12 SKILLS. 12 CHALLENGES. 0 RESOLUTIONS. A NEW APPROACH TO THE NEW YEAR
I recently saw a post where someone was laying out their annual calendar by planning a new skill to learn and practice each month. I love that idea – in my opinion, it looks much more fun than setting resolutions.
I find the change of year to be a good time for reflection and planning, but the idea of resolutions never felt right to me. They’re too big-picture, no-room-for-error lifestyle changes that never seem to stick. We somehow expect ourselves to become experts and 100% dedicated to new habits literally overnight. It’s overwhelming and unrealistic.
Planning to learn or practice a new skill or habit each month that will help work toward a big-picture goal (or goals) seems much more sustainable and useful. It allows us to gather knowledge, practice things and find out if that habit or lifestyle change is actually something we want to pursue.
The trick here is to think about your overarching goals (hike more, eat better, become more self-reliant, etc.) and then think about what skills or knowledge you would need to achieve that or make those experiences better, safer, or more enjoyable.
This breaks it down into manageable bites that can be worked on over time and removes the pressure of making that huge lifestyle change on January 1, never to go back to your old ways again.
In addition to the new skill each month, I’m adding a monthly challenge as well. I find short-term challenges to be motivating and a good way to try out a new habit without the pressure of it being forever. After the month is over, keep it up if you enjoy it; drop it if you don’t.
Short-term challenges also help make it possible to take advantage of seasonal opportunities that may not be available year-round and aren’t suitable for long-term resolutions. For example, setting a resolution to kayak weekly wouldn’t be possible here since lakes are frozen for six months of the year. But setting myself a challenge to kayak 3x per week through August will help motivate me to get out on the water and take full advantage of the opportunity while it’s available.
I thought I’d share my 2024 monthly skills and challenges here, not only as a way to hold myself accountable and have my calendar easy to reference but also to give you an idea of what this approach to new year planning looks like.
THE BIG-PICTURE GOALS
Step one is to think about your overarching, big-picture, lifestyle-setting goals. These are things that may have been vague resolutions in previous years (think: lose weight, eat healthy, get outside more, etc.). They don’t have to be super specific or detailed. Think more about the general direction you’d like to move toward.
Here are mine:
To Become More Self-Reliant
In recent years we’ve become more and more drawn to ideas of self-reliance and becoming active producers rather than passive consumers. I get so much joy and confidence from being able to meet our needs without relying on external systems, and we are always looking for ways to become more self-reliant.
Of course, we are still very much part of “the system” and there is no shortage of skills to learn and practice – from gardening to foraging to hunting to herbalism and beyond – the possibilities are endless.
To Refocus on Outdoor Activities
We spend a good chunk of our year up north and outside in the beautiful Boreal Forest. It’s an outdoorist’s dream with no shortage of opportunities for adventure. But if I’m being honest, the past handful of years have become more about taking care of and maintaining the cabin and fishing camp than they have been about getting out and enjoying our surroundings.
2023, in particular, was a “work season” as we took on a huge list of projects around the camp. We barely had time to take the dogs on short forest walks, let alone tackle any hardcore, type 2, outdoorsy fun.
This year should be a little more chill as far as our to-do list goes, and I am determined to work in more hiking, kayaking, canoeing, fishing, and maybe even a good old multiday suffer-fest in the upcoming season.
To Be More Physically Active
I turned 39 this past November, and while I still feel plenty young, my body reminds me often, through creaky knees and that occasional twinge in my back, that I’m no spring chick anymore. I’d like to maintain my mobility and physical capabilities well into old age, and I think at this point in my life, it’s going to take a bit more concerted effort.
I understand myself well enough to know that some super rigid, highly structured workout routine is not going to keep me motivated or even be a little bit enjoyable, so my challenge is to find ways to keep my body moving in sustainable and beneficial ways.
