It’s that time of year again: time to decide what your resolutions for the new year will be. In this post, find over 30 ideas for New Year’s resolutions for the genealogist and family historian.
One of my favorite things to do on New Year’s Day is enjoying a warm cup of coffee and writing down my goals for the new year. My goals include lots of non-genealogy goals, of course – who doesn’t want to get in better shape?
However, genealogy and family tree research is a really important part of my life, and so I always include it on my list of resolutions for a brand-new year.
Below, I have a list of 30 completely different ideas for family history resolutions that you can include on your list this year.
The post is divided into three sections: resolutions for beginning, intermediate, and advanced researchers.
Feel free to be creative and mold them to fit what you would like to accomplish this year! And most importantly, have some fun with it.
Genealogy is a hobby, after all. Don’t pressure yourself too much to get these things done, or it will take all the fun and relaxation out of your family tree research activities.
New Year’s Resolutions for Beginning Genealogists
If you are just getting started learning about your ancestors, the first part of this list is for you. Even if you already have a bit of experience, you might find a fun or useful item on this list to include with your goals for the new year.
It’s easy for a beginning genealogist to feel overwhelmed. There is so much to learn and it’s difficult to figure out where to start.
The items on the list below were carefully selected to help you set some realistic goals for the year, as well as learn while you go. There are so many exciting things to learn about your family and interesting stories to tell.
Go forth, new family historian! You have an exciting journey ahead of you.
Take the first steps to building a family tree
If you haven’t yet started building a family tree, you should know that it is never too late to get started. All you have to do is pick a website online to build your tree, such as Ancestry, and start with yourself and your parents.
Just take it a step at a time.
Take a DNA test
If you have considered getting your DNA tested to help learn about your family and ancestors, this is the perfect time to do it. DNA testing is more affordable than ever, and your results will reveal more about your ancestry than ever before.
Read a book about family tree research
This goal is for beginners, but actually anyone could benefit from adding it to their list. By reading a book about family tree research, genealogy topics, or understanding DNA results, you will add to your knowledge base and work more effectively over the next year.
There are many books to choose from. You could read mine, or you could search for “genealogy books” on Amazon to see what’s out there.
Interview your older relatives
One of the most important things that we can do as beginning researchers is to talk to our older relatives about family history. Interviewing our relatives can provide us insight into our family’s history and culture, as well as deepen our connection with our living family members.
Make a family history cookbook
If you and your family bond over food and the memories that it has given you over the generations, why not compile your favorite recipes into a family cookbook? This is a great collaborative project that you and multiple family members could participate in.
My family has a Google Docs cookbook that we can all add recipes to. It’s still a work in progress, but it has the promise to be a cookbook that we can pass down to future generations so those memories can live on through our family’s culinary cultural heritage.
My absolute favorite idea for a beginning family history researcher is to make a family history cookbook. One of the most powerful ways to experience and maintain a family culture is through food, and what better way to document it than by making a simple cookbook with family recipes?
Make a family history photo display
If you have photographs of your parents, grandparents, and great-grandparents, or even ancestors further back, consider making copies of them to make into some sort of photo display. This is a great way to visualize the work that you are doing in learning about your ancestors.
Join a genealogy and/or DNA Facebook group
There are many forums and Facebook groups where you can discuss genealogy or DNA topics. You can join mine, or one of the many others.
Scan or digitize your old family photographs or letters
If you are someone who is lucky enough to have old photographs or letters belonging to ancestors, definitely consider making this the year that you take steps to preserve them.
If you love the idea of scanning old family letters, you could create a book to distribute to your relatives as a holiday gift next December. This is a very unique and creative way to preserve your family’s most personal memories.
Decide your research goals and interests
If you have dabbled in family tree research a bit, but you are feeling lost, why not take some time to decide what your goal is with genealogy research? What are you most interested in?
As someone who is a descendant from many people who left Europe to start a new live in the United States, my goal was to learn where each of my immigrant ancestors came from. I wanted to learn the name of their town, and perhaps the names of their parents.
Of course, our goals can change over time, but it’s great to have a goal post to start off with.
Learn about the different types of genealogy records available
Even if you have been working on your family tree for a while, there might be certain types of genealogy records you are unfamiliar with. One of your goals this year could be to discover new types of documents and sources.
This could take your research to the next level!
New Year’s Resolutions for Intermediate Genealogists
The list of intermediate goals for family tree researchers is designed for those of you who already have begun genealogy research in earnest, but need to take things to the next level. There are plenty of fun items on this list for beginners and advanced researchers, however!
