Let’s Get Into It: Friendship Goals for the New Year

What You Want to Build, Try, or Change in Your Friendships in 2026
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Do you have any friendship goals for the year? If so, willing to share one?

• Is it about deepening existing friendships or making new ones?
• Are you trying to be a better friend or find better friends for yourself?

Here’s What I’ve Noticed

We often set goals for health, career, finances, but friendship and community goals are rarer. And when we DO set them, they’re often vague. Like “I want to make a new friend”… to do what with? To talk about what? Who supports you in what ways? It’s a lot easier when we know what we’re looking for. Get specific.
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Or I’ll use one of my goals for the year - I want to be better about getting out on weeknights. That’s the goal most people would set, but here’s how I’m getting more specific: I want to get out 6 nights a month (2 nights one week and 1 the next, repeat). I know that doesn’t seem like much, but honestly that might even be too lofty. I should probably say 1 night a week, but let’s get crazy! (And know that if I even meet 1 night a week on average, I’ll be happy.)
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I also want to try 10 new kinds of activities this year. I want to bring back First Thursdays (museum nights) and get back in the groove of a formal community. I stepped away from my main one - Toastmasters - in late 2024 when my health stuff was really flaring up, but I think I’m ready to go back there or perhaps somewhere else.
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The only rule is that if a fitness activity is one of those nighttime activities (normally I’m a morning workout person), it has to be one where I actually make an effort to talk to people while I’m there. No checking in, doing my workout, and leaving. I’d have to really try and talk to people before/after to make it social. See how that’s a lot more specific than “get out of the house more”? Now I have guidelines to hold myself to in 2026. I’ll report back. But now I want to hear yours!

Take This Further

Want to get strategic about your friendship goals? Here’s where to dive deeper:

• ​Episode 60 - Friendship Goals: Why They’re Important and How to Make Them​ - So many people take action after action in friendship without much thought as to why. Instead of repeating old patterns, focus on your ideal vision of social wellness. I’ll walk you through the steps and give you examples to help make these goals stick.
• ​Episode 23 - How I’m Approaching My 5 Friendship Goals​ - Get specific examples of how I broke down my own friendship goals into small, actionable steps. Because society tells us making friends as adults is hard, but we CAN impact this area of our lives through consistent small actions that build up over time.
• Join this week’s Substack Chat - Continue the conversation with other readers about your friendship goals and get inspired by what others are trying.

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Next Week’s Round Table

Next Friday we’re tackling something many of us overthink:

Bring your examples! We’ve got a list to crowdsource.

Share your friendship goal - and if someone has a super specific approach that inspires you, steal it and make it your own!
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Tell us your friend group stance — and if you see an approach that sounds amazing (or not your cup of tea), get curious and ask questions about it!​
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