You know the phrase: new year, new you. But self-improvement doesn’t always have to take the form of a gym membership or a healthier diet.

These three local wellness experts have new projects designed to coach you up in unconventional ways.

5280 January 2024
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Peter McGraw

This University of Colorado Boulder behavioral economist is best known as the co-author of 2014’s The Humor Code, which seeks to answer a deceptively simple question: What makes something funny?

Curriculum: Since 2019, McGraw has hosted Solo: The Single Person’s Guide to a Remarkable Life, a podcast that explores how loners can flourish despite unfair judgments by everyone from parents to insurance companies.

New project: On January 30, Solo gets some company in the form of McGraw’s eponymous book, a science-backed celebration of single life that provides tips on finding purpose, self-love, and connection.

Sample insight: “If you’re struggling in a traditional romantic relationship, that may not be because there’s something wrong with you,” McGraw says. “There may just be something wrong with that relationship for you.”

Kendra Williams

Williams learned a lot about herself and motherhood when she left a corporate job to become a stay-at-home mom in 2017. Three years later, she decided to share that hard-earned knowledge as a motherhood coach.

Curriculum: In addition to one-on-one and group coaching, Williams doles out provocative parenting tips on social media, where she’s amassed nearly 100,000 followers on Instagram.

New project: Debuting this month, her Free The Mother podcast is based on a singular truth: Motherhood changes who you are. Each episode focuses on a different transformation new moms experience, including to their bodies, marriages, and friendships.

Sample insight: “Burn your outdated ‘superwoman cape,’ replace three acquaintances with one bestie,” Williams recently wrote on Instagram. “Stop giving a f#k about what others think, and drink 80 ounces of water—you’re literally dehydrated.”

Scott Carney

Carney, a Denver-based journalist, has written six books, including 2017’s What Doesn’t Kill Us, a New York Times bestselling tome that investigated cold exposure therapy and helped launch the ice bathing trend.

Curriculum: Carney occasionally offers in-person training on emotional and physical resilience based on his 2020 book The Wedge, which examines how to push the limits of the human body, or you can watch his TEDx talks online.

New project: Set to be published on January 8, Dream covers the latest research on how dreams affect human consciousness and the surprising ways we can influence them, including for therapeutic and athletic benefits.

Sample insight: Wish you could remember your dreams? Carney recommends yoga nidra, a form of guided meditation that traces its roots to India and has been proven to help practitioners enter and recall a dreamlike state without falling asleep.