26 personal challenges to be a little more punk in 2026
Following the lessons from last year’s list, this year’s is a real challenge! Do your best. This is difficult by design, and some is better than none. It is not possible to speedrun this list. I suggest making yourself a checklist, journal, or calendar to keep track. Plus, won't it be nice to have a record of all the challenges you took on?
Clean up 26 messes that aren’t your responsibility. It could be litter on the street or a roommate’s dishes or storm damage at a neighbor’s house. Metaphorical messes count.
Meet and learn about 25 people in your community – their names, where they’re from, what they do, what they’re good at, what they want to do, who their people are, what they need help with, what good they’re putting into the world.
Visit 24 new places – and you don’t have to go far! Try local museums, parks, small businesses, third spaces, a library branch you’ve never been to. The next time you see a building you’ve never been in, stop in to see what’s going on.
Create 23 new things. They don’t have to be good or even finished, they just have to be made. A painting, a song, a new recipe, a poem, a computer program, a sculpture, a game, a scarf. Whatever it is you like to make, just keep making stuff.
Go out of your way for 22 little acts of kindness: Stop to help someone who dropped their stuff or is struggling to load something into their car. Help someone cross the road. Give directions. Offer a ride. Edit someone’s resume or writing. Cut a neighbor’s lawn or shovel their walk. Help an older person clean their house. Check on broken-down cars.
Learn 21 new phrases in a local minority language. If you already know the largest, learn about other language communities in your area (don’t forget sign!), and think about what you’d like to be able to say: things like ‘Good morning,’ ‘How are you?,’ ‘Please,’ and ‘Thank you.’
Try 20 new skills. That sounds like a lot, doesn’t it? Well, you don’t have to get good at any of them and they can be as specific as you’d like. Maybe you already know how to embroider but want to learn a new stitch. Maybe you just do a couple of coding lessons then give up. You still tried, and it still counts.
Talk to 19 unhoused people – about anything! Ask their name, get their story if they want to share it, ask if they’re doing okay. Help them out if you can and be one of the few people willing talk to them like normal human beings.
Encourage 18 young people – in whatever it is they’re trying to do. You can give advice, go watch their band play, buy a piece of their art, or just recognize that you see and admire their character or personal growth.
Identify 17 pieces of misinformation in your media. Don’t go fishing in media you already disagree with. Look for sources, click the links, check the byline, look for perspectives that aren't included, find out who’s funding the story, and do your own research. For an added challenge, try to focus on information that you find affirming or instinctively want to believe.
Give 16 heartfelt compliments. Go beyond complimenting clothes or hair. Describe what you admire about someone and tell them what it means to you or how it impacts your behavior. It might feel awkward or too intense at first, but once you get in the habit, you’ll be shocked to see how the practice spreads!
Make 15 honest apologies. A good apology does not include excuses, caveats, or explanations. It focuses on the impact of your behavior (“I hurt your feelings”), not you as a person (“I’m the worst, I can’t do anything right.”) Identify what you did, articulate why it was wrong, and commit to changing. Apologies can be big or small, about long-term or momentary behaviors. Getting in the habit of apologizing correctly and only when appropriate can radically improve your relationships.
Share 14 meals with people you care about. This might be really easy for some and really challenging for others – or maybe the ease or challenge will surprise you! 14 times is more than once a month, so plan accordingly.
Do 13 things that scare you or challenge your comfort zone. Look into distress tolerance and find ways to improve yours: join situations or people you would normally avoid, stand up for yourself when you would normally concede, take on a task you might fail. Whatever boundaries of fear are holding you back from engaging more fully in life, push them in big or small ways.
Take 12 actions in local politics. Go to city council or park district meetings, check out what’s going on with the zoning commission. Write letters, call or meet with your representatives. Leave a witness slip. Go to town hall meetings. Gather signatures. Do research on your school board members. Write an expose for your local newspaper. Get involved.
See 11 artistic events – and you can interpret that as loosely as you want. A craft show, an open mic, a dance recital, a band at a house party, an art gallery opening.
Find 10 ways to divert wealthflow away from corporations and billionaires. Using cash instead of cards, buying things over the phone or in person to avoid transaction fees, finding local alternatives to corporate products – hell, even stealing. Think about how your money is being captured away from the working class and find ways to stop it.
Challenge 9 negative assumptions. Think of people, groups of people, or behaviors that you think negatively about – in small or big ways. Earnestly challenge those thoughts, either through self-reflection, active empathy, or, ideally, by exposing yourself to other cultures or circumstances. You may not end up agreeing with them at the end of the day, but hopefully you understand them better.
Perform 8 acts of disobedience (civil or uncivil) – this could be as big or small as you want! Go to a protest or pirate a movie. Do a little vandalism on a business that’s doing harm in the world or stand outside their store with fliers about what they’re doing. Organize a campaign to overwhelm a corporation’s call center. Slash a slumlord’s tires.
Cut 7 wasteful habits from your life – and it may be easiest to start by actually looking at your garbage can. What do you buy that creates waste that you can stop buying or find alternatives to? What food always goes bad in your fridge, and is there a smarter way to buy or store it? You can also look at your utility consumption – can you ease off the AC or heat a degree or two?
Cut 6 harmful habits from your life. They could be physical, like substance or dietary habits that make you feel lousy, even just bad posture! They could also be mental or emotional – are you in the habit of berating your own work or replaying bad experiences in your mind? Take these on one at a time, unless there multiple bad habits are feeding one another.
Cultivate 5 positive habits in your life – and aim for small stuff, because those are the easiest habits to build! Maybe it’s stretching when you get out of bed or taking eye strain breaks or calling a friend once a week. Don’t try to do them all at once, either – let one become ingrained before starting the next.
Help with 4 community events or projects – in big or small ways. Maybe you work event security or hang fliers around town or maybe you can design the flier or run the volunteer sign-up. Whatever your abilities, there are ways that you can help.
Defend 3 people in a way that matters. No, these opportunities don’t present themselves often, but you’ve got all year, so when you do see your chances, take them.
Find 2 new things to really believe in – and take your time doing it. Let the experiences from the other challenges bring you to new realizations, then find a way to express them as beliefs.
At the end of all of this, decide 1 thing you really want to improve, grow, or change about yourself in 2027.
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