Be smarter + better looking in 2018.

A new year means a fresh start. If you’re looking for ways to become smarter, more active + better connected in 2018, we’ve got you.

Here are some New Year’s resolutions that you can easily fulfill right here in Soda City.

Get active | Walk the Spirit Communications Park concourse (home of the Columbia Fireflies) once a week. Three laps = 1 mile = 2,000 steps = ⅕ of your daily goal. Try a weird new workout or a new fitness studio like Fit Columbia in Five Points or Forest Drive Crossfit. Train to run a marathon like Walk for Life (sponsored by Nephron Pharmaceuticals, in Oct.) or the Midlands Heart Walk (in Mar.).

Explore history + the arts | Visit EdVenture Children’s Museum, Columbia Museum of Art + S.C. State Museum. Take advantage of Historic Columbia’s walking neighborhood tours + $1 Sundays.

Get outside more | We have so many closeby outdoor gems. Walk the entire Cayce Riverwalk, bike in Sesquicentennial State Park + Harbison State Forest, stroll the boardwalk at Congaree National Park, rent a pontoon on Lake Murray, camp on Dreher Island and finally tube the river.

Congaree National Park | Photo by @diamondlilb52

Treat your body well | Try some of Cola’s top-notch vegetarian/vegan eateries, like Lamb’s Bread, Good Life Cafe + Universal Love Vegan Cafe (so good you might even forget there's no bacon involved). Find a doctor to actually go to regularly.

Learn something new | Take one of the many skill workshops offered by Richland Library and Indie Grits, or listen to a new, locally-produced podcast. Learn how to renovate your home yourself or how to code. Get together a trivia group and test your knowledge at Lowes Foods or The Aristocrat.

Get involved | Meet new people + find your own little way to help shape our city with local networking groups like COR, YLS, Columbia Young Professionals, Network After Work and The Talented Tenth. Apply for Leadership Columbia or Leadership S.C.

Read more | Try reading one book per month or starting your own book club with co-workers + friends. Check out the top ten fiction + nonfiction titles from the latest New York Times bestseller lists from your area Richland Library branch for free.

Give back | Volunteer once a week with a local organization for a cause you care about like animals, children, homelessness or education – organizations like Pawmetto Lifeline, Goodwill SC + Harvest Hope always need help. (Here’s a pretty extensive list of local nonprofits.) Consider becoming a mentor – or mentee.

Travel more | Visit more cities on your bucketlist via direct flights from CAE or Cola’s train station.

If I’m being honest here, I don’t think I’ve ever created a New Year’s resolution and actually accomplished it.

But this year, I am resolving to actually achieve one resolution – to become more active. Spirit Communications Park sounds like a nice spot to do some running (or speed-walking, in my case).

Hey, if I can accomplish this – you can accomplish anything.

Good luck,
– Anjali + Sam

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