05/01/2026
The new year doesn’t always require big resolutions. Sometimes it calls for better contributions, deeper questions, and encounters that quietly reshape our worldview.
The reflections and recommendations shared below — drawn from conversations, movies, books, music, cooking, and places — are inspired by suggestions originally shared by Luis Morago, Senior Director at Avaaz. The Good Lobby team has woven these into ten editorial tips for the year ahead, inviting us all to be more courageous and connected in 2026.
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Choose laughter that feels like belonging
Look for voices that not only make you laugh, but also make you feel at home. Listening to conversations like the one between Trevor Noah and Joe Opio (see the podcast here) reminds us how humour can create instant rapport across cultures, based on our shared humanity rather than explanations.
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Let dialogue stretch you, not soothe you
Some conversations leave a lasting impression because they refuse to settle for easy answers. The conversation between Trevor Noah and Esther Perel explores intimacy, desire, and friction as essential elements of life. A good New Year’s resolution: engage more, avoid less.
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Look behind what you admire
If you love a movie, book, or idea, go behind the scenes. The documentary Behind the Scenes: One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest reveals how creativity is often messy, chaotic, and collective. Understanding the difficulties behind excellence deepens your appreciation and patience.
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Spend time with work that doesn’t explain itself
Not everything needs to be interpreted. Films like Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter… and Spring invite us to sit with silence, time, guilt, and renewal. This year, allow yourself experiences that don’t rush toward meaning.
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Practice moral courage through listening
Some stories seem strangely relevant today. Watching 12 Angry Men reminds us that integrity is maintained through doubt, humility and patience. In these polarised times, listening carefully can be a radical act.
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Question your comfort with stories
Reading Vanessa Machado de Oliveira’s Outgrowing Modernity challenges our dependence on neatly packaged narratives. Her provocative argument – that modernity conditions us to believe that everything is a story – invites us to try an experiment for the new year: tolerate uncertainty, resist the temptation to prematurely assign meaning to things.
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Let science reawaken wonder
Books such as Paul Hawken’s Carbon Ground inspire wonder rather than despair. By reconnecting us to the fundamental element that sustains life, they remind us with surprising optimism that responsibility flows more naturally from love than from fear.
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Turn meals into moments
Food can be more than just fuel. Eating alone at Skålen in Stockholm (S. Paulsgatan 25, Södermalm, Stockholm), with its relaxed, semi-punk atmosphere and unpretentious warmth, shows how the setting, ambience and simplicity can transform an ordinary dinner into a small ritual of kindness.
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Discover art as a living experiment
It’s never too late to listen carefully. Discovering The Grateful Dead, particularly through the documentary Long Strange Trip, reveals art as a form of improvisation, risk-taking, participation and emergence. Let curiosity take precedence over the fear of being “late”.
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Invest in spaces that restore and reimagine
Finally, seek out communities that foster rest and reflection. Experiences such as the Climate Bridges retreat in Les Marions, Burgundy remind us how nature, thoughtful facilitation, and shared intention can quietly redefine what seems possible.
A final thought
The new year does not require us to reinvent ourselves. It invites us to pay attention to what nurtures a sense of belonging, strengthens ethical awareness, and keeps us open to uncertainty. These same qualities are important not only in our personal lives, but also in how we shape collective change.
At The Good Lobby, we help non-profit organisations, foundations, progressive companies and think tanks turn their policy ambitions into concrete results, always with a focus on accountability, ethics and transparency. In many ways, our work reflects the themes of this reflection: listening carefully, acting with integrity, and remaining engaged with complexity rather than rushing to easy answers.
To learn more, visit our Services page or contact us at [email protected].