Never trying is a choice too. It just doesn’t come with a highlight reel.

Not acting registers as neutral because nothing visible happens, which is exactly why it escapes being counted. You still spent the time, still ended somewhere, still closed the options that were open. Failure leaves evidence and avoidance leaves a blank, so only one of them gets reviewed. Blanks are not safer, they are just quieter.

Look at what you decided by not deciding this year. Pick one of those and do the smallest visible version of it. A bad attempt tells you something, and a blank tells you nothing at all.