Ditch the Resolutions: Why a Bingo Card Might Just Be Your Perfect 2026 Blueprint

Happy New Year, friends! As we stand at the fresh, unblemished start of 2026, that familiar mix of excitement and pressure begins to simmer. The new year, new you mantra is echoing everywhere, accompanied by the looming shadow of resolution lists destined to be forgotten by February. But what if there was a more joyful, flexible, and fun way to shape your year?

Enter the Bite Me Bingo Card—a concept so brilliantly simple it feels like a revelation. In the inaugural chill episode of 2026, I share my personal hack for intentional living without the burnout: ditching rigid resolutions for a game of personal bingo. After a successful trial run in 2025, I’m convinced this might be the secret sauce to a year filled with growth, adventure, and checked-off squares. I got the idea off of social media last year and it’s been fun, rewarding and so simple!

Listen to this episode:

The Problem with Perfect: Why Resolutions Fade

Let’s be real. We’ve all been there. We pour our hearts into a document titled GOALS 2026!!! filled with lofty aspirations, meticulous plans, and unwavering determination. We open it once in January, maybe twice in February, and then… radio silence. By March, it’s buried in a digital folder or under a stack of papers, a silent monument to our ambitious—yet unsustainable—plans.

I have enacted this exact cycle. I found my own 2025 goals document was opened exactly twice: once after creation and once in December for a dose of nostalgic guilt. The traditional model of goal-setting, while well-intentioned, often lacks the daily joy and visual reminder needed to stay relevant. It feels like homework, and who wants homework from their own life?

The Bingo Card Breakthrough: A Game, Not a Grind

This is where the bingo card swoops in as the hero we didn’t know we needed. The premise is beautifully straightforward:

1. Grab a 5×5 grid. The center is a free space (obviously—feel free to slap your own “logo” there).
2. Fill each square with something you want to do, try, learn, or experience in 2026.
3. The goal isn’t to black out the entire card (unless you’re an overachiever, you do you!). The goal is simply to get a line—horizontal, vertical, or diagonal—just like in real bingo.

The magic is in the mix. My card is a delightful cocktail of categories:

• Cannabis Adventures: Exploring new strains or experiences (it is the Bite Me podcast, after all).
• Personal Growth: Mastering parallel parking (coming 2026, a decades-long avoidance!), backing into every parking spot like a wizard (square checked off 2025).
• Fun & Silly: Trying a Caesar (Canada’s superior take on the Bloody Mary).
• Wellness Challenges: A month of no alcohol, a cannabis tolerance break.
• Passion Projects: Adding 10 new birds to a budding birding life list, hosting a virtual summit.
• Work Goals: Aspirations for the podcast and creative projects.

The beauty is its tailor-made nature. A friend of mine made her own card, filled with personal quirks and curiosities, and we spent the year comparing notes, cheering each other on and helping each other mark off squares. It transformed solitary goal-setting into a shared, social game.

Why This Simple Grid Works Where Lists Fail

1. It’s Visual & Tangible: I printed my card and kept it in a plastic sleeve on my desk. It was a constant, friendly nudge—not a hidden, daunting document. Seeing it regularly sparks little moments of, “Ooh, what can I check off?”
2. It Celebrates the Small Wins: Resolutions often focus on massive, year-end transformations. Bingo cards value the journey. “Become a backing-up wizard” is a specific, achievable, and oddly satisfying win that builds confidence for bigger squares.
3. It Embraces Whimsy: Life isn’t all about 5-year plans and professional development. It’s also about trying a new cocktail, learning to identify a new bird, or donating time/money to causes that matter to you. The bingo card legitimizes joy as a worthy pursuit.
4. It’s Flexible & Forgiving: Didn’t check off “Host a Summit”? That’s okay! You can still get bingo with your line of “Read 5 books,” “Go camping,” “Try pottery,” and “Have a digital detox weekend.” It reduces the all-or-nothing pressure that sinks most resolutions.
5. It Welcomes Surprises: Some of the best things in a year are the unplanned moments. The bingo card mindset makes you more open to them. As I found, you get to say, “I didn’t see that coming on my bingo card!” and it still feels like a win.

Crafting Your 2026 Masterpiece: How to Build Your Card

Ready to play? Here’s your starter kit:

• The Medium: A physical piece of paper for your desk, a note on your phone, a beautiful Canva creation—whatever you’ll see regularly. Scroll down for your own blank Bite Me Bingo card.
• The Categories: Think in buckets. Adventure, Learning, Health, Creativity, Connection, Fun, Work, Home. Aim for a variety.
• The Scale: Mix big, stretch goals with tiny, easy wins. “Plan a weekend road trip” can sit beside “Cook a recipe from a new cuisine.”
• The Rule of Fun: If it doesn’t spark at least a little excitement or curiosity, don’t put it on the card. This is not a punishment list.

Need inspiration? Here are some ideas stolen… ahem, borrowed… from the spirit of Bite Me:

• Attend a concert.
• Send 5 handwritten letters.
• Go stargazing.
• Learn to make the perfect cocktail (or mocktail!).
• Visit a museum you’ve never been to.
• Have a conversation with someone much older or younger than you.
• Master a new kitchen skill.
• Spend a whole day completely offline.
• Watch a sunrise.
• Try a new activity.
• And of course, stay lifted in whatever way brings you peace and presence.

Let’s Build This Year, One Square at a Time

Here’s my invitation: Let’s build this year together, one square at a time. In a world vying for our attention, choosing to be intentional with our time is a radical act of self-love. The bingo card isn’t just a productivity hack; it’s a framework for a more mindful, playful, and engaged year.

It’s about being kind to yourself. Dreaming big, but starting small. Celebrating the cozy moments alongside the expansive ones.

So, as we step into the unknown of 2026, consider putting down the rigid resolution list. Pick up a bingo card instead. Fill it with promises to yourself that feel less like obligations and more like invitations.

Share your squares, compare notes with a friend, and remember—the goal isn’t perfection. It’s presence. It’s play. It’s checking off that one square that says “Try something new” and realizing the entire year is now full of that possibility.

Here’s to your 2026 bingo. May you get a line by spring, blackout by accident, and collect a year’s worth of stories, laughs, and unexpected wins along the way. Stay high, stay curious, and let the game begin.

Download the Bite Me Card:

2026 Blank Bingo 

That’s it for this week friends.  Please email me any questions, comments, pictures of your creations or anything else, I love hearing from listeners!  Direct messages to stayhigh@bitemepodcast.com, or the podcast hotline.

You can also support the show by subscribing, sharing episodes, leaving a review or buying me a cookie!  Whatever way you choose, I’m grateful that you’re listening.

Stay high,
Margaret