The cold January winds bring a sense of new beginnings and energy as we kick off 2026 with a bang in Downstate. For many, this means a fresh batch of New Year's resolutions! While everyone’s goals are different, Downstate Illinois is an ideal backdrop for new additions and lifestyle improvements to start the year. Whether you’re looking to find a new hobby, stay more active, or find more intellectually stimulating ways to spend the dark days of winter, the region is a land of opportunity! Keep reading to find the perfect New Year’s resolution for you and your loved ones in 2026.

Get Active!

It’s no secret that the most common New Year's resolution is to try and improve upon health and fitness goals. After a long holiday season of sugar-filled desserts and lavish feasts, finding a way to work off those few extra pounds is at the front of everyone’s mind. With no one-size-fits-all approach to wellness, these options are the best place to start!

For a one-stop shop experience to health and wellness, there are few places better than the New Leaf complex in Lawrenceville. With a variety of facilities designed to enhance overall well-being, you’ll feel like a brand-new person after a day on the property. Its two-story state-of-the-art workout facility is a fitness nut’s dream – featuring free weights, cable machines, cardio equipment, and group workout rooms.  Once you’ve worked up a sweat, a short trip down the hall leads to the Mandarin Spa, where relaxation and restorative services are the main attraction. Steamy saunas, salt therapy rooms, and a laundry list of massage services will make sure to work out any soreness and ensure you stay on track with all of your goals in the new year.

If fitness is the goal, then a membership or day pass at the Centralia Recreation Complex is a must. This 60,000 square foot facility is a playground for the health-conscious, with a wide array of amenities to help you along your fitness journey. With an elevated walking track, fully equipped workout facility with free weights and cardio equipment, a lap pool, and sparkling clean locker rooms, the Centralia Rec Complex will make sticking to your New Year’s resolutions a breeze in 2026!

Dive into a New World

Another common New Year’s pursuit is to take a break from the constant stimulation of screens and technology and read more books. As winter is finally in full swing, there is no better time to curl up on the couch and be cozy with a good book. Whether you’re seeking new knowledge through non-fiction works, or purely exploring new worlds through exciting fictional tales, you will be right at home at these awe-inspiring bookstores. Pop in today and find the perfect title for your first read of 2026!

Rope lights and dark-stained antique furniture provide a beautiful contrast to the marble walls and ornate architecture of the former bank building that Belleville Books calls home. When this backdrop is paired with their extensive selection of books that span a wide range of genres, it creates the perfect atmosphere for you to not just stick to your New Year’s resolution but to fall in love with reading. If reading alone isn’t your jam, that’s okay! Belleville Books puts its expansive space to work, with community-centered events almost every day of the week. Book clubs, children's story times, and poetry nights all invite you and others to come together and bond over a shared love of literature. This is more than just a bookstore; it’s a cultural hub for you to build your newfound love of reading around!

If vintage books are more your speed, then look no further than Pensees Bookshop on Charleston’s historic Courthouse Square. This three-level space is home to over 40,000 titles, spanning nearly every genre that an aspiring bookworm could ever want. The newest addition, which includes comic books, graphic novels, and horror magazines, appeals to the more casual reader and provides a new thrill to reading for seasoned fiction lovers. Already an avid reader? Pensees offers full-service book repair as well as buying and trading to make sure your library never gets stale and stays in tip-top shape as we venture into the new year.

As a special note, we couldn’t talk about reading without mentioning the wonderful library systems that provide a wealth of resources to local communities at little to no cost to residents. If the cost of buying new books from bookstores is daunting, go down to the local library and sign up for a library card! It’s an excellent way to sample books before buying, and your yearly fees (if there are any) go to support wonderful education programs in the city you live in. Happy reading!

New Skills with New Friends

What better way to ring in the new year than diving headfirst into a new hobby? Don’t waste the long, cold winter evenings being lazy on the couch – find a new and fun way to keep your hands busy in your free time. The best part about all this? You might just make some new friends in the process! Almost every community in Downstate has some form of Hobby shop that provides local classes and meetups, but here are a few of our favorites. 

While quilt-making might conjure up fond memories of your grandma spending hours hand-stitching fabric in her craft room, it is an excellent hobby to pick up while the weather is dreary! Gone are the days of hand stitching and slow progress. With a lineup of modern sewing machines and miles of fabric to choose from, Warm-N-Cozy Quilting in Columbia is the perfect place to find a new passion for textiles. Their fully equipped classroom, which features space for 14 students, a TV with HDMI ports, a whiteboard, and ample desk space, hosts a broad slate of classes tailored for all skill levels. Whether you are a total newcomer or looking to level up your skills, Warm-N-Cozy is the place for you!

Maybe cozy hobbies aren’t your thing. That’s totally okay! 5 Mile House Smithy, just outside of Charleston, is the ideal place to get your kicks and learn a new skill. Located in a renovated barn that dates back to the 1880s, this local nonprofit organization showcases traditional blacksmithing skills using coal-fired forges and hand tools just like settlers would have used during Illinois’ frontier days. Workshops welcome all skill levels and allow visitors to get their hands dirty with scorching hot metal and coal. These workshops fill up fast, so keep an eye on their Facebook page to make sure you grab a spot early!

Don’t get stuck inside all winter long! Get out into nature and lend a hand in preserving the beautiful landscapes that make Illinois so great with the Douglas-Hart Nature Center in Mattoon. Their programming, which encompasses a wide variety of interest areas for both adults and children, offers an excellent opportunity to make nature conservation your new hobby in 2026. Clubs like the Bird Club and Forest Friends help bring together people from the community towards a shared effort, and the Live to Learn speaker series helps shed new light on groundbreaking research topics. No matter what program you choose to be involved in, you’ll be making a difference. Head over to their website to find a full calendar of events and club meetings!

So, there it is! This list of hobby hotspots should help point you in the right direction when choosing a New Year’s resolution in 2026. While there are more places than we can count that would make great places to kickstart a new personal journey, these have been proven time and time again to be fan favorites across Downstate. From everyone here at Discover Downstate, we wish you a happy New Year and we’re cheering you on in your new pursuits.