better, take classes to become a better actor, read more, travel, garden, get married. Blah blah blah. The sad truth? The failure rate is around 80%. Most people stop within months. I've done New Year's projections from three months to five years. There is a wide divide between my lists and reality.
An Actor’s Practice, Not a Promise
Mel Robbins said something recently that caught my eye. She says to ask yourself three questions before 2026: What will you stop doing? What will you continue doing? What will you start doing? So I'm opening my file of secret habits here, on my blog, that I'm not guaranteeing anything but I'm putting answers to these questions here and exploring their possibility.
Something I'd like to do less of is sitting down in front of my computer and get on a streaming service. I got rid of my tv a while ago so I wouldn't sit idly by. There's something about watching a series you love but is it necessary if you've already seen it? That's a question I plan to ask myself each time I sit at my desk.
I plan to continue balancing writing every day with my actor work. But I don't plan to hold myself hostage and then feel guilty if I don't do it. It's an invitation to push past the fear, to just do it. As far as what I'll start doing? I plan to include fun at some point in my life every single day. Whether it's dancing in my bedroom, singing in my car, guffawing at a joke, or being just plain silly, I am having fun at least once a day!