The intermediate genealogist might want to become more focused, organized, share family knowledge with relatives, and become a part of the wider genealogy community. In all likelihood, you are really starting to enjoy the hobby of genealogy and are here to stay.
And we are glad that you decided to stick around!
- Organize your research
- Learn how to take better genealogy notes
- Make a family history timeline each month to share with your relatives
- Take a genealogy-focused trip (a local, safe, and socially distanced one, for the time being, of course!)
- Focus each month on a different ancestor who inspires you
- Document your own personal history for the future
- Become a volunteer and index records
- Make a research schedule
- Listen to a genealogy podcast
- Teach a younger relative about genealogy
- Identify everyone in those old photographs
For me, the top item on this list for those who are intermediate in their research level is the idea of documenting your own personal history.
When we first start out learning about our family, we are focused on our ancestors who lived long ago. Then, we realize that our older relatives – people who we can actually have a conversation with – are such a valuable source of information.
It’s easy to forget that the best person to tell our story is, well, us! Do future family genealogists a favor and document your own story.
New Year’s Resolutions for Advanced Genealogists
If you consider yourself to be an advanced-level genealogist, you probably know that there is always room for improvement when it comes to family history research. This list is designed to give you some inspiration to perhaps take your skills in a new direction this year.
The advanced family tree researcher has the skills, knowledge, and motivation to study and collect information about their ancestors. They might want to refine some of these skills to see where their knowledge gaps are, or perhaps even do research for others.
Pursue a genealogy certification
If you have considered doing family history research on a professional level, you might want to consider a genealogy certification. This can take some time, so it’s a good goal to begin at the beginning of the year.
Join your local genealogical society
Family history research can often be a solo hobby, but it doesn’t have to be! Almost every county in the United States has a genealogical society, and it can be a great place to find resources and to connect with other genealogists.
Write and publish a family history book
I know many people who are very inspired to write about their ancestors based on the incredible information they have discovered about their lives through their genealogy research. This could be the year that you begin writing your family history book.
Write a fictional story based on one of your ancestors
Books inspired by family history don’t have to be non-fiction. If you are an aspiring writer, this could be the year that you start writing your novel or collection of short stories inspired by your ancestors’ struggles and triumphs.
Find gaps in your research
Even the most experienced genealogist has gaps in their tree. This could be the year that you get really serious filling in those gaps in your research.
Clean and organize your online family tree
Lots of family trees created with software often have duplicates, or incorrect details and relationships. A goal for this year could be to spend time organizing, correcting, and cleaning up your tree.
When I spend time doing this, I often myself inspired to learn about someone I had not focused on before. Sometimes, I even spot a clue that I missed before.
Get in touch with a distant cousin from an ancestor’s hometown
If you have ever wanted to know if you have relatives back in the old country, this could be the year that you make it your goal to find out. There are several strategies you could employ for doing so.
Focus on a brick wall for the year
We all have brick walls in our family tree, but the more recent ones are the most frustrating. For example, do you have a great-great grandparent that you are stuck on?
Your goal for the year could be to pull out all of the stops to learn more about them.
Think outside the box and find a completely new place to look for records
I provided a link to my article about genealogy records towards the beginning of this article, but really my post is just a basic guide about places where you can find records. There really is no such thing as a “complete” list of all places that you could look for genealogy information about your ancestors.
Why not spend this year getting creative? What are some of the most unlikely sources of information about your ancestors?
For example, I know from a family history document written by a cousin that my Slovak great-great grandparents corresponded with relatives in Slovakia. Those letters no longer exist, at least to our knowledge.
However, they could have ended up in the hands of a distant relative, a local historical society, library, or even museum. In the process of trying to track down these letters that may not still exist, I might discover something entirely unexpected.
Create a digital file system for your digital photographs and documents
My favorite item on this list for advanced genealogists is the idea about writing a story about an ancestor. In my experience, one of the most powerful motivators for wanting to learn about one’s family tree is the desire to explore a particular ancestor or ancestry.
In fact, many people express the desire to want to write about one of their ancestors. Why not make this the year to actually write that story that you have been wanting to tell and share it with others?
Conclusion
I hope that you found something (or a few things) on this list that you can add to your resolutions for the new year. My goal is to inspire you to learn more about your family’s unique story and your ancestors.
If you have any questions about something that you read, or if you have your own resolution to suggest, I would love to hear from you in the discussion below.
Thanks for stopping by today!
