Tips to set yourself up for success in 2026

Summary

Consider This from NPR

Episode: Tips to Set Yourself Up for Success in 2026
Date: January 1, 2026
Host: Scott Detrow (with Life Kit host Marielle Sagada and contributor voices)

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Episode Overview

This New Year’s episode of Consider This centers on practical, expert-driven tips to help set listeners up for a successful 2026. Moving beyond the traditional (and often daunting) New Year’s resolutions, the discussion brings in advice from NPR’s Life Kit podcast, covering daily habits, financial well-being, relationships, and supporting loved ones through tough times. The aim is to foster self-care, connection, and sustainable progress for the year ahead.

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Key Discussion Points and Insights

1. Rethinking New Year’s Resolutions

• Emily Elzane, speaking with producer Michael Levitt, shares skepticism about resolutions:
  • "I just think they’re kind of overrated. It’s a lot of pressure because you talk yourself up to these…lofty goals and a lot of the times they don’t end up coming true. And then you’re really disappointed…People make themselves feel really bad when they don’t achieve the resolution." (01:02)
• Host Scott Detrow reflects that many people feel similarly, leading into a discussion about forming practical, daily habits instead.

2. Movement and Managing Phone Usage (“Surf the Urge to Scroll”)

• Marielle Sagada introduces “urge surfing”—a method to resist the impulse to check your phone:
  • Clinical psychologist Diana Hill describes urge surfing:
    • "The goal with Urge Surfing is to learn how to get on the board of the Urge, ride it, notice that it increases over time and stay on it without giving in…paying attention to the sensation in your body…and then noticing it come back down again without acting." (04:24)
  • Sagada suggests pairing urge surfing with physical movement: “This is a perfect opportunity to get up from your chair or to stretch or to do some jumping jacks, do some calf raises, dance around your living room…” (04:44)
  • Scott Detrow notes the challenge of phone overuse: “Even then I’m thinking about it…It’s still so hard to not do. So that’s a useful way to think about it.” (05:05)
• Practical Tip: Use app blockers (as Marielle does before bed) to reduce digital temptations in key moments. (05:18)

3. Financial Health: Managing Debt and Investment Fees

• Credit Card Hardship Programs:
  • Yaneli Espinal, financial educator, shares:
    • "If the payment due date is coming up and you don’t have the money, pick up the phone and call the phone number on the back of your credit card. If you don’t call them and tell them, they’re going to think that you’re trying to not pay…and that’s when it takes a really bad hit to your credit score." (06:18)
  • Many listeners (including Scott) are surprised by this practical option for temporary relief.
• Investment Fees:
  • Sagada advises: “A 1% fee might sound low, but it can add up over time…Instead you want to look for funds that have fees that are more like 0.05% or even zero, and that’ll be something like an index fund or a passively managed ETF.” (06:37)

4. Building and Nurturing Community: The Community Dinner

• Samin Nosrat, chef and author, advocates for ritualizing social connection:
  • Tips:
    • Pick a recurring day and location (e.g., first Friday of every month)
    • Don’t stress about fancy meals; focus on consistency
    • Make the ritual “holy”—not religious, but sacred:
      • “By making it a regular effort and ritualizing it…that’s probably step one of making it holy. There’s community buy-in.” (08:24, Emily Elzane)
  • Sagada reflects on her own community dinner: “I now have a community dinner that’s the first Friday of every month…It’s one of the things I look forward to the most.” (08:34)
• Scott Detrow summarizes the value: “That circular let’s get together, let’s get together…we’ve been talking about this for six months…it hasn’t happened…so just make it happen. Set a schedule.” (08:44–08:55)

5. Supporting Friends with Serious Illness

• Sagada discusses how to be present for friends facing serious health issues:
  • Deborah Jarvis, chaplain and cancer survivor, recommends asking:
    • “I would say something kind of general and innocuous like, ‘Hey, so where are you with all this today?’ And then just wait…and then the real answer might come out.” (09:49)
  • The key is not to try to fix things, but to genuinely listen and offer consistent presence.
  • Sagada shares her experience: “When they were in the neighborhood, they would say, Hey, can I bring you a smoothie? Hey, can I get you lunch? …That meant a lot to me.” (10:17)
• Scott Detrow highlights: “A specific, immediate gesture.” (11:04)

