New Year, New Me – or at least, that’s what we all attempt to do after another rotation around the sun. But as we’ve all learned by now, that’s easier said than done.

Last year, I talked about how to meet your New Year resolutions by gamifying them and turning your life into a D&D campaign. It’s easier to work towards a goal when there’s a fun aspect to it – it’s why apps like Habitica and Fantasy Hike exist.

But why just focus on just gamifying your goals for the New Year? What if you could add a twist to them so you feel like a main character while you are trying to accomplish simple things like getting into an exercise routine?

Here are a few ways that you can add a bit of “main character magic” into your daily life as you work to accomplish your goals by rethinking how you get from beginning to end.

Note: This post is not sponsored by any of these businesses or accounts – I just think they’re cool and am excited to share what they are doing.

Add Some Adventure into Exercise

When I think of starting an exercise routine, my mind immediately goes to the gym or to following along with some Blogilates YouTube videos at home. For me, exercising is hard to get motivated for – and even harder to follow through with once I get started. Fortunately, I’ve learned about a few programs and apps that appeal to book nerds and sci fi fans that could help provide a little more motivation to follow through with them. Some of these may be familiar from my holiday gift guides:

• The Micro Squad offers a variety of OnDemand videos themed around books and pop culture. They have exercises inspired by ACOTAR, Harry Potter, Lord of the Rings, and so much more. I did the two-week trial before the holidays and the exercise I tried out really helped me work out a sweat. There are two memberships – one with 100+ videos for $12/month and another with 500+ classes for $20/month. Learn more here.
• Fantasy Hike is a cool fantasy themed app, that offers adventurers the opportunity to track how long it would take them to walk to Mount Fire (Mordor). This is a great way to make your walks a little more fun (maybe you could even play some of the music from the movies to make you feel like you’re in the film). Learn more here.
• Arena Weapons Arts is a fun business in Austin that allows you to get your exercise in while practicing weapon based combat. Think swords, staffs, daggers. Their basic membership is $80 a month and includes up to two mixed-weapon practices each week. Learn more here.

Be the Main Character in the Book You Are Writing

If you are an aspiring author like myself, then you probably know that it takes a lot of work to build out the character, craft the world, and make everything seem reasonably believable. All in all – there’s a lot of research that goes into weapons, fighting tactics, locations, historical events, poisons, and more. But what better way to add yourself into the story (allowing you to tell a better story) than experiencing things firsthand instead of just researching them. Now, there are plenty of things that you could never legally experience, but there are also plenty of things that you can. In addition to trying out something like Arena Weapons Arts listed above, you could also look into the following:

• One of the easiest things to do – try dressing up like your characters in your books. You can do this in very simple ways by making your day to day outfits look a bit more fantasy with whatever vibes you are going for. DontTesstMe has a fun series on TikTok called “How to dress like you live in a fantasy world but you have to go to work and you don’t want your coworkers to look at you weirdly so you have to tone it down a bit” that details how you can do this for things like wood elves, mermaids, vampires, and more. Learn more here.
• If you’re a fantasy or adventure writer, try attending a renaissance festival. It’s a great opportunity to dress up as a fantasy character or medieval character while watching entertaining shows and participating in activities that your character would do in their book, such as forging their own sword. Find out about my favorite ren fest here.
• Learn survival skills. On top of walking miles every day, many fantasy characters are forced to figure out how to survive out in danger in various weather conditions and terrains. Instead of just Googling different types of edible foods in the forest, why don’t you take a foraging class and get first-hand experience? Or find a business that will teach you survival skills on an overnight excursion, like Texas Survival School. Learn more here.

Explore New Dishes That Make You Feel Like You Are in Your Favorite Book

Is your resolution to save money by eating in more? Or you want to try to eat healthier? Aside from Googling the best dishes for ____, you could mix things up and add some fun, book-ish themed dishes into your meals. From tavern dishes to meals made for a king, there are plenty of themed blogs and cook books to help you craft a meal to satisfy your tastebuds.

• If you love exploring food blogs, then you’ll want to check out Fantasy Cookery. Rudee offers a fun selection of dishes that you can easily make at home, from Fantasy Tavern Roasted Curried Pumpkin Seeds to Skillet Chicken with Lemon, Orzo, and Capers. Learn more here.
• It hasn’t had any new videos in a bit, but the Feast of Fiction YouTube channel has a ton of fun recipes that show you how to create dishes from popular video games or shows, such as Genshin Impact, League of Legends, Pokemon, Spongebob, and more. Learn more here.
• I mentioned this in one of my holiday blog posts, but there are many book themed cookbooks that you can purchase as well. For example, if you’re interested in eating like a Hobbit or Elf from The Lord of the Rings, then you might want to check out the cookbook “Recipes from the World of Tolkien: Inspired by the Legends.” Learn more here.

Other Fun Ways to Add a Bit of Magic Into Your New Year’s Resolutions

If none of these resonate with you or match the resolutions you’ve set with yourself, that’s okay! There are still plenty of ways to add a bit of that “main character” magic into your life this year.

• Maybe the thieves guild from Skyrim doesn’t exist in real life, but that doesn’t mean you can’t find a group of people who are passionate about the same (legal) hobbies as you. Check out local meetups and find out where you can connect with people who can help you hone your craft in sewing or adventure together on a hike.
• If you’re trying to find more ways to get that writer experience in for your fantasy books, then check out things like fantasy balls, high teas, horseback riding, hiking groups, or more. If you’re writing a more modern book, then maybe plan a trip to the city or country you are including in your novel to look at things in person (that way you don’t have the same mistake as Rick Riordan of the St. Louis Gateway Arch being farther away from the water than he thought).
• Maybe you aren’t an author, but travel and exploration is still something you are adding to your list of resolutions. If you don’t have the time or the money right now to go on that dream trip, try to find somewhere you can go on a day trip that allows you to enjoy a new place and any local specialties. For example, a fun day trip in Texas for me would be to someplace like Fredericksburg: they have a fun historic downtown area, delicious German restaurants, a museum, and historical reenactments. On top of that, there are many wineries nearby!
• Treat yourself like the King or Queen you are and give yourself a biweekly or monthly spa day. Whether that includes staying in at home with your favorite sheet masks (perhaps inspired by one used in a k-drama?) or going out to get a deep tissue massage, sometimes a day of pampering is all we need to feel like a main character and get some good relaxation in.
• If you want to learn a new language, you could always try learning a bit of Elvish from Tolkien’s works. Maybe you won’t use it anywhere, but it would be cool to say you know it. There are plenty of sites that offer some insights on words and pronunciations.
• Maybe fantasy languages aren’t for you! Luckily, there are tons of resources for learning real languages like French or Japanese, even if you just start with a platform like Duolingo! Or, mix it up and learn programming languages and teach yourself to code with HTML, CSS, or Javascript. The hackers in your favorite heist shows had to start somewhere as well! The great part is that, depending on your job, knowing something like HTML or Javascript could be beneficial in furthering your career.
• If you’re trying to focus on having better focus time or getting better sleep, sometimes having a calming playlist can help. Try finding some instrumental music from your favorite shows – or songs and sounds that are inspired by them. There are a ton of Youtube videos that offer things like Ghibli inspired ambiences or Harry Potter ambient music.

And if you’re just focusing on improving your overall life this year, don’t forget my tips for feeling like the main character in your life, which are really just about not holding yourself back from your goals, getting rid of toxic things, and focusing on the things that bring you joy.