Welcome. It’s almost one week into 2021, and whereas the challenges of final yr persist, we’re trying, after we can, to the brand new yr’s potential. I glimpsed it in “The Man Who Turned Credit-Card Points Into an Empire,” a superbly written and really entertaining piece from The Times Magazine by Jamie Lauren Keiles about Brian Kelly, a.ok.a. “The Points Guy,” the loyalty-program guru who helps vacationers alchemize their passively accrued Visa factors into luxurious getaways. (Jamie’s profile of Adam Sandler, from 2019, can be an amazing learn.)
Reading your downsized resolutions, the tiny, achievable ways that you just’re planning on doing issues otherwise this yr, was inspiring, too. Whether vowing to go exterior every day or decline plastic utensils and straws when choosing up takeout, many people are betting that small modifications to our habits can have actual advantages. Here’s a handful of resolutions At Home readers despatched in:
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Go vegan at some point every week. —Liani, 22, London
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My tiny New Year’s decision is to compost every day. —Phuong, 48, Vienna, Va.
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I’ll discover ways to graft tomato rootstock so I can develop and harvest numerous heirloom tomatoes. —Raphael, 76, Albuquerque
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Eat one thing inexperienced day by day! —Kim, 69, Menlo Park, Calif.
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One of my objectives this yr is to enhance my English expertise, hoping at some point I can work for a world firm. So my every day decision can be to learn at the least one full article from The New York Times and to take heed to The Daily whereas commuting. —Daniel, 28, Madrid
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One of my favourite takeout dishes is mapo tofu, and I’ve tried to make it but it surely at all times seems underseasoned. I’m excited to to construct out my spice cupboard and discover ways to make this correctly at house! —Elissa, 34, Minneapolis
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As the first caregiver for my husband, I don’t get out very a lot. My decision is to go exterior day by day, even when it’s just for 5 minutes. —Terry, 69, Stamford, N.Y.
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My decision is to be dressed by midday every day. Small and achievable. —Jean, 68, St. Louis
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I resolve to place my telephone down when I’m with my youngsters. —Joshua, 39, Kalamazoo, Mich.
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Turn down or return straws and/or plastic utensils for my takeouts to cut back the consumption of one-time-use plastic. —Khoo, 42, Seattle
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My manageable decision for 2021 is to be taught to play the brand new Billie Eilish James Bond theme track on the piano. —Julia, 50, Indianapolis
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I’ll solely put on comfy footwear. —Kathy, 52, Cooperstown, N.Y.
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I’ve actually been having fun with dancing as a strategy to really feel invigorated and alive every day. Just one track every day that I dance and transfer my physique to. A reminder that I’m nonetheless right here and I can nonetheless expertise pleasure. —Poonam, 34, Dallas
If you’re nonetheless searching for methods to make some modifications, check out The Times’s Well newsletter, the place Tara Parker-Pope is main a seven-day wellness problem for the brand new yr. It’ll positively get you began.
If you’d want one thing soothing, let me draw your consideration to the again catalog of “The Love Boat,” ten seasons of which can be found for streaming on CBS.
I additionally liked Danyel Smith’s reflections on the musician Sade and her continued relevance.
You may placed on “Lovers Rock” and play with this hypnotic app that generates pleasing mixtures of colours with names like “Sleepless Blue,” “Jellyfish Sting” and “Columbo’s Coat.”
Tell us.
What’s in your thoughts, six days into 2021? Write to us: athome@nytimes.com. We’re At Home. We’ll learn each letter despatched. As at all times, numerous concepts for main a full life at house seem beneath. See you Friday.
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