How to Rethink Your Resolution So It *Actually* Improves Your Life + My 2023 Book List
In other news, discover Ina Garten's 3 favorite breakfast for dinner recipes, what your health-related dreams might mean and more.
Happy new year!
After today, I’ve decided that I’m officially retiring that greeting until 2024, but couldn’t resist sharing it once more since this is our first What’s Good of 2023. Welcome to all, my OG subscribers and new readers alike.
The year is off to a tremendous start, complete with a focaccia cooking class, another little Iowa road trip to introduce more friends to Lincoln Wine Bar, finalizing plans for my late-January getaway to Colombia, a stack of exciting topics to explore on my writing to-do list and a big byline that still feels surreal.
ICYMI, you can now find my “The Promise of Precision Medicine” feature in the TIME special issue called The Future of Medicine. January 1 marked the start of year 5 as a full-time freelance writer. If you asked me on January 1, 2018 where I’d be four years down the road, I would have dreamed that I’d be writing for publications like this—but never would have believed it was real.
I pinch myself often that I get to do what I love and share what I learn with the world through my work, and don’t take a day of this for granted. Thank you all so much for the outpouring of support and for being here each step of the way as I continue exploring this one wild and precious life!
What to Read…
Speaking of this one precious life, every year, the “fresh start” mentality inspires us to reignite our resolve to “do better.” Rather than sticking with the same ol’, about 37 percent of adults say they set a resolution (often a sky-high one) for a laudable reason: a potentially “better” life. But according to some estimates, less than 8 percent of Americans are able to reach their lofty resolutions, and our self-perceived “failures” often make us feel demoralized.
It’s a laudable goal to want to improve your life in some way, but if resolutions aren’t working, what can you aim for instead? Self-growth, many mental health experts suggest. Self-growth is a practice, not a place—and that means that, unlike with a resolution, there’s no way to fail. Isn’t life more fun when you pivot the game plan to be about abundance and how you feel; rather than what you want to restrict or eliminate?
Learn more about this science-backed self-improvement strategy, see celebrity chef recipes you might want to add to your menu this week, decode your wellness-related dreams, learn more about how hydration impacts your health and longevity and beyond in this week’s brand-new stories.
DailyOM: What Is Self-Growth? Plus, Why Psychologists Recommend It Over Resolutions
EatingWell: Ina Garten's New Favorite Date Night In With Jeffrey Is Breakfast for Dinner—Here Are 3 Meals They Adore
EatingWell: Giada De Laurentiis Just Shared Her Top 5 Recipes of 2022, And You'll Want to Have Them on Repeat All 2023
EatingWell: What Your Weird Dreams Can Tell You About Your Health, According to a Dream Expert
EatingWell: Staying Hydrated May Help You Live a Longer and Healthier Life, a New Study Suggests
EatingWell: The Best Shower Temperature for Health, According to Dermatologists
EatingWell: These Are the Diets People Are Most—and Least—Likely to Find Success With, According to Nutrition Experts
EatingWell: These Are the Best and Worst Diets of 2023, According to U.S. News & World Report
EatingWell: How to Know If Frozen Food Is Safe to Eat After Losing Power
Better Homes & Gardens: The Top TikTok Food Trends of 2022
Culinary Hill: What’s in Season in January
HUM Nutrition: 5 Mason Jar Salad Recipes For Healthy Lunches All Week Long
Southern Living: This 2-Ingredient Appetizer Was The First To Run Out At My Housewarming Party
Southern Living: Alton Brown Says The Secret To The Best Brownies Is To Bake Them Twice—Here's Why
What’s Inspiring Me…
Your end-of-year reading recaps!
Ever since I can remember, my Mom has been a voracious reader. She read to us before we could understand a syllable, shared story time with us nightly as kids, launched a “Battle of the Books” reading program during her years as a middle school teacher, and, to this day, is part of multiple book clubs. Last year, she finished 71 books. I love hearing the summaries of each during our frequent phone check-ins.
My Mom’s passion for reading certainly played a large role in my love of language and my core value of curiosity and storytelling. The hobby book reading part, however, would receive a “needs improvement” score if she was grading my report card. 🤣 Last year, my favorites included Stanley Tucci’s memoir Taste and the delightful novel Anxious People. As much as I adored and devoured those books on vacation, I only completed three other books last year.
Much like I find your year-end Spotify Wrapped reports to be fascinating, I had to pause my scrolling every time I saw one of your 2022 Good Reads recaps in my social media feed the past few weeks. Many of my friends also post book reviews throughout the year on their Instagram Stories, and I repeatedly find myself taking screenshots in hopes that I’ll someday make reading more of a routine.
So in 2023, my self-growth goal is to feel more inspired through my writing and in my life by reading before bed or cooking at least 2 recipes from one new book per month. That seems like an attainable goal (I’m all about those SMART goals!) and a strategy that will certainly add more “good”—and more screen-free time—to my days.
I’d love to know: What are you reading this year? Or which cookbooks are at the top of your stack to whip up a recipe from?
Reading:
Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Gamus
Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow by Gabrielle Zevin
Memphis by Tara Stringfellow
The House in the Cerulean Sea by T.J. Klune
From Strength to Strength by Arthur C. Brooks
Group: How One Therapist and a Circle of Strangers Saved My Life by Christie Tate
It Ends With Us by Colleen Hoover
I'm Glad My Mom Died by Jeanette McCurdy
Cooking:
What’s For Dessert by Claire Saffitz
The Clean Vegan Cookbook by Jackie Akerberg (Des Moines’ own plant-based blogger and recipe developer!)
Go-To Dinners by Ina Garten
The Modern Proper by Holly Erickson and Natalie Mortimer (the creators of the blog where I discovered the Tikka Masala Soup recipe I have on repeat!)