To Write More
Ah yes, write more. This is one I often fall into the black-and-white, all-or-nothing trap. I start the year claiming I’ll publish posts regularly (x number, monthly or whatever arbitrary metric I come up with) and then summers get busy, and I fall out of the routine only to berate myself for not sticking with something that’s important to me. I then question whether it’s worth doing at all if I can’t do it every day.
This year, I’m approaching writing more like I would anything else. By looking at skills I can learn and short-term challenges that can help me improve, stay motivated, and allow room for the seasonality that is the reality of our lives. That might mean I write a lot one month and then nothing the next, but that’s ok.
THE MONTHLY BREAKDOWN
Once you have your big-picture goals, spend some time thinking about what specific skills, knowledge, and habits (big or small) would help you reach your goals. You’ll also want to spend some time thinking about what is currently holding you back from incorporating these things into your life. Or, if you already incorporate some aspect of these things into your life, think about how you could improve, adjust, or alter that thing.
For example, maybe your goal is to hike more. After thinking on it for a while, you realize you don’t hike often because you have no one to go with and don’t feel confident enough to go alone. Things that might help you overcome this could include:
- Joining a local hiking group so you always have someone to go with
- Taking courses that increase your confidence so you’re more comfortable going alone (self defence, bear safety, wilderness first aid, etc.)
- Finding trails that you are more comfortable on for whatever reason (proximity to home, less technical, number of people on the trail, availability of cell service, etc.)
Now, break these down into monthly new skills and challenges that will move you closer to your goal. You won’t start hiking more right off the bat, but by the end of the year you will have addressed the underlying friction that is holding you back and have more knowledge, connections, skills, and confidence.
Repeat the process for each of your big-picture goals, but only fill in one new skill and one challenge each month. Trying to do it all at once will lead to burnout.
When planning your year, consider seasonality and what months will be more or less appropriate for each skill or challenge. If you know May is a super busy and exhausting month at work, schedule something that is less time-consuming and might help support you in that time, like a challenge to meditate for five minutes each day. Or, if you want to learn how to ferment, put that new skill in September when you have harvests coming in from the garden. Don’t schedule a challenge to go wild swimming once a week in February. Save that for July when the weather is better (unless your goal is to take up cold plunging!).
Feel free to repeat challenges throughout the year for things you may want to make a semi-regular habit but that you know you won’t be able to maintain indefinitely. For example, doing a 30-day yoga challenge might be appropriate for your schedule in January and November, but isn’t something you wish to prioritize through the summer months or over the holidays.
Below I’ve written out my monthly new skills and challenges that I have planned for 2024.
JANUARY
New Skill: Yeast Baking
I am bound and determined to get more comfortable with yeast baking this year – bread, buns, pizza dough, etc. Bread is one thing I buy regularly, and I would really like to get into making my own.
I’m no professional chef, but I can hold my own in the kitchen. For whatever reason, yeast breads have always been one thing I can’t get into making myself. I think it might have something to do with getting the timing right and planning ahead.
I recently took Baker Betty’s intro to baking course as a refresher and a catalyst to get me back into baking. I found the course to be informative, and I learned a few new things that have come in handy (like how off I was measuring flour by volume rather than by weight).
My plan for January is to take her Yeast Bread Essentials Course and to practice baking yeast breads throughout the month.
Monthly Challenge: 30 Days of Yoga
If you’re not already familiar with Yoga With Adriene, she does an annual 30 days of Yoga series on YouTube, which is free to join and follow along with.
I’ve done this for a number of years now and always find it to be a nice start to the year and a good way to work in some challenging but gentle physical activity after the holidays. The fact that I can do it in front of the cozy fire in my own basement without having to get ready and leave the house on cold, dreary winter days is just an added bonus.
I will admit, in past years it has often taken me months to get through the entire 30 days, so my challenge this year is to stick to the daily practice and complete the series in January as scheduled.
FEBRUARY
New Skill: Storytelling Course
February is always a good month to focus on indoor pursuits while winter is in full swing on the prairies. It’s also a good time to boost motivation when it comes to creativity.
