Pushing Your Comfort& Finding Joy

The New Year is approaching, and it often arrives with big plans and even bigger expectations. Dreaming big can be exciting, but it can also feel overwhelming. Sometimes the easiest way to feel more alive, inspired, and connected is to step just a little outside your comfort zone. Not in intimidating, life-overhauling ways, but in tiny, meaningful moments.

This season, try inviting in small stretches that bring surprise, laughter, creativity, and a deeper sense of joy into everyday life. Here are four simple challenges that might nudge you outside your normal rhythm and might bring a whole lot of joy with them.

1. Let Them Play Stylist

Let your kids, partner, or a close friend choose your outfits for a few days or even an entire week. It is silly, a little vulnerable, and surprisingly heart-melting. Kids love the responsibility, and you get to see yourself through their eyes: playful, cozy, and free of overthinking.

Tip: Offer a couple of guidelines, then step back and let them go wild. Let them snap photos of their vision each day.

2. Read a Different Genre

 Reach for something outside your usual reading groove. This one is a hard one for me because romantasy is always my go-to. Asking a librarian, bookstore staff, or a friend for a recommendation in a different genre is a fun and low-pressure way to stretch your mind and discover new favorites.

3. Try a Hobby You Have Been Curious About

Embroidery, watercolor, knitting, puzzles, anything that has been sitting on your someday list. Give it ten quiet minutes in the evening and let yourself be a beginner again. There is simple, grounding joy in creating something just for fun. Let the kids see you trying something new. It often inspires them to try something new too, and it shows them that learning is a lifelong adventure.

4. Do a Mini Photoshoot

 Ask your partner or kids to take relaxed photos of you in the kitchen, hugging a mug, or bundled up on the porch. It might feel awkward at first, but that is the point. You deserve to exist in photos. Letting someone capture you the way they see you often results in some of your favorite pictures of the year.