Did you manage to complete this year’s New Year’s Resolutions? Do you still remember them? Resolutions are usually the things we strive to focus on for the first month of the year. Then February rolls around and by the time April arrives, we have already forgotten about them. So if you actually want to achieve your goals in 2026, it’s time for a simpler approach. Here some of our achievable resolutions that you can accomplish next year.
Whether it’s going for an extreme fitness challenge or writing your own novel, these are large goals that sound good but require an actual plan to complete. The problem with setting New Year’s resolutions like this is that it usually isn’t followed up with a plan to finish it. This results in a cycle of directionless effort that ends in frustration. To achieve the big goals you actually need to break them down into steps you can accomplish every day.
And then there are those who don’t really set any New Year’s resolutions at all. Perhaps, these people fear being stuck or like to live their lives freely. The purpose of resolutions is not to schedule the entire year but to improve yourself compared to how you are now. You can aim to eat cleaner and pick up exercise, be intentional with your finances, and save up for a holiday. Resolutions aren’t constricting if you set them to become a better version of yourself.
Big changes start with small decisions you can make everyday. So here are small things you can do almost immediately to set yourself up for a better 2026!
10 Simple New Year’s resolutions that you can actually accomplish in 2026
Create a clear monthly plan
So many of us start out the year with big goals, only for us to abandon them quietly when we realise we don’t know how to achieve them. You have probably heard the phrase: “Proper planning prevents poor performance.” It doesn’t only apply to work but in all aspects of life.
Sit down, take a notebook and put pen to paper and plan out exactly how you’d want to go about achieving this goal. For example, if your goal is to write a book, perhaps you can start by writing two pages of material every day. That way, you’d have around a 300 page book halfway through the year. The important thing is to start with steps you can do immediately every single day.
Have quarterly check-ins
In work it is common for your boss to check-in with you on your performance over a quarter. Well, maybe it’s time to do that with yourself. Take a quiet time for yourself every four months and ask yourself what you did well and what you didn’t do well. When you lay it all out you will probably get a clear picture of whether you are on track with your New Year’s resolutions.
It doesn’t sound pleasant, in fact it may be uncomfortable. But it is important to be honest with ourselves and our strengths and weaknesses to know what to do next. After assessing what went right and what didn’t, write down a plan and re-adjust your plans to steer you back on track with your goals.
Journal your thoughts
You probably have seen YouTube vloggers journaling as part of their aesthetic morning routines. Well, it’s not just a hokey self-help trend, it is an actual cathartic experience. Putting your thoughts to pen and paper (or keyboard and Notion) helps to organise your thoughts. Journaling can help you to understand what’s going on in your mind and how you work.
Some people journal freeflow without any structure or prompts, but you can easily Google ideas that can get you started. When journaling remember you’re not writing fine literature, just write it all out typos and all.
Save more money by making a budget
If you’ve checked your bank balance at the year-end and gagged, you aren’t alone. With Christmas shopping discounts, dining, and gift buying, temptation to spend is all around. If you have succumbed to ‘treating yourself’ more than you should, maybe it’s time to cut back.
It’s not just the year-end spending spree, it’s your daily habits that affect your finances. Taking public transport, packing lunch from home, and making your own coffee may seem insignificant. But these small habits can save you a ton of cash and leave extra cash to save or invest. Setting a monthly budget of expenses may seem restricting but it will actually give you control of your money.
Eat healthier
If you’re used to eating out all the time you probably don’t realise how much extra sugar and salt you consume. Staying healthy starts with the food you put into your body. It begins with intentional choices, opting for less fried food, processed foods, cutting down on fat. That can mean eating less fried chicken, burgers, ice-cream, and the Malaysian ‘silent-killer’ sweetened drinks.
This doesn’t mean you need to diet or stop eating outdoors. You just need to be wary of the meals you eat everyday and not consume on impulse.
Learn to cook
Another great way to save money and eat healthier is cooking your own food. That way you can control exactly how the food will taste and how it will be cooked. Now, we understand if you’re hesitant due to previous kitchen disasters. Then there is also the dishes you need to clean and the effort of cooking it yourself.
Luckily, technology has been a great help far beyond YouTube videos. You can get cooking appliances like an air-fryer or a Thermomix which can help to keep cooking simple and fuss-free. Cooking is an essential life skill and learning to be good at it will make you popular at the potlucks.
Exercise more
One of the most typical New Year’s resolutions, and the easiest to fail. Getting in shape and ‘exercising more’ is a vague goal, you’ll need to be more specific. Like our first suggestion, laying out a fitness plan for the year is essential to actually getting it done. Thankfully, with the internet there are many that you can follow and customise based on your needs.
In fact, we encourage you to spend more money on your health. The simple reason is because humans like to get their money’s worth. Subscribing to a gym membership may actually get you off the couch and on the bench press to make full use of that fee.
Take some time off social media
How often have you been speaking to someone at dinner only for them to be talking to their phone instead of you? People are engrossed with their phones thanks to social media and it has changed daily interactions between people. Not everyone has the common courtesy to put down their phone when speaking to you.
We spend on average a good four hours of our day on social media. While this doesn’t seem like much compared to 24 hours, subtract eight hours of sleep and we are left with 12 hours. We’re not telling you to live offline, but be intentional with how often you open up your social media apps.
Plan short trips with loved ones
When is the last time your holiday plans have been ruined because you forgot to book your flights early? If this is a common conundrum for you, take the start of the year to plan out your holidays and book them early. Not only will you be able to beat the tourist crowd, you may also get much better prices for flight tickets and hotels.
Alternatively, you can also plan a short holiday within Malaysia or your own country. Take the holiday season to discover the beauty of different destinations in Malaysia. You don’t need to plan a long trip, in fact, shorter three to four day retreats may be a lot more flexible for busy schedules.
Get enough sleep
How many times have we dragged ourselves to work with only five hours of sleep? If it sounds familiar it may be because we’re using our nights to scroll on social media and binge Netflix instead of getting precious rest. It all starts with an innocent check-in on our phones only for us to lose an hour of sleep deep in a rabbit hole.
So it’s time to turn off notifications and put our phones away to catch up on rest. Especially during the holiday season, take advantage of this time to get good hours of sleep that you may have lost out on during the year.
(Hero and feature image credit: Pexels/Polina Kovaleva)
Note : The information in this article is accurate as of the date of publication.
