Resolve to have some fun
This isn't the time to play it cool. This is the time to lean into cringe. Be awkward. Be flawed. Be bad at it. And do it anyways.
I cannot stress enough how fun it is to make quirky and creative New Year’s resolutions.
Yes, the idea of resolutions is controversial, and yes, I’ve been known to post “Revolutions not resolutions!” on my Facebook feed in the past.
Then one year, I jokingly decided to make a funny resolution as protest, and everything shifted. Suddenly, resolutions went from something full of shame and scarcity to something full of joy and abundance.
Now, I love resolutions, and make them all year long.
These days, I have two rules for resolutions:
Make them joyful and abundant.
Make them any damn time you want.
You’re welcome to decide to add something joyful in your life (or take away something that is no longer giving you joy) any time you want!
But as astrologer Chani Nicholas recently put it so succinctly: “January 1 has a collective buy-in of regeneration.”
That social momentum can make it a powerful time to start a new project. But so is the start of the month, a full moon, a new moon, the solstice, the equinox, your birthday, or even a random Tuesday, if you give it enough meaning.
Need some ideas for a quirky and unique New Year project?
Here are a few fun projects I’ve done in the past. Feel free to use them as a starting point or steal the idea completely!
1) Make homemade gluten free donuts.
This was the one that started it all! At the time, I worked for a big personal development speaker. Everyone around me was making plans to lose weight, make more money, find a spouse, stop drinking alcohol.
They were fine for them, but felt too full of shame and scarcity for me.
So, I decided I was going to learn to make homemade gluten free and vegan donuts.
It felt full of joy and delight, but also met a lot of my sensitive stomach coworkers where they were at as well. A win-win!
I baked them at home and brought them to work for special occasions.
People taste tested and gave feedback. We decorated them together.
It was creative, communal, unique, and fun.
When I say this was a game changer, I mean it literally changed the game for me. Now, I wasn’t trying to “win” at societal expectations and instead was trying to add more delight to my life and the lives around me.
2) Meander More
The next year was during COVID quarantine, so I made the New Year’s resolution to get lost more.
I’d pick a random place and just see where my curiosity led me, then try to find my way back.
I explored places in San Diego I never would have seen had I not taken on this challenge.
I noticed the beauty around me and began feeling myself setting roots.
I saved a baby bunny from a hawk! (Any of you remember that?!)
But more than that, I began a practice I still do today of walking with the goal of noticing the world around me, not exercising. It’s something that’s still important for my mental health.
3) Explore the Art of Coffee Making (or Mocktails!)
The third year I did this, I decided, and I quote “this is the year I learn to drink coffee like a big kid.”
Making it “like a big kid” put the play and curiosity into it from the start. It allowed me to explore and see what I liked, rejecting what I didn’t like a kid might reject new food.
It led to an appreciation and understanding of various kinds of coffee products (even if it all still hurts my stomach) and a deep knowledge of the local cafe scene.
The next year, I resolved to learn to make it at home – and immediately found out I much prefer going to a café…
Last year, I decided to learn to make mocktails at home and that has been great fun as well!
All of this is to say:
LET 2026 BE FUN AND PLAYFUL!
Whether you’re making a formal resolution or simply just starting a new calendar year with the rest of us, I encourage you to add more joy and abundance to your life.
We’re all going through a lot.
Now is not the time to play it cool.
This is the time to lean into cringe.
Be awkward. Be flawed. Be bad at it. And do it anyways.
I’ll be right there with you, laughing and crying the whole time.
With love and joy,
Lauren
P.S. Want a fun and creative way to build resilience so you can make those resolutions stick? Check out my 33 Asks® program. It’s full of joy and abundance.