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New Year resolutions are tricky things. During a time of the year where invitations for 30-day challenges and declarations of “locking in” abound, it can be tempting to jot down a list of ambitious pipe dreams without ever really considering the gruntwork required to achieve them. But as many an expert will tell you, true progress toward a goal comes from laying an intricate groundwork of small but straightforward actions so specific that there’s no question of whether you’re on the right track. That’s why we’ve sourced a list of advice for practices to start and stop in the new year, courtesy of GQ staff, academics, and experts. In the mix are a handful of testimonials from our contributors about what rituals they’re adopting or dropping in the new year. Our guide may very well help you reach your wildest aspirations. At the very least, it will give you some easy-to-follow instructions for eating, drinking, sleeping, working, socializing, and dating a little bit better, day by day. —Alyssa Bereznak, Wellness & Grooming Director.
Anyone who’s deep enough in the bro-optimization sphere has likely heard the gospel praising morning sunlight for better sleep, a brighter mood, and overall well-being. For the uninitiated, here’s the deal.
Morning light is a powerful way to anchor your circadian rhythm (a.k.a your sleep-wake cycle), which influences everything from energy and focus to metabolism and sleep. When it’s on track, you have a better chance of feeling good and functioning well. When it’s chronically out of sync, you increase the risk of obesity, mood disorders, heart problems, and beyond.
So do yourself a favor and make it a daily morning ritual to experience the great outdoors—even if you live in an urban jungle. Experts advise at least 10 minutes of exposure, getting out as early as possible (ideally before 10 a.m.), and skipping the sunglasses to allow the sun to work its magic. Unlike so many fleeting biohacks, TikTok trends, and supplements, this one’s simple, effective, and free. —Michele Ross
If you’re relying on melatonin to knock you out at night, you’re probably using it wrong. Melatonin isn’t actually a sleeping pill—it’s a timing signal, says Michael Howell, MD, a sleep medicine physician and chief medical officer at GEM Sleep. “It resets your circadian rhythm earlier, almost like you’re moving into different time zones around the planet.”
Most turn to it for stress, insomnia, and other barriers to sleep, but it tends to mask the existing problem—and potentially create new ones. It can come with a hangover and its downstream effects—grogginess, a few too many cups of coffee, and poorer food choices—which is probably more than you bargained for in pursuit of a good night’s sleep. There’s also the psychological reliance that forms when you start believing you need a supplement to sleep. “For the vast majority of people, melatonin is really not appropriate or necessary for long-term use,” Dr. Howell says—yet roughly a quarter of US adults take it anyway. —M.R.
I used to think that sleep masks weren’t for me, that I could never actually drift off with something wrapped around my face. I was an anti-masker. It turns out I was just using the wrong kind. Earlier this year I got put onto a sleep mask with cushy cups that gently cradle my eyes in a cloak of pure darkness. They’re more like sleep goggles than a sleep mask, and look kind of like a soft VR headset. They are very dorky. But I’m not self-conscious about pulling them out wherever and whenever I need to. Now, I’m no longer the light sleeper I thought I was—I can pass out on any flight or in any hotel bed at any time, and I don’t get restless around first light. And when I do wake up, I actually look and feel fresh. —Samuel Hine
Replace “got to” with “get to.” One vowel. That’s it. Most resolutions add weight. This one removes it. Instead of “I’ve got to get up early for that flight,” try “I get to catch that early flight.” Instead of “I’ve got to have that hard conversation,” try “I get to say what actually matters.” This isn’t toxic positivity. It’s a reframe. The task doesn’t change. Your orientation to it does. When you’re in a “got to” situation, there’s no room for presence. You’re being sentenced to your own life. “Get to” flips the script. You’re no longer enduring your life. You’re participating in it. We’ve been teaching design thinking at Stanford for over 20 years. This is one of the most reliable tools we’ve found—and the simplest. You’re already doing the thing. This just changes whether you’re present for it.
The words we use don’t just describe reality—they shape it. “Got to“ closes you off, makes you smaller, turns your life into a to-do list you never asked for. This works because it meets you where you are. You don’t need to add anything to your life. You just need to notice the difference between obligation and invitation. One vowel. That’s it. —Bill Burnett and Dave Evans, authors of the forthcoming book, How to Live a Meaningful Life: Using Design Thinking to Unlock Purpose, Joy, and Flow Every Day, out February 3.
Yes, I know 2025 was all about protein, but mark my words, 2026 will be the year of fibermaxxing. Beyond being a delicious snack, raspberries are one of the highest-fiber fruits in existence. (One cup will get you about eight grams.) So add them to your grocery shopping list, your gut will thank you. —A.B.
