My personal list of “24 in 2024”

I’ve been listening to the podcast Happier with Gretchen Rubin (and it seems to be making me happier!) She does a little twist on traditional New Year’s Resolutions and suggests taking the time to make a list of things you want to do or accomplish over the next year, primarily as a way to set yourself up for happiness in the coming year. 

The list can be anything – big, small, serious, challenging, silly, whimsical. Items that can be easily crossed off, items that really stretch you.  So… in no particular order, here is my list of 24 things I want to do in 2024: 

1. READ.  At least 2 pages of an actual book every day.  

To you, this may seem embarrassingly modest of a goal, but I have gotten into a terrible habit of bringing my phone to bed with me every night, so there have been weeks and weeks when I don’t read a single page. I know that a little bit will lead to more, so I’m hoping that keeping this goal extremely modest will set me up for success and happiness this year.  

2. Buy winter gear.

My running tights are as old as my teenager, and I have a fleece vest I wear running that is literally from the Dartmouth Outing Club hiking trip I was on… in 1994! I have firmly established that going outside all year long is one of the keys to my happiness.  So thanks to an extremely generous gift from Run Club and HIIT, I am going on a shopping spree at REI!  Also checking out Icebreaker for merino wool! =)  

3. Call my mom. At least once a week.

I’m so fortunate to have my mom in my life. I know I take this for granted and I know I let time slip by. I also know that once a week may not seem like very often. I am not a phone person, so while we text all the time, I have to make the extra effort to call.  

4. Climb. A thousand routes.  

Ok, yes I’m only committing to reading just two pages a day, but I’d like to climb 1,000 routes this year.  This was inspired by a climbing friend of mine who did this in 2023. I’ve had some physical setbacks that affected my climbing this year, but more mental blocks, as I’ve let a lot of fear and doubt and comparison slip into my climbing sessions. I know that just getting the reps in is going to make a big difference and so I am going to aim for consistency this year. 1,000 climbs means just about 20 climbs per week – and I’m including any indoor or outdoor route I do. This one is a reach, but I’m excited to go for it.  

5. Plan at least two outdoor climbing trips with my family. 

We’re not the best at advance planning for trips, and I want to plan some adventures with my family while they still like climbing with us!  Planning on Red Rocks in Vegas and maybe a Maine or New Hampshire climbing trip in the summer.. Or maybe the Dolomites in Italy!

6. Take my kids skiing.  Once.

As an outdoorsy person, it might be surprising that I have downhill skied one time in my life – on a high school ski trip that was more about debauchery and angst than skiing. My kids have never downhill skied. (We all have x-country skied). Really want to take my kids skiing finally this year. If it ever snows??

7. Write. 10 minutes a day. With a pen and paper.

Doesn’t matter what I write. Just like the reading, I’m keeping my goal modest so that I actually do it.  

8. Cook dinner. 

(Once a week.) 

I put that “once a week” in small font because I am a little embarrassed about it. Me cooking dinner once a week would be a lot. I don’t really cook. I don’t really like to cook. I’m lucky to have a wonderful partner who loves to cook and does it several days a week despite working much longer hours than I do. Time for me to step up and relieve his burden just a bit… 

9. Limit my coffee out to no more than 2x a week.

Coffee is one of my simple pleasures in life. And Saturday morning post-Run Club coffee at Krupa Grocery is one of the highlights of my week and a non-negotiable for me. So that leaves me with the option of one other time per week. Beyond that is unnecessary expense and it also makes it less special.

10. Play frisbee! At least once a week, but not more than twice a week.

It makes me so happy that I am still able to play this not so gentle sport in my 50’s. But I also know that overdoing it can set me back and cause injuries. Rest and recovery is important, so while I want to keep up the high intensity activities, I’m careful to build in enough rest and recovery between high intensity days. 

11. Strength train 2x per week. 

While I genuinely enjoy lifting weights, and I know how important strength training is for injury prevention and general health, this is one thing on my list that I really have to proactively carve out the time and remind myself to do or else I won’t do it.

12. Up my skincare game.

Gotta take better care of my skin every single day. Hydration, cleansing, moisturizing, sun protection.. The whole shebang. Every day.  My extremely generous Run Club and HIIT community gave me a gift certificate to Credo  so no excuses!  

13. Write our will. 

Oy. I know I know. We should have already done this.  Just gotta do it. Gonna reach out to my friend and Run Club alum at acorn law and get it done this year.

14. Read about.. talk about.. engage in some kind of discussion about death. 

Oy again.. … Kind of like Joey on Friends putting “The Shining” in the freezer when it gets too scary, this is a topic I have always put in the freezer. So. I imagine that if I succeed in doing #13 on my list this year, I will have to do some of this too so… I’m putting it on there!

15. Learn how to use my apple watch. 

Giving myself a whole year for this one, so hopefully that’ll be enough!  

16. Re-engage in politics.

I have grown so weary of the polarized political climate over the last few years that I have really retreated into the ignorance is bliss realm, which I know is not OK given the magnitude of our upcoming elections. So. Not sure what this will look like yet, but I know it’s important. So despite my lack of clarity, I’m putting this on my list.  

17. Play the piano for fun.

While I do still play the piano for musical theater classes, I almost never sit down to play the piano just for myself. But when I do, I find it to be therapeutic, relaxing, and it helps me tap into a part of my brain that I don’t use very often. 

18.  Find a new TV show to binge with my family! 

For my family, 2022 was the year of Stranger Things, and 2023 was Sex and the City. Not sure we will be able to match those in 2024, but I hope we do! 

19. Build campfires.

I love sitting outside around a campfire whether we are camping or at our beloved Frost Valley or staying with friends. I don’t want to quantify this one and take the magic out of it, so I’ll just say I would like to have a bunch of campfires in 2024.  

20. Hydrate! Drink a glass of water first thing every morning.

This is one of those habits that is so simple to do, but also so easy to neglect to do. Drinking water first thing sets me up for a day of other good habits. Plus I need to frontload my hydration because if I drink late in the day I’m up several times at night… 

21. Say what I’m grateful for.

In the past, we’ve had a gratitude jar for the family, sometimes I’ve kept a journal. This year I want to acknowledge something I’m grateful for every single day- and not just think it in my head, but put it out in the universe by writing it down or saying it out loud.   

22. Organize my photos.

My goodness, my parents had two photo albums that covered my siblings’ and my entire childhoods. Nowadays… I have SO many photos – both personal and for MoveRunPlay, and I need to purge some, display some, and organize the rest. I’m not exactly sure what “success” will look like for this task, but I know I want to work on it.  While I’m thinking about purging and organizing, I’ll add that I would like to do this for all the “papers” and documents in my life as well. 

23. Have family game night. At least once a month.

This one will require some cajoling, but I love games and I love my family and while we do spend time together, it’s often in front of the tv, in a car, or climbing rocks. So I’m hoping to bring back game night this year.  Once a month seems like it is a reasonable goal, no?

24. Play pickle ball.

I definitely do not need another sport in my life. But pickle ball looks like so much fun. And I kinda think I would be awesome at it. I’ve never played. But I’d like to in 2024! I don’t know where to do it, so if you play, let me know!  

Well… I don’t know how well I will do in accomplishing my 24 in 24 list, but it was fun to make it!   Let me know what’s on your list! Do we have any overlap?