On Mastodon (and a few other places) this toot has been making the rounds. (Please click through for the full thread.)
The toot reads as follows:
Jess Rose jessie@mastodon.socialA gentle soul on Twitter ages ago got me to change from making new years resolutions to making a bingo card of different things I wanted to try and do in the new year. This massively improved my life. Instead of a big-stakes failbomb, I have a mix of big to small goals that let me incrementally work towards larger goals. It’s also great to see your progress throughout the year! Also I give myself a little treat whenever I complete a new bingo, which rules.
I freaking LOVE this idea.
Honestly, it’s the best thing that I can think of as a way to get shit done, expand your horizons (there was another one where instead of a bingo card, it was fun random shit, like Try Any New Fruit You Come Across)… Resolutions don’t have to be boring or strictly good for you stuff. They can be something like “I want to try a new food that I would never intentionally seek out before this year at least 12 times in CY 2025” (which gives you one new thing to try a month if you need that kind of structure – I would!).
I created my bingo card at Bingo Card Creator and I still have a little over a day to refine it further. The other thing I’m doing is coming up with 12 little rewards that are under €50 per reward (because I’m not going to be knocking these all out in the first month – some are longer-term projects) and having the big “I did All The Things” reward be hiring a cleaning service in 2026. But having vertical and horizontal random rewards like “get that print framed” or “sign up for a year of Storygraph” or “order all the stuff to make tamales and MAKE SOME FUCKIN’ TAMALES”… however it fits into your lifestyle or budget.
I won’t be sharing all my bingo card squares with you, but there’s things on there that are projects I’ve been meaning to get to (subfloor installation for attic) that would be helpful for the family/household, and then there’s things that are more enjoyable, like 200 hours of audiobooks read. I think it’s important to have a balance between obligation and enjoyment.
If you’re finding yourself wanting to make a resolution but the standard way isn’t working for you, try this one with me this year! Let me know how you get on. I’ll update you as we go through the year.
Take care of yourselves and one another,
Ryn