Hi friends, happy 2026! I can’t believe we are about to enter YEAR SEVEN of the Enthusiastic Encouragement & Dubious Advice Newsletter. That’s over 300 weekly issues which probably include at least 1K resources among them. I think the only time I ever missed a newsletter publishing was due to the conversion between platforms when I left Substack in 2022. This past year I experimented offering many more resources than essays, which was a divergence from my years-long paid-essay-every-other-week format. While it gave my brain a much-needed break, some things are going to change with the EEDA Newsletter starting today!

First, the Enthusiastic Encouragement & Dubious Advice Newsletter is still going to publish on Fridays, but it will now be bi-weekly as in, every other Friday. I have so many other creative pursuits and in order to make room for them, some things have to change. Along with frequency, the format is going to change a bit. Every issue will have resources as well as paid content. At the start, I’ll do any housekeeping and introduction stuff and then I’ll remind you all to listen to the Enthusiastic Encouragement & Dubious Advice Podcast (it’s really fucking great, if I do say so myself).

Next, I’ll have whatever resources I want to share and all these portions will remain free and without a paywall. I want to continue offering free resources and you are always welcome to subscribe or at least buy me a coffee for my research and curation efforts.

After the free resources will be the paywalled essay content that subscribers know and love and if you aren’t already a paid subscriber, I will deeply appreciate it if you become one this year.

Because of this format change, I will no longer have the recent and current reads section at the end. If I want to shout out a particular book, it will be available in the free area before the paywall. If you want to follow along with what I’m reading, you can always find me on The Storygraph and the EEDA Bookshop is updated frequently.

Unrelated: Optimistic Hoarder has moved to BeeHiiv and I am hoping to post there more frequently.

As always, thank you for being here. Now let’s get to it!

Newest EEDA Pod: Louboutin Saddles & Slinky Origins

Last week, Patricia and Nicole closed out 2025 with a short episode of the Enthusiastic Encouragement & Dubious Advice. They share some weird Christmas trivia and as always, share what’s filling their cups.

You can find our show, Enthusiastic Encouragement & Dubious Advice on Apple Podcasts, YouTube, Spotify, and wherever else you get your podcasts. You can also support the show on Patreon, where we have some perks for paid subscribers with even more coming this year. You can also just make a recurring donation through subscribing to our Patreon, as our show is independently run and without ads. It helps keep us going!

Reminder that over on the EEDA Patreon, we do weekly accountability check-ins and quarterly goal check-ins for paid subscribers. Subscriptions start at $3!

Resource 1: This Ridiculously Detailed Spreadsheet Has Helped Me Stick to My New Year’s Resolutions for Five Years via LifeHacker

If spreadsheets are your thing, this one may be for you!

Resource 2: Practical Betterments

A collection of one-off tasks/actions that they say will improve your life. Your mileage may vary with this one.

Resource 3: A Beginner’s Guide to Strength Training via NPR’s LifeKit

This is another of their month-long newsletter series. My doctor started telling me a few years ago that I need to be doing strength training and I’m trying to hype myself up with this newsletter.

Paid Content: I am a creature of habit so yes, I still have intentions for 2026