Harness Fresh Creative Energy in the New Year

New year, new creative surge? Well, why not? It’s 2026, and anything’s possible.

Perhaps you’re worn out from past New Year’s resolutions, and this year you decided to slide past January 1st on cruise control, not bothering to set new goals or do any sort of self-evaluation.

And while I totally understand the “bleh” feeling that can sometimes come with the thought of yet another list of goals and daily habits that kick off on (approximately) January 1st, I still say it’s great time of year to do a little reassessing, a little processing here and there, and hit the refresh button in at least one area of your life.

For me, this year, that looked like getting a new marketing strategist for my writing brand. It looked like adding two new authors to my “Currently Reading” shelf. And it looked like really adding some extra “umph” in my creative output. If there’s some excuse to start building momentum again, why not jump on it? (Oh, speaking of jumping, I also used that New Year energy to get into a great new hobby: horseback riding).

If every year, you’ve thought, “This is it! This is the year! I’m going to write 20 minutes a day, for the whole year, and finally finish my book.” Then, okay, let’s shake things up. You have some creativity lying dormant in there, I’m sure, but maybe those types of standard resolutions aren’t serving you.

Harness your creative energy and spark a new habit or creative burst by trying these things:

1. Explore New Places
   • New places, or even old places that you haven’t been to in years, might leave you feeling inspired to do your craft in a way you haven’t felt in months or longer. Sometimes, we go to a new place, and it leads to curiosity about something. Maybe a painter sees a new scene or a captivating face that inspires the next painting. Maybe a writer has a surge of memories that kick in from visiting an old stomping ground, and the writer’s block disappears. Or maybe a graphic designer leaves with a breakthrough on a recent project that hasn’t quite been right.
   • Getting out of our standard 5-mile radius and putting our footprints all over a new place can be enlightening. And it doesn’t have to be glamorous; it could be just the opposite. A visit to an old abandoned mall? Maybe it leads to an idea about a plot twist you were thinking of. A stroll down a withered botanical garden in the dead of winter? Maybe you find an unexpected beauty in it that unclogs your creative thinking. Places aren’t just places; they’re sights, sounds, smells, feelings, daydreams, memories.
2. Meet New People
   • Have you ever struck up a conversation unexpectedly with a stranger, and walked away with a bit more perspective on some random topic you didn’t expect to ever talk about? When was the last time you met a new person who ended up changing the trajectory of your life? Maybe that’s rarer, but it happens. And if you push yourself a little bit to get out and sit down with new characters, you might just find that it propels you forward in your creative life.
   • Maybe this means getting a new mentor for your business. Maybe this means finding a private lessons teacher for your craft (or any other topic or skill). Maybe this looks like joining a networking group or a new social club or a new online community. You can find new people almost anywhere, and sit down to meet them fairly easily, thanks to apps like Timeleft or Bumble BFF or Meetup. And if that seems a bit uncomfortable, read my next point.
3. Do One Thing Out of Your Comfort Zone
   • Digging into a newfound wave of creativity is easier when you do SOMEthing outside your current comfort zone. You’ve probably been in the same routine for a while, maybe branched out a tiny bit here or there. But it’s time to get further out.
   • Do this by changing your routine or adding something new to your routine, taking a new action. Switch up your nightly schedule; try reading at a new cafe instead of at home; talk to someone random. If you’ve been posting a ton on social media, stop. If you haven’t been posting, start. If you take clients independently, charge more than you usually do. Ask for a raise or a change at work (if appropriate). Take a ukulele class. Take a Texas two-steppin’ class. Try to cook a copycat recipe from a Michelin-starred restaurant. You might be amazed at how exhilarating it feels simply to switch up your usual daily and weekly activities, and how much creativity this fosters.
4. Add a New Thing to Your Regular Work
   • Maybe you’re particularly bummed out because things at work have been the same old story for too long now, and you feel it’s killing your creativity. The creative project you resolved to work on in 2025 hasn’t moved forward in the slightest, and you feel like the 40-50 hours you spend weekly at work are too draining.
   • Consider, then, making any change you possibly can to your work environment. It could be drastic, like changing teams. But it could be small, like using bright neon-colored sticky notes instead of dull yellow ones. Organizing your Chrome tabs. Clearing off your desktop. Actually going to a couple of work happy hours. Talking to colleagues you typically wouldn’t. Engaging more in your responsibilities. All of these actions can help spark a sense of confidence and help fuel the fire of your creative journey because they can boost your emotional state throughout the day, shake up your grayscale days.

And that’s it! As I write this, it’s January 13th. And you know what, we’ve still got that new-year-new-me vibe going, so it’s time to take advantage of it. My challenge to you is to pick one of these categories to do every week for the next four weeks.

Are you with me?

Tell me, how have you started off this year? Have your creative juices been flowing? Or have you felt a little stagnant?