My 2026 New Year’s Resolution Bingo Card
A blank copy for you and some tips for creating micro goals
Happy 2026! To kickstart the year, many people make New Year’s resolutions. These resolutions outline our intentions for the year and, in theory, motivate us to reach our goals.
However, in practice, we often abandon these resolutions by February. There are two big reasons for this. One is that we tend to bite off more than we can chew. Broad resolutions can be overwhelming, so as soon as we ‘fall off the wagon’ once, it can be intimidating to start again. We ask ourselves, “Why bother trying if I already failed?” The reality is that setbacks are to be expected and not indicative of failure, but that doesn’t make not meeting a resolution any less discouraging.
The second reason has to do with the nature of motivation itself. At the start of the year, we are often highly motivated, an example of the psychological phenomenon known as the fresh start effect. It feels like a blank slate, a fresh start full of promise and opportunity. The weight of the previous year no longer feels quite as heavy.
But motivation is finicky. We cannot control how motivated we feel and when, so ebbs and flows in motivation are normal. I hazard a guess that, for many of us, motivation wanes gradually through January as we return to routine after the holidays and stare down the barrel of many more weeks of cold, dreary weather. At the very least, I know this is what happens to me.
The problem, of course, is that we often rely on motivation as a cue for action. It feels better to work toward our goals when we feel passionate about doing so. However, if we wait to feel motivated, we may never start the work. Consequently, we can become self-critical. We blame ourselves for not being more productive. We put pressure on ourselves to feel motivated when feeling motivated is not in our control.
With all of this in mind — the overwhelm of resolutions and the fleeting nature of motivation — I make New Year’s resolution bingo cards each year. Instead of listing a couple of large and vague resolutions, I arrange 24 micro goals in a bingo format. The ‘micro’ nature of the goals combats the overwhelm, and the bingo format gamifies the resolutions enough to keep me motivated to complete them.
Above is my card for 2026 (you can see my 2025 card with more information on micro goals in my previous post), which may provide inspiration for a potential bingo card of your own. As a holiday gift of sorts, I've included a printable blank bingo card for you here, along with some tips and tricks below.
Keep it doable!
A general tip when making any sort of to-do list — new year’s bingo card or otherwise — is to ensure the list is reasonably doable. Not to say every item has to be super easy, but you definitely shouldn’t make your list impossible to complete. Include a few ‘reach’ items, but stick mostly to what you know you can do.
Consider different realms of life
You can also spread your micro goals across different areas of your life. Resolutions often revolve around health and productivity, but you can also consider other values and goals related to your social life, leisure, family, travel, and more. While we often think of resolutions as opportunities to improve a neglected part of our lives, micro goals can also serve as reminders to maintain the parts where we already flourish.
Use time constraints to try out and build potential habits
It can also be helpful to put time constraints on micro goals that you want to build into habits. For example, one of mine is “journal four times a week for a month.” If I were to just say “journal four times a week,” missing one week of journaling would render the micro goal incompletable. By stipulating that I only need to follow the routine for a month, I give myself room to mess up. And chances are, if journaling that often is beneficial and a habit worth continuing, I’ll continue doing it after completing the goal anyway.
Conversely, if your micro goal isn’t feasible on a weekly basis, you can commit to it monthly or even quarterly, ensuring that you work toward your micro goal throughout the year.
Recruit people you care about to hold yourself accountable
The only thing more fun than New Year’s bingo is New Year’s bingo with friends. If you are worried about forgetting to work on your bingo card, you can arrange for someone to check in with you periodically. Even better, you can have a friend or family member complete their own bingo card, so you can celebrate each other’s progress.
If you are new here, my name is Diem Morriswala (he/they), and I am a therapist who supports people in living lives that feel personally meaningful and fulfilling. I serve clients virtually in Ontario and Quebec and work with all sorts of people, including LGBTQ2S+ and racialized folks, as well as anyone dealing with anxiety, perfectionism, trauma, burnout, and overwhelm. I would be honoured to sit with you through life as we know it and collaborate with you to work toward what life could be. You can book a free 15-minute consultation with me by completing my contact form here.