Back in 2018, I was lucky enough to be chosen as a recipient of the Share Better Stories Scholarship through HMI. That included a storytelling course from Mike over at Fevered Mutterings. I worked through the course back then but wanted to run through it again as a refresher and a little push to write more.
Monthly Challenge: Publish Two Blog Posts Per Week
Continuing on with the creativity and writing more theme, my challenge for February will be to publish two blog posts per week.
Getting into a regular posting schedule over the long term is nearly impossible when we’re on the road and busy at camp in the summer months, but is something I can realistically do in the winter months. I plan to take full advantage.
MARCH
New Skill: Hunter Safety Course
I recently took my firearm safety course and applied for a possession and acquisition license. I’ve never been very comfortable around firearms and wanted to gain more confidence and maybe even someday start hunting.
Here in Saskatchewan, we also need a hunter safety course to obtain a hunting license, so I plan to take my course online this year.
Monthly Challenge: Weight Train 3x/Week
I used to weight train regularly in my younger days but have recently traded gym time for outdoor activities and yoga. These are great, too, but I’ve noticed in the past few years that it takes longer to build up strength and get over the soreness when I get more active with garden projects and outdoor pursuits in the spring.
This year I plan to tone up a bit before diving into projects in hopes that my body will be a little stronger and less shocked when I pick up the garden tools for the first time this year.
APRIL
New Skill: Cheese Making
Being able to make your own anything is great for self-reliance, and if my Pinterest feed has anything to say about it, cheese making is one of those skills I should be learning.
I aim to start with making the quicker and easier cheeses and would like to try my hand at making cream cheese, cottage cheese, and mozzarella this month.
Monthly Challenge: Meditate Daily
April is always a weird in-between month for us. There’s a lot of planning and anticipation for the upcoming summer season, but it’s also not quite time to actually DO much. I often feel antsy and a little anxious this time of year, so I thought a daily meditation practice might help me focus my thoughts and chill me out while in limbo.
MAY
New Skill: Herbalism
Since learning more about permaculture, I find myself constantly observing and noticing the plants that grow around me. I’ve been working on my plant ID skills, and I know many of them have medicinal uses, but I lack the knowledge and confidence to actually do anything with them.
Since I’m such a newb at this, my goal is to simply gather books and resources and begin the learning process on this vast topic.
Monthly Challenge: Books, Not Screens, Before Bed
I have gotten into a terrible habit of screen time before bed, whether that’s the tv, scrolling social media, or playing games on my phone. My challenge for May is to replace that with at least 30 minutes of reading in the evenings.
JUNE
New Skill: Improve My Writing Skills
Writing is something I’ve been working on for as long as I can remember so this isn’t exactly a new skill but more so an effort at continually improving. I have a long list of books and resources on writing that keep getting pushed to the back burner, but this is my month to dig deep and do some further learning.
Monthly Challenge: Write 2000 Words/Week
I always fall out of the habit of writing in the summers and wanted to challenge myself to keep up with it, even when we get busy. With the motivation (hopefully) coming from the reading I’ll be undertaking as part of my skill building for this month, it seemed to make sense to add a challenge to, well, actually write something.
I thought the challenge of so many words per week would be appropriate as that can be anything – journaling, mindless rambling, writing posts, etc. I’m not putting the pressure on myself to actually write anything worth publishing. I simply want to keep the habit going.
JULY
New Skill: Make a Flint Fire
For years I’ve always carried a flint in my essentials kit on outdoor adventures but I’m ashamed to admit that I’ve never taken the time to actually start a fire with only a knife and flint.
It’s a little pointless to carry items that you don’t have the knowledge and skill to use, so this year I’d like to practice starting a fire this way. In the case I ever need to use it in the backcountry, I’ll be more prepared and confident in what would presumably be a stressful and potentially dire situation.
Monthly Challenge: Swim Every Lake Day
Swimming in natural bodies of water is such a wonderful way to connect with nature and cool off on a hot day. For some reason, I find I don’t often make the effort to go for a swim when we’re at the lake and I think that needs to change.
My challenge for July is to swim every day that we’re at the lake through the month.