Cubicle lunches are ostensibly depressing. The lighting is harsh, the setup inherently clumsy (ever spill green goddess dressing on your keyboard?), and it’s virtually impossible to escape work when your computer is sitting right in front of you asking why you’re not engaging with it. Lunch is supposed to offer a well-earned break from the day’s obligations and a moment to sit and enjoy a nourishing meal—even if it’s Sweetgreen slop! The times where I’ve been stuck in a habit of inhaling salads in front of my work computer, I typically couldn’t remember the contents of it later that evening and I felt irritable almost immediately after I had finished because I never truly took a break. When the weather permits, I push myself to take lunch outside, wherever I can find a seat. During colder seasons, a simple change of scenery suffices. Whether that be in a conference room, in my office’s kitchen, or on my sofa, away from the computer. —Savannah Sobrevilla
For many of us who grew up during the peak of diet culture, carbs have never really been neutral. We’ve been told we need to earn them, or restrict them, or justify them as a guilty pleasure food. But lately, GQ contributor Hannah Singleton has seen small glimmers of hope for a carb revival and is calling it now: In 2026, carbs are officially back, and a crucial part of optimizing our performance in the gym and on the running trail. Read her essay on why we should embrace carbs.
You can’t eliminate your exposure to microplastics entirely, but a few small tweaks—like ceasing plastic use in food prep—can go a long way to reduce the daily onslaught. Or, at the very least, stop mixing plastic and heat. Think: coffee makers with plastic parts, stirring hot soups with plastic spoons, and reheating leftovers in Tupperware. “When plastic gets hot, chemicals like phthalates and BPA escape more easily into food and drinks because heat increases molecular movement in the plastic,” says Michael Policastro, MD, a board-certified emergency physician and medical toxicologist with Bespoke Concierge MD. These chemicals are known endocrine disruptors, interfering with hormones and heightening the risk of metabolic issues, fertility problems, thyroid dysfunction, and chronic inflammation. —M.R.
2025 was the year that the term ultraprocessed foods entered our mainstream lexicon. For a good reason: They currently make up more than half the calories consumed in the US, yet study after study have shown that they’re wreaking havoc on our bodies. We’ve grown so accustomed to having them in our food supply that it can be hard to know what falls into this category and what doesn’t. GQ spoke to experts about the lesser-known offenders to look out for, which include: protein bars, instant oatmeal, flavored yogurt, deli meat, refined breads, bottled salad dressings, plant-based meat, and marinated tofu. After we ran that, I established a simple personal guideline: aim for every one of my meals to contain food that has come from the ground. It’s challenged me to find ways to make fruits, veggies, and grains more central to my diet, which has done wonders for my energy levels and general mood. Obviously, yes, a bag of salt-and-vinegar chips get in there every once in a while, but paying attention goes a long way. —A.B.
A proprietary blend might sound like a brand’s secret sauce they’re trying to shield from competitors. In reality, it’s usually a way to hide how much of each ingredient is actually in the bottle—and how much you’re getting per scoop or pill. “Trendy ingredients can be included on the front of the label to grab people’s attention, even if their amounts are negligible in the blend itself,” says Brooklyn-based dietitian Maddie Pasquariello, MS, RDN. Levels could also be high enough to be potentially harmful. “One single, cheap, and ineffective ingredient could dominate the entire blend, but you’ll never know.” She says proprietary blends run particularly rampant in greens powders, as well as liver and “detox” supplements, NAD+ supplements, antiaging products, multivitamins, and more. Protein powders aren’t immune to this practice either, she warns. If and when you choose to supplement, steer clear of these mystery mixes. Instead, prioritize transparent brands that list every ingredient with exact amounts. And to truly level up, choose forms and dosages that have legit clinical evidence behind the benefits you’re chasing. —M.R.
You don’t hate telephone calls because they’re inherently unpleasant, you hate them because so many are spam, fundraising efforts, or your parents telling you that someone you may or may not have ever met has passed away. Just like snail mail and email, the phone (classic use) has been colonized by unpleasant, unsolicited communication. It’s happening to text messages too. The only way to fortify ourselves against this intrusion is to reclaim our relationship to this technology. With the increasing popularity of voice notes, Gen Z and young millennials are getting so close to reinventing talking on the phone. That’s how we can rebrand this situation: “A phone call is a voice note where the other person gets to talk too!“ Take the plunge. Call your friends to ask how their big interview went or whether they remember that one weird guy you both knew growing up. If they’re especially inexperienced phone talkers, maybe text first, so they don’t get scared and toss their phone into a river, but then...call them. —Josh Gondleman
Too many of us underestimate how many times a week we say “yes” to something we don’t actually want: a social plan, a work task, a family obligation, a favor, a partnership compromise. Not because we want to—but because it’s easier than the discomfort of being honest. The cost is cumulative: resentment, exhaustion, anxiety, loss of clarity, and a quiet erosion of self-trust. The shift in 2026 is simple: Pause before the yes. Ask one question—“Am I agreeing because I want to, or because I’m afraid of the discomfort of saying no?” When we stop performing for approval and start acting from agency, our relationships get cleaner, our commitments get truer, and we begin to live with the kind of internal alignment that cannot be faked. —Cecily Mak, author of the forthcoming book Undimmed: The Eight Awarenesses for Freedom From Unwanted Habits, out January 6.
