The podcast episode reflects on the speaker's New Year's Day experiences in 2026, focusing on her struggles and eventual success in adhering to small, personal resolutions, particularly the goal of going outside daily.
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Hello everyone, this is Emma.
In this podcast, we discuss a variety of topics in simple Japanese.
How are you all doing today?
happy new year.
It's finally 2026.
Today is January 2nd where I live.
What did you all do over New Year's?
I spent the whole New Year's holiday relaxing and taking it easy.
I'm sure you all had parties, family get-togethers, and other fun things.
And I sincerely hope that this year, 2026, will be a wonderful year for all of you.
And in today's podcast
A little bit about how I spend New Year's
I would like to have a relaxed and enjoyable chat with you all.
Since this is the first video of the new year, I thought I'd take it easy and listen to a podcast.
I would be happy if you would listen to it.
First, I want to talk to you about something.
Umm... as you can see, I have a scar on my face (laughs).
A wound...or a bruise?
Something amazing is happening to my face right now.
It's really red
Nothing has happened at all, so please don't worry and just watch.
I'm sorry that the first video looks a bit unsightly, but I'm doing fine, so it's okay.
Now, let me tell you about my New Year's celebrations.
So, what I want to talk about today is
I'd like to talk a bit about my aspirations and goals for 2026.
Amazingly, I was already failing to achieve this new goal on January 1st, New Year's Day.
I was on the verge of failing my goal from the very first day.
Well, today, I was wondering why I couldn't keep my resolution from day one.
I'd like to have a little fun talking about that.
So, as I said at the beginning, I really had a relaxing New Year's holiday this year.
I woke up at 7am and had a traditional soup called zoni with my family.
Well, I watched a movie alone, lazed around,
Draw pictures, laze around, look at Pinterest... that kind of thing.
I was just relaxing and doing what I really liked,
First, I want to talk a little about the goals I set for myself.
This year, rather than having a big goal,
Small goals that you can continue every day
That's a pretty simple goal...
It's simple, but you thought up a lot of goals.
I thought of lots of small goals.
So, the first thing is to get up as early as possible in the morning and not go back to sleep.
It's been a bit cold lately, so I haven't been able to get up early in the morning at all.
I set a simple goal for myself: to get up properly the first time I wake up in the morning without going back to sleep.
"I'll also continue to study English properly"
"Make sure to stretch for at least five minutes a day"
So, the last goal I set for myself was to "go outside, even if it's just for one minute a day."
What this means is that in 2025, I really didn't go outside.
My hobbies are mostly things I can do indoors.
My hobbies are watching movies, drawing pictures, and studying.
Isn't it true that all of this can be done at home?
So there isn't much reason to go outside, and I really don't go out.
I'm the type of person who can easily stay inside the house for about 72 hours.
I hardly ever got to breathe fresh air.
I thought this wasn't very good.
I thought it was bad for my body and mind,
I set a goal that seemed very simple: to go outside even if it's just for one minute a day.
So, with that in mind, I'd like you to ask me something.
As I said at the beginning, I woke up at 7am on New Year's morning and ate ozōni.
While I was doing that, it was about 7:30.
I put on makeup and relaxed, and before I knew it, it was about 8 o'clock.
At 8 o'clock, I casually opened my email.
Then I went to my favorite fashion sites, like H&M.
There is a website called And Sty that is famous in Japan.
That's when I started receiving emails.
So, what was the email about? It was about something called "First Sale."
There were sales and discounts held around the New Year's period.
I received a lot of emails saying, "We're offering discounts."
So then, even though I don't usually do much shopping,
You think it looks interesting and you open it.
Well, it opened up (laughs).
That's the beginning of the end.
Before I knew it, about two hours had passed.
I'd always look at websites and think, "This outfit is so cute."
I was looking at the items thinking, "These miscellaneous goods are so cute," and before I knew it, two hours had passed.
So, I'm not the type of person who can buy something without trying it on first.
I watched it for two hours, but ended up closing the screen without buying anything.
Well, two hours later, it was 10am Japan time.
What time was 10am on January 1st in Japan?
This was the scheduled release date and time for the long-awaited final episode of Stranger Things.
I was really looking forward to it and had been waiting since Christmas.
Um...of course you'll watch it.
I started Stranger Things the moment it hit 10 o'clock.
So what happened was that the final episode was two hours long.
It was two hours long.
And of course, Stranger Things is so, so funny.
Two hours passed in the blink of an eye,
I was so moved that I cried a lot for those two hours.
I was crying my eyes out.
I can't say much because it would be a spoiler.
Well, if you've ever seen Stranger Things,
I'm sure there are some people here who cried.
It really went by so quickly. It was so much fun.
Two hours passed by in the blink of an eye.
Then it was lunchtime, 12 o'clock.
It's 12 o'clock and of course you're hungry.
I hadn't eaten anything since I had ozoni at 7am, which was unusual for me.
By lunchtime I was really, really hungry.
I went to the living room to cook. I went to the kitchen.
So I cooked, ate dinner...
Before I knew it, it was about 1 o'clock.
Well, of course, eating makes you sleepy.
Plus, I watched Stranger Things, cried, and was exhausted.
It made me even more sleepy, and of course I didn't feel like going outside.
I just wanted to take it easy and relax,
I lay down on the bed.
And then I realized it was 3 o'clock.