AUGUST
New Skill: Dehydrating
I bought a dehydrator YEARS ago thinking I was going to start making my own backpacker meals. I’m ashamed to admit that I’ve never used the thing and it has sat in our storage room collecting dust for way too long.
Dehydrating is also a useful skill to have when it comes to food preservation and dealing with the onslaught of the fall garden harvest, so it’s about time I either tackle this one or pass the dehydrator on to someone else who will use it.
Monthly Challenge: 50KM of Hiking and Paddling
August is by far my favourite summer month. Bug season is all but over. The days are warm, but the nights often start to cool off nicely. There are plenty of daylight hours to get outside. And things quiet down a bit at the fishing camp. It’s a great time to take advantage and get out to enjoy nature.
Since we never really know our schedule this far out, I thought setting an overall distance goal was my best bet at motivating myself to get out on the water or the trail whenever I have the chance.
SEPTEMBER
New Skill: Forage Mushrooms
Over the last two years I’ve taken quite an interest in mushrooms. I joined a couple of Facebook groups and bought some ID books to start learning the different types. I’m getting more and more confident in my ability to identify mushrooms, but I have yet to actually pick and consume any.
It’s a pretty safe bet that there will be some sort of mushroom available either at the acreage or up north so I’m setting a goal for myself to positively ID, pick, cook, and eat a wild mushroom this month.
Monthly Challenge: Meditate Daily
A repeat from earlier in the year. September is another transition month for us and one that frankly can be a bit exhausting. The season is winding down at the fishing camp, which means we have to get projects wrapped up, equipment maintained, and everything closed up for the winter. The garden to-do list is usually chock full and, if 2024 is anything like 2023 was, I’ll be near drowning in tomatoes. And this is the month that the go-go-go pace of the summer starts to catch up with us.
Instead of adding a physical or mental challenge to the list for September, I thought a slow-down and take-a-breath challenge would be more appropriate.
OCTOBER
New Skill: Fermenting
Continuing on with the food skills and preservation theme, I would like to gather books and resources on fermentation and begin learning that whole process.
My goal is mostly just to start learning the ins and outs, but I do want to practice by making a batch of sauerkraut.
Monthly Challenge: Spend Nothing
I know many people are currently doing a spend-nothing month following the holidays, but I thought I’d stick this challenge in October. Following our busy summer season and before the holiday prep begins seems like a great time to rein in the spending and buy only the necessities for a month.
It’s also a time of year when the garden harvest is finished, and the pantries are usually full of leftover odds and ends from us running back and forth all summer, so I may even extend this to a no-grocery-store challenge as well.
NOVEMBER
New Skill: Sourdough Baking
If my plans to start baking my own yeast bread take hold, then by this point of the year I should be ready to tackle sourdough.
I know, I’m about four years late to the sourdough party but there’s no time like the present.
Monthly Challenge: 30 Days of Yoga
With winter setting in and the garden done for the year, I think November is the perfect time to do another 30 days of Yoga challenge to stretch out and slow down.
DECEMBER
New Skill: Crochet
I learned to crochet as a kid but I have not retained any of that knowledge. With so many resources out there now, I thought this would be a good winter skill to learn while the days are short and cold. I’m setting my sights low and aiming to complete one simple project (like a scarf) by the end of the month.
Monthly Challenge: Weight Train 3x Per Week
Another repeat in the calendar but an effort at trying to maintain some of my summer strength through the winter months.
I hope this approach to setting intentions and goals for the new year is useful for some of you out there. If you’ve been pulled to start fresh in the new year but have struggled to stick to resolutions, this may just be the thing you need to keep working towards your goals without putting an unreasonable amount of pressure on yourself.
Remember to give yourself grace and accept the fact that life happens. You may not be able to stick with the plan for every month and that’s ok. Allow yourself to reevaluate throughout the year and change things up if the plans you set in January no longer feel right down the road. This is about working toward your goals and crafting a life you love, not about sticking to some schedule for the sake of saying you did.
Good luck and happy new year!
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