Stretching helps you move easier, recover faster, and wake up without feeling wrecked. “When you build a habit of moving your joints through their full ranges, you recover better, perform better, and offset the stiffness that comes from hard training or long bouts of sitting,” says Brian Murray, exercise and mobility coach and founder of Motive Training.
Among many other benefits, stretching helps manage muscle tension and supports healthy movement patterns, adds Brandon Postel, PT, DPT, OCS, clinic director and board-certified orthopedic clinical specialist with ATI Physical Therapy. “It helps maintain joint range of motion, keeps soft tissues adaptable, and reduces the risk of mobility loss that often appears with age,” he says. It also counteracts the constant crunching and hunching we do at our desks, over our phones, and behind the wheel.
So make a habit of stretching intermittently throughout the day. “Even brief movement breaks can interrupt stiffness cycles and improve comfort and alertness,” says Postel. At minimum, include a few overhead reaches, hip flexor stretches, and twists to complement your workouts. Your future self will thank you. —M.R.
Part of growing up is realizing that life isn’t just about gains, but about preservation. At various stages of life, you should start to focus on maintaining muscle mass, bone density, your skin barrier, social ties, and whatever it is that will prevent you from falling for Facebook AI slop. But take it from Maluma: You (or your parents) should be protecting your hearing from birth. There’s tinnitus, of course, which I can attest (as someone who regularly attends concerts, practiced loud music in a low-ceilinged basement for years, and blasted Body Count through a Walkman with over-ear headphones) is annoying. But hearing loss has a range of other impacts, including the possibility of increasing the risk of dementia. And while there is a wide range of good devices to offset it, there is currently no cure for permanent hearing loss. So, yes, you should wear earplugs. And if you’re worried about audio fidelity at the Cameron Winter show, take it from me—these are great. —Nick Catucci
The alarm goes off and you reach for your phone. It makes sense—your entire professional life lives in your inbox. But starting your morning in email locks you into send-and-receive mode for the rest of the day. Every spare moment becomes another inbox check. You end up on the hamster wheel, doing crap work, and it becomes nearly impossible to carve out space for the kind of thinking that will move your career forward. Here’s the thing most productivity advice gets wrong: The problem isn’t willpower. It’s social. If you know your boss expects a quick response, you’re going to respond fast. The move isn’t to white-knuckle your way into more focused work. It’s to negotiate the expectation that you will.
Try this: Go to your boss and say, “I want to carve out more time each day to work on priority X [name the thing they care about most]. Would it work for you if I checked email twice a day? Say, 11 a.m. and 4 p.m.?” It’s a two-minute conversation. Most bosses will support your ambition—they’d gladly trade your fastest reply for your best work. Once you’ve made this productivity pact, have the conversation with your peers to get them on board. With the new expectations in place, you’ll escape the social pressure that keeps you languishing in email hell. Then—and only then—can you start increasing time spent focused on your craft, producing the results you know you’re capable of. —Shawn and Anne Vanderhoven, authors of the forthcoming book, PAUSE: How to Lead Brilliant Work in a Busy World, out August 4.
Everyone dreams of the perfect meet-cute, but no one knows how to meet cutely. And the presence of technology in dating has made it a mostly passive activity. We need new and inventive ways to find love. Which is where your friends come in.
Next time you’re complaining about your love life, redirect that energy to a quest: Ask your friends if they know any eligible prospects whom they’d open to setting you up with. You could even go so far as to tell them what you’re looking for. (And if you have not yet thought about that, perhaps this is an opportunity to start.) I know what you’re thinking: What happens if we break up? Who keeps which friends in the aftermath? But there’s no need to think so far ahead, let alone so pessimistically. The bond of a mutual friend can smooth the impersonality of contemporary dating. There’s a greater familiarity and trust present. And friends are the best wingmen, making you more attractive to a potential love interest.
Is it scary? Of course! Dating always is! But why miss out on a great connection because of theoretical social friction. If apps haven’t been working for you, you owe it to yourself to fall in love the old-fashioned way. Especially since it makes for a far better story than “We met online.” —Jaharia Knowles
Chances are you’ve heard of orbiting, otherwise known as when you keep one or more people on the backburner by leaving them opaque digital mementos in the form of likes, comments, or occasional texts. It may not be a new dating habit, but it’s an especially prevalent and counterproductive one. Read GQ contributor Jill Di Donato’s essay on why you should ditch it for good.
