The Great Lock In

Photo by Bud Helisson on Unsplash

There’s a trend making waves on TikTok - though I’ll admit, I didn’t stumble upon it while scrolling the app. I read about it in the New York Times, which feels far more aligned with my old-soul sensibilities. The phrase is “locking in,” and while it’s been floating around for a few years, it’s recently taken on new life through something creators are calling The Great Lock In.

When you participate it means that from September through the end of the year, you commit - fully and intentionally - to your biggest goals. Instead of waiting for January 1st to roll around with its usual promises and resolutions, this movement invites us to revisit the things we said we’d do but haven’t quite gotten to yet. It’s a reset, not a restart. A chance to finish strong, rather than start over.

When I read the first article about this, I was intrigued so I read another and watched a few of the videos. What I found most interesting is the idea of getting away from bigger goals and breaking it down into smaller, more achievable steps. It's a little bit of don't overcommit, start small and a little bit of enjoy the journey. Which is exactly how we reach big goals - we make them smaller and we fall in love with the process - but if not setting a big goal at all helps you start then that’s great too.

“It’s inspiring, exciting, healthy to set goals and focus on achieving them. But letting go of attachment to the outcome, making our business about the trying rather than the end product, allows us to enjoy our lives along the way, whether we arrive at our planned destination or somewhere else entirely.”

-Melissa Kirsch, The New York Times

So, as we step into this final stretch of the year, I’m asking myself: What would it look like to lock in - not just with ambition, but with intention? What if the goal wasn’t to hustle harder, but to show up more fully? To choose one or two things that matter, and move toward them with grace, consistency, and curiosity.