Resolve to evolve...and to win in 2025

Happy New Year! It’s 2026 and the time is here to hold true to your New Year resolutions. Or maybe not. After many years of setting the same resolution — work out more, eat better, lose weight, yada yada — followed by my typical pattern of not sticking to it, I finally stopped making resolutions.

By Lisa Chappell, 2025-26 president, Texas Press Association

It just makes more sense. Instead of setting lofty goals followed by self-sabotage and then drowning in self-inflicted guilt, I eventually came to realize that the New Year resolution game was not for me. And I’m much happier for it.

I do set yearly goals for improving my newspapers, being a better boss and finding new ways to succeed each year. Funny thing is, I’m much better at sticking to my workplace goals than any personal promises or resolutions. You see, I’m a self-diagnosed professional self-saboteur and procrastinator.

There, I said it. I’m well aware of my weaknesses and now you know them too. They are terrible habits that are probably easy to break. But at my age, I’m settled in to who I am and I’m not likely to change.

For organizations, change comes with a new year and TPA is no exception. Welcome to our first digital-only Texas Press Messenger. If you’re like me, you usually wait for the printed edition to come in the mail so you can take a much-needed break and sit at your desk with a cup of coffee to enjoy it. It’s a ritual that I certainly am fond of and I will continue doing it, but now I’ll be doing it with my tablet. Since I read newspapers on my tablet all the time, this will be an easy transition for me. 

This change is understandable. Sustainability is the goal. We all know how expensive printing and postage have become. Moving to an all-digital format is absolutely the best decision for the future of TPA. It even gives us the opportunity to expand the Messenger as we no longer have space restrictions. To that end, I would love to see more of you submit guest columns.

In this group we have so many talented writers, industry experts, sales experts and motivators. There’s no reason we can’t grow and enhance our newsletter with such a talented group. I didn’t run this by Mike, but I’m sure you are ok with this, right Mike?

Now that January is here, it’s time to get your contest entries together. The dates to enter the TPA contest are Jan. 19 through Feb. 13. I urge everyone to enter, though I know some editors dread this time of year as gathering content does take up valuable time. I hope you’ll remember that entering is important for a number of reasons.

First, bragging rights go a long way. Even those not overly competitive love to win, or even place second or third. Being able to tell your community they have an award-winning newspaper is another solid reason to enter. Talk about sparking pride!

Arguably as important or even better than bragging to the community is team morale. Our newsrooms and ad staff work tirelessly with many thankless days. A pat on the back and a statewide recognition does wonders for a tired team. 

Last but not least, it also tells your peers in TPA that you, as the leader of your newspaper, are proud of your people. I am so proud of mine. They are dedicated and work their tails off because they believe in the importance of what they do for their communities.

This industry is certainly not for the weak of heart. It’s for those with strength and grit. So please, enter the TPA contest in as many categories as you can to show your team you are proud of them.

Let’s make 2026 our best year yet.