Hi friends,

We are hitting that point in the year where your New Year’s resolutions may not be getting the same hype and interest they were two weeks ago. And that’s okay! I’ve written about resolutions before, as have many other writers in this space, so I’m not going to add to focus on my conflicting feelings on the topic.

Instead, I have a very serious question for you: What do you want to do?

Not who do you want to be, not how do you want to change, but what do you want to do?

Let me explain how I got here. As I sat down to write out my goals for the year, I struggled not to get as ambitious as possible. In theory, I want to do all the things to the maximum degree so that I can change how I spend my time and approach my day-to-day. But it’s unrealistic and, quite frankly, I’m not sure it would bring me joy. (An example of a wildly unrealistic and unnecessary goal: I will walk 10K steps EVERY SINGLE DAY.)

So I forced myself to get as simple as possible. Here’s what I asked myself:

At the end of 2025, what would I be excited about accomplishing? What activities bring me joy or add to my life that I want to experience more frequently? What have I always wanted to be able to do but never put the time towards? When I take out all external pressure, what do I want to do?

Here’s where I landed:

• I want to be able to do one push-up not on my knees

• I want to complete the four embroidery kits I currently own

• I want to write one short story or essay, just for me, not for a freelance assignment or story contest

• I want to join a book or craft club

Now, because of who I am, I have my secret, more ambitious goals as well (read 50 books, run a 5K per quarter, send at least one newsletter per month, etc.), but the four above are my focuses for the year.

They are what I truly want to do. I have a recipe below to help guide you through this process.

All my best,

Emily Harrison

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The Recipe Breakdown

Lemon: Figuring out what you want to do. Take out all the external pressure we receive from friends, family, and society, and figure out what would bring you joy throughout the year.

Ingredient #1: Assess where you’re at. First, you need to figure out your capacity and how that relates to your goals. Do you have an hour a day to commit to your goals or an hour a month? Do your goals require resources that aren’t currently available to you? Are you at a point where your goal is even realistic? Take my push-up goal, for example. The typical ambitious goal I’d set for myself would be doing 10 push-ups. But…I currently can’t do any push-ups. I can barely get through the 10 assisted push-ups sometimes included in my pilates class. Which, there is nothing wrong with that — but being able to do a classic push-up has been a goal of mine for at least a decade. So I assessed where I’m currently at, what my capabilities are related to this goal, and what is ambitious for me versus what would be viewed as ambitious by outsiders.

Ingredient #2: Conduct a joy inventory. With so many competing priorities, it’s hard to figure out what you actually enjoy doing. And fighting productivity culture is hard! I recommend taking even a few minutes to sit down and think about what brings you the most joy — or perhaps, what brings the lowest amount of anxiety or worry. Is there a way you decompress that you want to practice more? This is where my embroidery and book club goals stem from — I would love to do more crafting instead of phone/TV time.

Ingredient #3: Listen to your gut. This is a classic piece of Emily advice. It’s relevant here because the whole point is to bring more joy into your life instead of stress and pressure. If you are working on figuring out your wants or goals and they fill you with dread (even just a little!), it may not be the right goal for you.

BONUS: A splash of flexibility if your capacity, needs, and desires change throughout the year!

I always love hearing from you all if you have anything to share — just reply to this email!

🍋 Lemon Zest 🍋

The Little Things that help make my days a bit brighter 💕

🎵 Given the circumstances of the week, I felt called to share this Tending to Your Nervous System recorded by Holistic Abortions. If you’re looking for some natural tips and resources to balance out your nervous system in the coming months and years.

📝 2025 is the fifth and final year of my One Line A Day Journal, which I recommend to anyone and everyone who is interested in journaling but can’t commit beyond a few sentences a day.

📖 How to cook and eat well when food is more expensive than ever — this article is from 2022 but is, unfortunately, still relevant.

💜 If you have the resources, donating to mutual aid groups is one of the most effective ways to make a difference in your community. I’ll be sharing some groups I support in the coming newsletters, but today I recommend finding your local abortion fund and sending a gift that feels meaningful to you.

📚 I wouldn’t say I need more books, but I still love my Book of the Month club subscription. Use my referral link to get your first month for just $5!

☕ If you’d like to support my work and Making Lemonade, consider buying me a coffee or sending a few dollars my way via Venmo: @emmyfromminny ☕