I have been hoping my whole life to become the best possible version of myself. I didn’t always put my best effort forth, nor did I ever have clearly defined parameters for success or even a strong image of who this hypothetical perfect self was, but I knew that hiding just behind my indolence, restrained by my fear, was the person I would be proud of.

For years upon years, I reached the end of December and looked back empty-handed and full of regret for another year that didn’t reach its potential, another year of my life spent languishing in mediocrity or worse.

This year, on a random Monday in August, I chose to take another step toward that person. I told myself I would add something to my day, something just for me, something that would require effort and discipline but would be well worth my hardship. I honestly didn’t expect myself to succeed, as I have made this declaration many times before and quickly failed each attempt.

I don’t know why this time was different, but it was. Even when I dreaded it, even when it was hard, even when I would rather have skipped and slept in, I forced myself up and out of bed to do it, and it got easier.

Emboldened by my success, I chose to give myself a concrete goal to test my fortitude, and on Sunday morning I completed my goal of running 100 miles in the month of December. I chose a goal that seemed impossibly huge, broke it down into manageable daily steps, and followed through each day until it was done.

That’s another big step toward the person I want to be, and it all started on a random day in August, not New Year’s Day.

I won’t make resolutions on the first day of this year, but I will make many throughout the year, as I change and grow. However, I will declare one fun resolution to you all to be revisited at this time next year — I will run 1,000 miles in 2025, and when I look back on my year at the end of next December, I won’t be empty-handed.

With the help of my sisters, I completed another impossibly huge task this weekend and made hundreds of wontons by hand to serve our large family. We made two varieties: chicken and tofu. The recipes are the same except for the protein, so I’ll provide just the recipe for the chicken version here. These savory dumplings are delicious steamed, boiled, deep fried, or pan fried and are excellent in soups or added to a bowl of ramen. We used them in an enormous pot of wonton soup with egg drop broth.

Chicken wontons

Ingredients:

1 pound ground chicken (or 1 block of extra firm tofu, pressed and crumbled)

2 tablespoons minced garlic

1 tablespoon minced ginger

2 teaspoons fish sauce

2 tablespoons oyster sauce

1 tablespoon mirin

½ teaspoon black pepper

1 egg

¼ cup finely chopped carrot

¼ cup finely chopped white onion

4 stalks green onion, finely chopped

1 package wonton wrappers

Directions:

Combine all the ingredients in a large bowl and mix thoroughly.

Prepare a landing zone for the finished dumplings, a small bowl of water for dipping your fingers in, and a small teaspoon for scooping filling.

Take a wonton wrapper in your palm and place a scant teaspoon of filling in the center. It is easy to overfill the dumplings, so remember that less is more.

Dip your fingers in the water and wet two edges of the square wrapper. If you have circular wrappers, just wet half.

Carefully fold a dry corner up over the filling to match the wet corner, making a triangle with the point facing up.

Squeeze as much of the air out as you can while pinching the edges to seal.

Pinch and fold in each edge once to create a ruffle effect, or you can leave them as they are. Experiment with different folding techniques to make unique and beautiful dumplings.

Cook until the filling reaches 165 degrees. Freeze the unused dumplings and store frozen for up to 3 months.