In 2026, I would seriously like for us, as a society, to retire the “situationship.” Situationships have the tendency to evolve into toxic, liminal spaces where insecurities and commitment issues thrive and easy, casual dalliances wither. Frankly, there are few pipelines less sexy than going from a good, spontaneous hook-up with someone you semi-like, to submitting to the false notion that great sex may not find you again, to then feeling stuck in a will-we-date-won’t-we-date dynamic for months until the sex feels obligatory and the semi-like turns sour. Sometimes you only need to sleep with someone once or twice while you still like them. Or get into bed with someone else you kind of hate and never talk to them again. Rest easy that you’re hot and you will definitely get laid again. —S.S.
Sometimes taking a breather can help you feel more engaged in your sex life—and your regular life. Read GQ contributor Mattha Busby on why he took a six-month voluntary celibacy.
Alcohol might be bad for you, but unless you have a real problem, quitting it altogether can upend your social life. Read GQ contributor Dean Stattmann’s story on why he stopped, then started drinking again, here.
Not to start off on a dark note, but they say one of the clearest signs of alcoholism is drinking alone. Now, of course, having a couch beer or two after work does not automatically constitute a problem. But it can definitely lead to one. Best to create a general rule that requires you to go through a few more steps before enjoying a drink. Beyond that, drinking is much more fun as a social activity! In my personal experience, cutting out at-home drinking has the obvious health benefits (consuming alcohol less frequently) but it also has some sneaky upside. For one, it makes the moments where you do go out to the bar more fun, whether that’s for a solo drink to chat with your favorite bartender or meeting up with friends for a communal buzz. Secondly, while drinking at the bar is certainly more expensive than buying a six-pack from the corner store, you’ll actually start saving money by removing booze from the weekly grocery list. —Matthew Roberson
Advancements in the marijuana industry have made it simpler than ever to be an incognito stoner. Trendily packaged edibles can pass as vitamins, and battery-powered vapes emit little to no scent. (Just ask Vogue: Getting high is high fashion.) But it can also make smoking weed a bit more mindless too. Rolling a joint brings back a sense of presence to the ritual, and often invites others into the act of smoking itself. When among friends, the process creates an extra layer of anticipation and intimacy that a plastic vape cannot replicate. The moment of the roll is full of suspense—any technical flaws reveal themselves in the end. Is the filter too wide? Too tight? Has the rolling paper ripped, either held too roughly or moistened by a sweaty hand? But then (if you were delicate, if you were confident!), the moment of bliss arrives! You flick your favorite lighter, puff, and pass. You’ve done it. You’ve rolled. And now you and your friends can enjoy the fruits of your labor. By delaying the pleasure of the toke, you’ve also enhanced it. —J.K.
After GQ contributor Rosecrans Baldwin decided to give-up Zyn packets cold turkey, he experienced a startling psychic break. Read his argument for why a gradual whittling off is the way to go.
You’re probably showering too long, or at too high a temperature. Perhaps you need a shower head filter to improve the quality of your water. Maybe you’re due for a refresher on how often you should wash your hair. Or you should consider showering twice a day in the swampiest months of the year. Whatever it might be, it's a good idea to start the new year with a refresh of your bathing routine. —A.B.
There is a concept in Buddhism (my own therapist told me about this) known as the “second arrow.” Here’s the idea. Life is hard. Difficult things happen and in response we feel difficult, painful emotions: anger, fear, guilt, resentment, regret, boredom, etc. This is the first arrow, and you can’t avoid it—not so long as you’re drawing breath and dealing with other humans. Sorry. What you can avoid, though, or at least aspire to avoid, is the belief that it is somehow wrong, a sign of ugliness or weakness, to feel “negative” things. This belief is the second arrow, and it’s self-inflicted, and it’s awful. All it does is deepen the wound and double the pain. The path to greater contentment—not ultimate contentment, but more—isn’t one of stern self-discipline or emotional censorship; it is one of curiosity, exploration, and understanding. Your darkest emotions aren’t sins or character flaws. They just are. They are part of you. Reject them and you reject yourself. —Daniel Smith, author of the forthcoming book, Hard Feelings: Finding Wisdom in Our Darkest Emotions, out March. 3.
Juggling is more than a dorky party trick. As GQ contributor Sami Reiss writes, it’s an athletic practice that comes with serious neurological bonafides. Read his essay championing the skill.
In high school (or maybe just movies about high school) people think that doing things alone is a sign that you’re a loser. And many people carry that shame into adulthood, believing that the only way to have fun is within the confines of a social outing or date. In reality, the solo outing is an underrated perk of being an adult. Namely because you get to do whatever it is you want on your own schedule. Whether that means taking yourself out to a movie, an elaborate dinner, or a two-month-long trip through East Asia is up to you. But chances are, whatever you do, you’ll get to know yourself a little bit better in the process. —A.B.