Adventures and Side-quests

Jan 07, 2026

I am sort of plodding into the New Year. I am recovering from the whiplash of the holidays, sending Elliott back to school, getting back into our routine, feeling all the feelings about the world. It is just this slow and steady forward motion into 2026.

I have some vague notions but no real plans about how I want this year to look. Sometimes I wish I had the energy and self discipline of a productivity bro who has their year mapped out and is crushing their goals by January 7th, but alas I do not.

The sorts of New Year’s resolutions that appeal to me are the fun ones, the adventures and side-quests. The things you can add to your life to make it FUN. Life is already so hard; I have zero interest in making it harder. I thought it would be fun to compile a list of ideas of resolutions that feel fun or are easy changes that have big payoffs.

Ok here are my ideas:

I love the folks who want to master something in the New Year, things like make the perfect pizza, pasta, or pie at home. Then they say Friday is pizza/pasta/pie night and they gather cookbooks and try internet recipes and practice their craft and experiment and try new toppings or fillings or sauces every week.

I am also so inspired by people who take up a hobby that they gave up in their childhood. I love adults that start paying for ice skating lessons for themselves or joining a tennis team. They reclaim their regrets of quitting and reignite latent dreams. This could also fulfill your fitness goal!

Make a mixtape. You could make one for your kids of essential music you want them to know, or Austin Kleon made one for his wife’s pasta night called Red Sauce. You could make one that makes your house feel like a coffee shop or energizes you while you fold the laundry.

Get a new hobby, the weirder the better. My friend Lydia told me that her goat lady friends were flying in for a galentine’s day meetup which is the best sentence I have ever heard. Homesteading is her hobby and now she has a crew of goat ladies. Elliott’s taking a class at school about making miniatures. They just make tiny things together. Look at these tiny pencils and book he made. It is the world’s cutest hobby.

Make a list of things you want to find at the thrift store and then make it a habit of going and wandering around. I want to find more painting books and vintage crafting books. It feels like a treasure hunt.

Figure out what you like to wear. Make Pinterest boards, clean out your closet, get a book to help you.

Institute a library day, so you get to go every week and flip through magazines and cookbooks and read the backs of novels.

Make some upgrades to your bedroom to make it feel like a hotel. Get some new pillows, or declutter it. Get a nice candle or room spray.

Can you delete social media from your phone?

Send minor holiday cards to your friends. Imagine how happy you’ll make someone when they get a card in the mail.

Make a doctors appointment about something that has been annoying you. I know this doesn’t sound fun at first, but imagine how good you’ll feel once that problem has been resolved. Also make your annual doctors appointment, mammogram and colonoscopy. These also won’t make you happy at first but friend, my doctor found my thyroid cancer at a routine visit and I am wildly happy that was taken care of!

Can you automate a portion of your finances? You could setup auto bill pay or withdraws to be automatically invested.

Make a list of your favorite things to do in your neighborhood or city and try to make rhythms of doing them. Is there a park you love or a restaurant that makes a great pastry? Can you spend the first Saturday of the month enjoying them?

Figure out the nicest walk around your neighborhood. We live a half mile from the Delaware river, but were never able to enjoy it because it was just an abandoned industrial wasteland. Then a few years ago a developer came and built a whole new neighborhood on the site and added a public walking path that winds along the river. One of my resolutions is to go and enjoy it, watch some tugboats and ducks on my walks.