It’s 2017, and everyone is resolving to better themselves. You’ve tried and failed before, but this time is different. Aspire to be like these pop culture characters and improve (without changing too much).

1. Take Up a New Physical Activity

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Common resolutions are to lose weight or get fit. These high level goals are tough to achieve without a plan of action. Saying you’ll go to the gym more doesn’t work for everyone, so find a new activity to learn that will keep you interested and active all year long. Learn martial arts like Neo, or find another sport. My recommendation is to avoid big team sports since they provide too many excuses to let you off the hook and skip out. Try something like bouldering or martial arts, where you don’t have to gather a lot of people to get active.

2. Walk More

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Another great way to increase activity without changing too much (because change is hard!) is finding opportunities to walk more. Frodo chose to walk all the way from the Shire to Mordor (except for canoeing the river) when he could have just as easily taken a horse or wagon most of the way. Maybe you have a short bus ride to the subway or train that you could walk instead. Or walk up the stairs to your office or apartment, walk to get groceries or to go out for food. Adding a small amount of activity doesn’t feel like it will do much, but it adds up and isn’t that much of an inconvenience. When you are about to hop in the car to run a errand, just think: What Would Frodo Do? Walk instead of taking short drives (you’ll also save on gas!).

3. Run Forrest Run

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Perhaps a little extra walking isn’t going to give you the improvement you want to see, so take it to the next level and run. Look to none other than Forrest Gump for inspiration and just go running. Start small, run once a week and build up to more as you feel more comfortable and fit.

4. Eat Healthy

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Staying active is only one ingredient to being fit and healthy; you need a good diet also. There are more bad examples in pop culture of what not to do. Don’t be like Cookie Monster, and eat some good foods once in a while. Like Anger’s reaction to broccoli pizza, some of you may be repulsed by the thought of eating healthy food. In that case, just make small changes like cutting out pop to reduce sugar intake.

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5. Play More Games

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As Wil Wheaton says, “play more games!” Many games are based on movies or have movies based on them. Board games are excellent fun and also very good educational tools. While you are having a good time playing games, your brain is secretly working out math problems and solving other challenges. Some games like Patchwork improve your spatial thinking, and others are straight representations of computer science topics like Dijkstra’s Algorithm or the Traveling Salesmen Problem (I’m looking at you, Power Grid). So, if you want to have fun while discreetly improving your brain power, play more games!

6. Make a New Friend

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In 2016, we saw Paul Dano befriend a farting corpse in Swiss Army Man. I think you can put yourself out there and make at least one new friend in 2017 (preferably someone living). Maybe you’ll meet someone through that new activity or hobby you are picking up as one of your other New Year’s resolutions. Or just befriend someone who is already close to you, like a coworker or neighbor.

7. Be More Polite

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Be nice to others, apologize for your mistakes, and clean up that filthy language. Swearing can be a bad habit that comes out at inopportune times. It can create a bad impression in a job interview or when meeting your partner’s family. Follow Captain America’s lead and cut the bad language. You’ll quickly become a more polite person.

8. Aim High

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Don’t sell yourself short this year. Set your goals, and do whatever it takes to achieve them. Fight for a promotion or raise like Angela Moss. Or simply aim to rule everything like Negan and Cersei Lannister.

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Share your resolution in the comments below, and we can all keep each other on track. Whatever you resolve yourself to for 2017, PopWrapped wishes you the best of luck in your endeavors.