That's right... I fell asleep. I was taking a nap.
And of course, when I woke up,
It's not like I'm really motivated to do anything.
"Ah, I'm going to take it easy all day today."
Thinking like that
I really love drawing, so I decided to draw.
From New Year's.
I started painting on a mini canvas from the New Year,
I was having a fun time
Then it was 5pm,
Before I knew it, my dad had come home from work and it was time for dinner.
In Japan, families eat a traditional meal called osechi ryori together on New Year's Day.
We always eat it at home, and we drink a little bit of delicious sake with it.
I was spending time relaxing with my family like that for the first time in a while.
Before I knew it, it was about 8 o'clock.
From there, I spent the rest of the day relaxing in my room, and before I knew it, it was 9 o'clock.
It was 9 o'clock at night, and then I remembered.
"Oh... I'm not out."
I thought, "Oh no! It's not outside!!!"
So, just like that, at 9pm, I had already failed to keep my new resolution.
I hadn't even been outside for a minute at that point, no joke.
Well, I'm already full and I've had a few drinks.
Of course, you don't feel like going out that much.
So I was about to give up.
"Well, it's okay... I studied other things, and I worked hard and got up early this morning..."
What else was there...?
Also... "I did some stretching."
That's how I achieved my other goals.
Well, I thought it would be okay to skip one, so I was about to give up.
But somehow, I felt uneasy in my heart.
I wondered if it was okay to give up on the first day of the year, New Year's Day,
I made up my mind.
I'm trying my best to get out...
You worked hard and got changed from there.
When I say I changed clothes, I mean I just changed into something a little warmer, and we decided to go for a walk.
I listened to an English podcast from 9pm and then went for a walk.
I personally worked really hard.
Maybe, maybe a party, or going to see family,
I think there are some people who think it's normal to go out like that.
For me, going outside is a really big deal.
It's one thing to do during New Year's, but I can't really think about it on a daily basis.
It's something that requires a lot of effort.
I set my goals thinking, "But it's only one minute, so it's easy!"
I was so close to being unable to protect that one minute.
Well, it was just about safe.
At 9pm, I went for a 30 minute walk.
And then something really great happened.
In my heart and head.
So, I guess if you stay at home all the time,
About my work, my private life, my mental health...
I tend to overthink everything.
I find myself thinking about unnecessary things.
I even think about things I don't need to think about.
That kind of thing happened to me a lot.
But when I go out like that and listen to a podcast,
If you clear your mind and just take a walk
Not only my head but my heart was clear too.
Of course, my head is clear, and listening to Japanese podcasts like this is a great way to relax.
I had a lot of ideas about what to talk about.
My mind was freed from unnecessary thoughts, so I felt much more refreshed and positive.
It's all become positive.
It was in 2026 that I finally realized how incredibly important that was.
Of course, I realized that last year too, but I still ended up slacking off.
I've been slacking off on going outside for some reason.
This year, being able to reaffirm this at the beginning of the year has made me feel really motivated.
I'm getting more and more motivated,
I thought I had no choice but to continue this until 2026, so I decided to continue.
Well, having said that, it's January 2nd and I haven't gone outside yet today, but I will go out.
Almost there.
I think I'll probably be going out late again today.
I decided to get outside even if it was early in the morning, midday, or late at night.
I really want to work hard on this.
I have other ambitions... like studying English, or getting up early in the morning,
Stretching has been something I've been doing since 2025.
It's not that difficult.
Going outside turned out to be a bit more of a hurdle than I had thought.
So I decided to try a little harder.
I've just made a decision for myself.
This year, I want to live as brightly, happily, and as energetically as possible.
I try to get out there and feel positive.
I'm sure there are some of you who have already set resolutions and some who haven't.
Well, I'm sure there are some of them,
Some people like to think about goals and ambitions, and some are good at it.
On the other hand, setting goals and aspirations can be a bit of a burden.
I think some people find this stressful.
To be honest, I've been feeling a bit tired of setting big goals recently.
This year, I decided to stop making big resolutions and instead make lots of small ones.
So this is something I personally highly recommend,
I would definitely recommend this to anyone who isn't very good at setting goals.
Then, like me, you might discover something wonderful,
It may also be an opportunity to spend time in a positive way.
I think that helps to keep you motivated in your studies and work.
Please feel free to use this as a reference.
So that's it for today, I've talked about my New Year's in a very, very relaxed way.
What did you think? Did you enjoy it?
Probably, as you all imagined
I don't go to shrines or pray during the New Year holidays, so
Some of you might be a little surprised.
I go on a slightly different day for this kind of visit to a shrine, which is called hatsumode (first visit of the year).
My family, on the 2nd or 3rd,
We often have to change the dates slightly from other people.
So I haven't made my first visit to a shrine this year yet.
But, after all, 2026 is a new beginning.
I want to start 2026 with a new mindset.
From now until 2026, I want to be more myself.
I want to show everyone the real me, rather than the me in 2025.
Well, from now on, I think I'll be more myself, so I'd be happy if you could watch over me kindly.
And this year too, I will do my best to help you with your Japanese studies.
Thank you again for always watching my channel.
I hope you all have a wonderful year.
So, if you liked today's video,
Please like, comment, and subscribe to our channel.
Well, see you all on the next podcast.
Have a great day today.
See you later~
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