Make 2026 your year of 'accomplishment'!

It feels like everyone's New Year's Resolution for 2026 is to reduce their screentime, and reduce it drastically! (It is certainly one of my aims for this year) The question is, how? What should we all be doing instead of thumbing through an endless feed of cute dogs, fitness posts and outfit-of-the-day videos? I thought it would be fun to look back in time for some inspiration. After all, Jane Austen didn't have a phone, and she has six novels to show for it.

The Accomplished Lady

"How I long to see her again! I never met with anybody who delighted me so much. Such a countenance, such manners! And so extremely accomplished for her age! Her performance on the pianoforte is exquisite."

"It is amazing to me," said Bingley, "how young ladies can have patience to be so very accomplished as they all are."

- Pride and Prejudice, Chapter Eight

The Regency woman of a certain class was not permitted to work for pay, but was still expected to work hard at her various 'accomplishments'- that is, to advance her capabilities in a range of artistic endeavours to appear the perfect, well-rounded wife.

Of course, this expectation is wildly dated nowadays; it would be quite a feat for the average woman (or man!) these days to juggle such a wide range of hobbies with the demands of 21st-century life. Chapter eight of Pride and Prejudice lays out the list of skills a young woman could reasonably be expected to master - a thorough knowledge of music, singing, dancing, the modern languages, and, by Mr Darcy's estimation, the improvement of the mind through extensive reading. One might also add to this list skills such as needlework, painting, and knowledge of how to play a variety of card games. Now, I'm not suggesting you must now pursue every one of these hobbies, but perhaps, by picking one or two up, you might feel more 'accomplished.' Here's how you might pick up one or two accomplishments in 2026.

A thorough knowledge of music

Adèle Romany, Portrait of a Lady at a Pianoforte, circa 1808, Museum of Fine-Arts, Boston.

Georgiana Darcy's character is almost defined by her skilled pianoforte playing. Jane Austen's characters are frequently invited to play piano at gatherings, and this is often an opportunity for other characters to make an assessment of the pianist in question. Mary Bennet's piano playing is a reflection of her awkwardness, whereas Jane Fairfax's entire moral character, as well as Emma's resentment and envy, seems to be entirely tangled up in how well she can play the piano, as well as the identity of her anonymous piano-gifting benefactor.

The unfortunate reality today as then is that most of us can't come by a piano without a similarly monied benefactor, but that doesn't mean that musical accomplishment is entirely out of reach. There are plenty of smaller, easier to self-teach musical instruments, like the ukulele, guitar, and recorder. These days, many computers also come with built-in music mixing software. Learning a musical instrument is beneficial for many reasons - a chance to play, a new party trick, and better brain health in your later years. The great thing about music is that you can choose how seriously you want to take it - you can play around and have a strum, or invest in learning the theory and skills.

The modern languages

I know many first-language English speakers, myself included, who feel a great deal of embarrassment at how bad our countries can be at encouraging second-language uptake, though in the past, it was seen as essential. Latin and French dominated and it is likely that Jane Austen was a competent French speaker. It is frustrating, of course, to pick up a language as an adult, but definitely possible.

Today, we're talking about opportunities to get off our phone, so this is not an instruction to download the shiniest new language learning app. Though these apps are excellent at gamifying the language learning process, it's common to find that the returns on these apps diminish over time. The best, but maybe most daunting, way to learn a new language, is to speak it with a native speaker. You might be lucky enough to have a friend who speaks your target language who you can reach out to. Maybe offer to make them lunch or buy them coffee to help you out. If you don't have such a person to talk to, check out places like community centres and public libraries for language exchange groups. You could also search for language Facebook groups in your local area - you might be surprised by how many people there are out there who want to learn your language, and you theirs. Double win for this one - you get a new language and a new friend!

Dancing

Modern living doesn't often present us with opportunities to dance, never mind learn how to do it well. I had the great fortune of growing up in Scotland, where organised ceilidh dancing is still taught in schools. Despite childhood grumbling, this has proven useful in adulthood; the choreography of all of the major dances remains etched into my muscle memory, meaning that I make an excellent dance partner for foreign friends and family at Scottish weddings.

If you didn't grow up in a culture with organised communal dance traditions, you might never have had the opportunity to learn any kind of partnered dancing. If you're at all nervous, you might want to start with a community dancercise or Zumba class, where everyone is so focused on how silly they look, that they're not looking at you. When you're feeling braver, you can look up ballroom, swing, salsa or bachata classes in your area. There may even be a Regency dance reenactment group where you live! Despite initial feelings of embarrassment and stage fright, the risk-reward on this one is a no-brainer. Imagine how cool you'll look when you have the chance to show off your skills!

Improvement of the mind through extensive reading

Friedrich von Amerling, Reading Woman

As bookish people, it seems like this one is the most obvious target for Jane Austen fans. But where to start if you want to read more extensively? The word 'extensively' can mean two different things here - that you should read large volumes and that you should read broadly, from a range of different genres and topics. Before you dive into this one, it's worth taking stock of what you have been reading up until now; are all of your books in one genre? Do you read exclusively from one kind of author? Does your reading fail to challenge you?

If the idea is for you to 'accomplish' something, I would encourage you to look beyond the usual resolution of 'reading more', to thinking about your reading intentions. Of course, there's nothing wrong with a bit of escapism, but maybe now is the time to use your reading time to learn something new, or read the big, chunky tome you thought you'd never get to. Think of it this way - if you were at a dinner party with Jane Austen, what kind of things would you like to talk to her about? What subjects would you both discuss? I say this knowing she probably loved a good old gossip, but consider what you would like to really impress her with.