I got several comments last week on my blog post about New Year’s Resolutions. One of them was from a friend who—like me—still makes New Year’s Resolutions every year. She said she believes that winter is a time to rest, but also a time when the world is preparing to bloom again, and that taking small steps every day to reach her big dreams keeps her moving in the right direction.

She also told me about something she made last year that I think is a fabulous and original idea—one that I am now incorporating in my own plans and activities for the coming year: a bingo card.

She said she made a bingo card of things she wanted to do or accomplish. She tried to make the card fairly realistic, but with a few more “out there” and fun goals, too. She was proud of the fact that she got a “bingo” last year, and said she’s going to do it again this year, and that she’s excited about 2026’s potential.

I’ve always been more motivated to do something when I can make a game or a challenge out of it, and a bingo card of activities certainly counts!

There are 24 squares (plus a free space) on a bingo card, and it took me a few days to decide on 24 things I want to accomplish this year. Some are one-time, fairly quick projects, like clearing out a few overstuffed dresser drawers. Some are chores I’ve been putting off, or that will take longer to complete, such as redoing my website. And a few are just-for-fun items, like putting together the jigsaw puzzle a neighbor lent me.

I didn’t do any strategic organizing of items when I put them on the bingo card. I just added them in the order in which I thought of them. I don’t know yet whether I’ll attempt to score a bingo by working on a specific horizontal, vertical, or diagonal line, as in a regular bingo game, or whether I’ll start by doing some of the quick, easy ones first to get the ball rolling. Either way, I know I’ll have more fun working on these projects than if they were simply on a long “To Do” list, whether or not I considered them New Year’s Resolutions.

I’m grateful to my friend who told me about her bingo-card New Year’s Resolution, and I love what she said in summing it all up: “You have to make your own magic, and that’s what I’m trying to do with my yearly goals.”

Bingo!

January 9, 2026
©Betty Liedtke, 2026

I welcome your comments, but please be aware that all comments will be moderated and approved before appearing on this blog. This is to protect all of us from unwanted spam.