People might debate if you should pack your reading list with nonfiction, self-help guides or fictional novels—but the truth is, reading pretty much anything is good for your brain.

You can set a goal to read a certain amount of time each month, create a reading list of titles to tackle over the year, or join a book club for some accountability (and snacks—there are always great snacks at book clubs).

Whatever your goal is, just make sure you’re reading more, and more often.

Have you always wanted to take up cooking, sewing, sonnet writing? Do you wish you could do the fancy hand lettering that would make your thank-you cards the talk of the office?

Learning a new skill is a great way to stretch and grow your intellectual muscles while giving you a break from the way you normally use your brain all day.

To learn those new skills, you might need to take a class. It could be that in-person culinary course offered downtown or an online Beatboxing 101 class. Either way, if you want to start making your own molten lava cakes or turn your friend group into the next Pentatonix, get yourself an instructor who can show you how to make these dreams come true.

Learning a new language has so many benefits. First of all, if you pick a language spoken by people at work, church or in your community, you’re growing a skill that can be helpful for your career, outreach or relationships. Secondly, the work your brain does to pick up any new language, even one just for fun, is a great practice.

If you’ve got a musical bent, consider learning (or re-learning) a musical instrument.

Maybe it’s that alto saxophone you played in high school, the guitar you promised you’d learn “someday,” or even that ukulele you inherited from your grandfather. You might not start the next garage band sensation, but playing an instrument grows your brain power and can become a relaxing pastime.

Listen—we know journaling can be intimidating, but it doesn’t have to be! We aren’t saying you need to record your every thought on paper each day (although if you try it and like it, go for it!).

We also aren’t saying you should automatically know what to write each day. Get yourself a journal with prompts if you need inspiration.

Just write something.   

Have you always wanted to be an expert on West Coast swing dancing or the life of Winston Churchill? Dive deep into a topic and fill your brain with knowledge!

The topic doesn’t have to be related to your job or any other aspect of your life. If it’s something you enjoy, learning more about it has plenty of benefits all on its own.

When it comes to podcasts, you have plenty of options. You can find a million to listen to, and a ton of ways to listen as well.

Again, there’s benefit here to listening just for the sake of learning more on a topic you’re already interested in. But with podcasts, the advice you hear can also help you move ahead in your career, relationships, finances . . . the list is nearly endless.

No, seriously! Playing games is good for your brain. You’ve got strategy games, trivia games, word games, math games and fast-acting games.

You can play alone (yay for introverts), with friends (yay for extroverts), or even use games as a way to meet new people (yay for super extroverts).

This might seem like too much of a stretch for you—but remember, when we were kids, playing was how we learned. Maybe it’s time to recapture this part of our youth.

Listen: Your mental health shouldn’t take a back seat to your other goals. What that means for you as you’re setting New Year’s resolutions depends on what you need and want to accomplish this year.

Maybe you need to start seeing a therapist, online or in person. You could have major trauma to work through, just need someone to work through a situation with you, or fall somewhere in between. A good therapist can help you grow and heal. Consider it.

Or maybe you just need more time with true friends who motivate you to be the best version of yourself.  

Take time to figure out what you need to do to make mental health a priority. And then do it.

So, maybe people won’t be commenting on your brain gains like they would if you got physically cut like Mount Rushmore or started running marathons—because intellectual goals don’t always show results the way other goals can. But they’re still worth it! So, give your brain some love this year.