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• “I just think [resolutions] are kind of overrated…a lot of the times they don’t end up coming true. And then you’re really disappointed.”
  — Emily Elzane (01:02)

• “The goal with Urge Surfing is to learn how to get on the board of the Urge, ride it, notice that it increases over time and stay on it without giving in…”
  — Diana Hill (04:24)

• “If you don’t call them and tell them, they’re going to think that you’re trying to not pay…”
  — Yaneli Espinal (06:18)

• “By making it a regular effort and ritualizing it, that’s probably step one of making it holy. There’s community buy-in.”
  — Emily Elzane (08:24)

• “I now have a community dinner that’s the first Friday of every month…It’s one of the things I look forward to the most.”
  — Marielle Sagada (08:34)

• “A lot of people feel like we need to make it all better for someone going through illness. You don’t. Just listen.”
  — Summarized from Marielle Sagada and Deborah Jarvis (09:14–09:49)

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Timestamps for Important Segments

• 00:35 — Framing the New Year's resolutions dilemma
• 01:10 — Emily Elzane’s take on the pressure of resolutions
• 03:26–05:18 — “Surf the Urge to Scroll” (movement, phone use, urge surfing)
• 05:37–06:37 — Credit card forbearance and hardship plans
• 06:37–07:12 — Minimizing investment fees
• 07:28–08:46 — Building a “holy” community dinner
• 08:56–10:10 — Supporting friends with serious illness: what to say and do
• 10:17–11:07 — Practical examples and conclusion

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Tone & Closing Thoughts

The episode is warm, conversational, and focused on taking small, meaningful steps rather than grand, fleeting resolutions. Listeners are encouraged to show themselves and others compassion, prioritize daily habits, and invest in relationships and community—essentials for success well beyond 2026.

Happy New Year from NPR’s Consider This—may these tips make this a healthy, fulfilling year for you.

Transcript

[Scott Detrow]

Hey there. Happy New Year.

It's Scott Dattrow.

Very quick, before we start the show, the Consider this team wants to say a huge thank you to everyone who donated during NPR's end of year fundraising campaign. Thank you also to our NPR supporters. Public radio is yours. And thanks to you, we are starting the new year strong even as NPR enters its first full year without federal funding for public media. Thank you again for your continued support moving into 2026 and beyond.

Now let's get into the show.

All right, everybody. It is January. It is 2026. You know what that means.

It's time to set some goals. Are you ready to be interrogated for this podcast?

[Marielle Sagada]

Yeah.

[Scott Detrow]

Yeah. Okay, Good.

That is 33 year old Emily Elzane speaking with Consider this producer Michael Levitt. They're old friends and he sat down with her to chat about New Year's resolutions.

What's your 2026 New Year's resolution?

[Emily Elzane]

I don't have one.

[Scott Detrow]

You don't have one?

[Marielle Sagada]

Yeah.

[Emily Elzane]

I just think they're kind of overrated.

[Scott Detrow]

Okay. So she's not a fan of New Year's resolutions.

And honestly, a lot of people feel the same way. After all, it can be a lot.

[Emily Elzane]

Of pressure because you talk yourself up to these like really lofty goals and a lot of the times they don't end up coming true. And then you're really disappointed. And it's not only you working hard toward these things. There's like a whole multitude of life factors that are involved in these. And I think people make themselves feel really bad when they don't achieve the resolution.

[Scott Detrow]

I mean, Emily's got a point.

Life can get in the way of.

Our goals and our ambitions.

But consider this. Our friends at NPR's Life Kit podcast gave us some practical daily life tips that are going to set us up.

For success, hopefully in 2026.

From NPR, I'm Scott Detrow.

[BetterHelp Sponsor]

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[Michelle Martin]

Hello and happy New Year. It's Michelle Martin from MORNING edition. Thank you to everyone who donated during our end of fundraising campaign. 2025 dealt a big blow to NPR and local stations with the loss of federal funding for public media. But we are so heartened by the outpouring of support and we will get through this together. Thank you for keeping NPR strong, moving into 2026 and beyond.

[Pop Culture Happy Hour Host]

What's in store for the music, TV and film industries for 2026? We don't know, but we're making some fun, bold predictions for the new year, plus setting some personal pop culture resolutions. Listen to Pop Culture Happy Hour in the NPR app or wherever you get your podcasts.

