10 Things To Do Next Year (An Alternative to New Year’s Resolutions)

I stopped making big professional goals and resolutions a few years ago. Frankly, I decided they were not good for my mental health.

The failure and disappointment I felt after not meeting a goal or accomplishing some whatever was too much to bear. Even if I worked as hard as I humanly could and made every effort, if I couldn’t do it, it was clearly my fault that whatever milestone or achievement did not come to pass.

Even now, I feel like an enormous failure just by existing every day, but I’m working on it.

Instead, I think more about the habits I want to build (like managing my terrifying inner critic) and overall holistic accomplishments — like getting stronger and building stamina through my workouts rather than focusing on the number on a scale or the size of my jeans.

Last year, in lieu of January resolutions, I tried something new: I made a list of 10 things I wanted to do in 2023.

I suppose if you had to categorize the items on the list, they would mostly fall under Personal Growth or Development (”someone is staring at you in personal growth”), but I specifically didn’t want to pin anything down into any category.

Some things were specifically tied to events, some were meant to unfold over the year, and some were more tenuous. Let’s look at my list and see what transpired, shall we?

10 Things To Do in 2023

1. Learn how to use a compass: yes! And now I need a refresher course, but I can say I knew how to use a compass a few weeks in March, at least.
2. Launch the Make Your Own Meal Plan system: yes! It launched… even if I could certainly use a lot more clients and may need to put it to bed if I can’t get them soon.
3. Learn the Akashic records: yes! I mean, I learned what they are and tried opening them a few times, even though it doesn’t really “work” for me.
4. Read a new book every month: yes! This thing kind of morphed into a “only read books that come from the town library or your own home library” commitment, and it’s one I’ll probably try to keep up with for 2024.
5. Start planning the West Coast National Parks trip: technically, I did make a list of the National Parks in California, Oregon, and Washington, but that’s as far as I got. I would consider this more of a NOPE.
6. Ride the rollercoaster at MASS MoCA: yes! See the embedded video above for proof.
7. Do Future Visioning once a quarter: I would have accomplished this, but the host canceled the November Future Visioning event and I won’t be able to make the December date, so NOPE.
8. Hang out with Joy in person! yes! This happened in September, and it was a wonderful overnight trip that involved rooftop sunset views, ice cream, and breakfast tacos. How romantic!
9. Keep a journal again: I’m still assessing how I want to “journal,” because I hate going back and re-reading them, but I bought the Tamara Shopsin 5 Year Diary at MASS MoCA (when I rode Brake Run Helix), and I’m sticking to it.
10. Learn how to tie knots: ugh, NOPE. This is going at the top of the 2024 list.

I’m in the process of making my list for 2024, letting myself ruminate on what I might want to include for my next yearlong personal education. I’m giving myself until the end of January to finalize the list — because New Year’s Day seems so soon and arbitrary to make a decision.

And now I challenge you to do the same: What are 10 things you want to do, experience, learn, or simply start in 2024?

They can be big, they can be small, they can be one-offs, they can be truly anything you want to be. Maybe you don’t even do 10 things! Start with two or five and see how it goes. No pressure.

And if you don’t get through all of them by the end of the calendar year, it’s really OK. You’ve expanded your personal boundaries, tried some new things, and that’s pretty cool in itself.