[Scott Detrow]

It's consider this from NPR. We regularly get good tips from our friends at NPR's Life Kit about how to navigate the day to day. Their podcasts talk to experts on how.

To be a better parent or friend.

Or partner, how to manage money more efficiently, how to avoid holiday drama or holiday scams. And they're back today with some of their most popular and favorite tips of the year.

With us is Life Kit host Marielle Sagada.

Hey Marielle.

[Marielle Sagada]

Hey Scott.

[Scott Detrow]

So I understand we're starting out by talking movement.

[Marielle Sagada]

Yeah, this one is about how to move more, but it's also about how to spend less time on your phone. And these are two topics we talk about a lot on Life Kit. The tip is called Surf the Urge to Scroll.

[Scott Detrow]

Okay.

[Marielle Sagada]

We talked to Diana Hill. She's a clinical psychologist and she co wrote a book called I Know I Should Exercise but and it's all about reasons that we don't move and how to get over them. So basically the idea is when you have an urge to look at your phone, which I do every two seconds, basically constantly. Yeah. It's like I just want to click the side button and see if there are any notifications or I just want to just check on Slack. Like did anybody send me a message? You can surf that urge. Just ride it out.

[Pop Culture Happy Hour Host]

The goal with Urge Surfing is to learn how to get on the board of the Urge, ride it, notice that it increases over time and stay on it without giving in. But it's not a willful staying on. It's actually paying attention to the sensation in your body of the urge and then noticing it come back down again without acting.

[Marielle Sagada]

And then here's where the movement comes in, which is this is a perfect opportunity to get up from your chair or to stretch or to do some jumping jacks, do some calf raises, dance around your living room because we know we're not moving enough. And so if you pair these two things together, it's sort of a this.

[Scott Detrow]

Not that I really like that.

I think I have been more mindful of how much time I spend on my phone this year than a lot of previous years.

And even then I'm thinking about it.

It'S still so hard to not do. So that's a useful way to think about it.

[Marielle Sagada]

Yeah, I block some of my apps, so I have like a program that you can block the apps, whichever ones you want. And then you have to tap this device. And so I do that before I go to bed so that when I wake up, if I pick up my phone and I'm still in bed, I can't look at Instagram, I can't look at my email.

[Scott Detrow]

So phone's obviously a big topic of focus for life. Kit finances are another big one.

[Marielle Sagada]

Yeah. Okay. I'm gonna hit you with two pieces of money advice that stuck with me this year.

[Scott Detrow]

Okay.

[Marielle Sagada]

One is if you have credit card debt and you're struggling to pay it, you can actually call your credit card company and tell them and they can offer you what's called a forbearance plan or a hardship plan, which is some help in the short term. They can pause or lower your minimum payments, waive late fees, lower your interest rate while you get back on your feet. And this tip comes from Yaneli Espinal. She's a financial educator and the author of Mind you'd Money.

[Deborah Jarvis]

If the payment due date is coming up and you don't have the money, pick up the phone and call the phone number on the back of your credit card. If you don't call them and tell them, they're going to think that you're trying to not pay them and also not let them know. And that's when it takes a really bad hit to your credit score.

[Scott Detrow]

I truly didn't know that was an option. That's really good to know. What's the other tip?

[Marielle Sagada]

The other money tip we have is about investing. So when you're deciding what funds to invest your money in, say in a retirement account or a brokerage account, you want to pay really close attention to fees. And you'll see this in the expense ratio line of your fund profile. A 1% fee might sound low, but it can add up over time and really cut into your returns. So instead you want to look for funds that have fees that are more like 0.05% or even zero, and that'll be something like an index fund or a passively managed etf.

[Scott Detrow]

So let's pivot a little bit and talk about another thing that so many of us spend time thinking about. And so Many of us feel like we're not quite doing this the right way, and that's relationships with other people, life. Kit has done so many episodes on this topic. What are some of your favorite tips on that front from this year?

[Marielle Sagada]

Yeah, this is one that's become a personal favorite for me. Start a community dinner. I talked to Samin Nosrat. She's a professional chef. She wrote the book Salt, Fat Acid Heat. And she had a new cookbook out this year called Good Things. It was all about recipes and rituals that you can share with people you love. And she has been doing a weekly dinner, I believe on Monday nights since the pandemic. And it has become a fixture in her life. And so she really recommends this. But it's hard to make this happen right when everybody's busy. So the tips are pick a day and stick to it, whether it's every Monday or the first Friday of the month, something like that. Pick a location and stick to it. And also don't feel like you need to cook really fancy meals. And she also shares this idea about making the ritual holy. And that doesn't necessarily mean religious, but sacred.

[Emily Elzane]

Yeah, by making it a regular effort and ritualizing it. That's probably step one of making it holy. There's community buy in.

[Marielle Sagada]

All of us have it blocked on our calendars. So I've started doing this with friends. I now have a community dinner that's the first Friday of every month. And I've seen this in my own life. It's one of the things I look forward to the most.

[Scott Detrow]

I like that because even if it's.

Well intentioned, that circular let's get together, let's get together. Especially when people are busy. And it's just like we've been talking about this for six months.

[Marielle Sagada]

It hasn't happened exactly.

[Scott Detrow]

Like, so just make it happen. Set a schedule.

[Marielle Sagada]

Yeah.

[Scott Detrow]

I want to talk about one other episode that you did this year, and this was a tougher one, but it's something a lot of people can relate to. How to support a friend through a serious illness like cancer or something else. And I know this is something you've had personal experience with having gone through breast cancer last year. What was the takeaway of that?

[Marielle Sagada]

Yeah, it's that when you're supporting a friend or a loved one through cancer or any other illness, remember that you don't have to be the person who makes this all better for them or who offers them that perfect pearl of wisdom when you go to talk to them. It's really about listening and being with them, it's not about pushing a certain agenda or trying to fix anything. So I talked to Deborah Jarvis. She's a hospital chaplain and a breast cancer survivor as well. And she said you can ask a simple question to get a sense of what kind of conversation or tone would be supportive to the person that day.

[Deborah Jarvis]

I would say something kind of general and innocuous like, hey, so where are you with all this today? And then just wait and they may give you an answer. And then I would say wait a little more and then the real answer might come out.

[Scott Detrow]

Yeah.

[Marielle Sagada]

You may not always know what to say to your friend, but curiosity is a good start.

[Scott Detrow]

I'm curious, was there a particular thing somebody said to you at one point that just stuck to you as like, I appreciate that question.

[Marielle Sagada]

I think people have asked me, what do you need right now? But it's a tricky one because on the one hand, you want to be thinking about your friend and what they need, and you want to be asking them these kind of general questions, but you also don't want to put all the work on them. Like, it's hard if you say to somebody, let me know if you need anything. It's hard for them to really take you up on that, you know, and so you can also just offer things. I think that was one of the most helpful things people did for me, was that when they were in the neighborhood, they would say, hey, can I bring you a smoothie? Hey, can I get you lunch? Hey, I have like, the dog with me. Can we come over and say hi? That meant a lot to me.

[Scott Detrow]

Yeah. A specific, immediate gesture.

[Marielle Sagada]

Yeah.

[Scott Detrow]

Yeah.

Well, Marielle, thank you so much for talking about all of this.

Happy New Year and good luck with the, I guess the impending New Year's resolutions.

[Marielle Sagada]

Thank you.

[Scott Detrow]

That was Marielle Sagada, host of NPR's Life Kit.

This episode was produced by Michael Levitt. It was edited by Patrick Durand Watanaunan. Our executive producer is Sami Yenigan. It's consider this from npr.

I'm Scott Detrow.

AI Data centers use a lot of.

[Planet Money Reporter]

Electricity, and you may be paying for it.

[Marielle Sagada]

I think it's almost inevitable that ordinary.

[Deborah Jarvis]

People are going to end up subsidizing.

[Marielle Sagada]

The wealthiest industry in the world.

[Scott Detrow]

On the latest Planet Money podcast, how data centers might be hijacking your electric bill. Listen on the NPR app or wherever.

You get your podcasts.

[Planet Money Reporter]

As we say goodbye to 2025, our reporters are looking back at some of the most memorable international stories they covered in the last year from a city in Africa emerging from war to resilient Indian turtles, liberated refugees to defiant Austrian nuns. Global favorites from the last year. Listen to State of the World on the NPR app or wherever you get your podcasts.

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