I don't think I've ever mentally prepared for a year the way I did for 2026. Not because of my resolutions or goals for the year, but because this year will usher in my fourth decade on this earth and I've been thinking a lot about what I want this decade to look like.
"My forties" is hard to plan for, so of course, I'm focusing on this year as setting a foundation of renewed purpose, joy, relationships, and health.
I don't like prescriptive goals because life requires flexibility. At the same time, not having clear expectations makes it really easy to lose sight of or forget about my goal. So I'm going to try to walk the line between specificity (where it will benefit me) and generality (where it's needed).
I made a list of things I'd like to do this year, and they fall pretty well into three categories.
Mind
I want to work on my mindset this year. I'm a realist who leans toward pessimism more often than not, and I don't believe in false optimism, but I want to learn to embrace genuine positivity. I'm so tired of self-deprecating millennial humor, complaints about aging, nostalgia based in competitive negativity, and irony overload.
Like this:
I'm not sure exactly what this will look like—I'm sure it will be a journey.
In short: lean into being authentic and cut back on negativity parading as humor.
Body
Of course, I've got my fitness goals to keep up with, and this year should be easy because over the last 18 months I've truly developed a good rhythm. Fitness is finally a habit.
Once I turn 40, I don't plan to give up on the whole "get into the best shape of my life by 40" goal. More on this to come, but generally my resolution is to stay consistent in my workout routine.
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| January 1st: at the gym! |
As for new goals this year, the first is to stretch way more consistently. This should be an easy win, since I currently stretch literally never. Matt sent me the routine his PT gave him and my resolution is to stretch after at least half my workouts.
My second new goal is to reach and maintain a body fat percentage between 22% and 24%.
In short: Keep doing what I'm doing, be better about stretching, and target a specific BF%.
Spirit
I have a few resolutions in mind to feed my spirit this year. I dipped my toe into a new hobby—book binding—in December, and I'd like to do it a lot more this year.
To have things to bind, I'll have to write! Now that I'm well and truly done revising and editing my last novel, I'm ready to start a new project. I mean it this time.
To sharpen my writing, I'm going to aim to write 30 minutes a day. If I do that, I should have a novel completed at some point in 2026.
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| Bind one book, immediately buy all the tools I need to make this my entire identity. |
I'm adjusting my reading next year. As I mentioned in my last post, I've come to terms with the fact that I'm a different kind of reader than I used to be and that's okay. This year, I'd like to read for fun only, not to check a box or prove I'm still a reader. I'll be unofficially tracking what I read, but I won't be reviewing books or counting totals on social media. I want to read for me, not as a chore.
And while I want to read for fun, it's about time I delved back into literary novels and not just brain candy. I need to read like a writer, so I'm hoping to overcome my aversion to "serious" books (which has developed because the real world is so dark these days that heavy plots in books and TV stress me out).
Finally, I want to fill my social cup this year. I've been lucky to have made some real friendships in the last few years, and I want to prioritize seeing those friends in-person. I want to become someone who says "yes" to more social experiences.
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| And some of those social experiences will kill two birds with one stone! |
In short: Commit time to my hobbies and friends over spending time online.
Now, I do have a major obstacle to overcome this year if I want to meet my goals, and that's being full-time in office starting January 5.
I haven't been required to be in office full-time since I left Florida, so nearly 5.5 years. Bluntly, I am dreading it. I know how hard it is to maintain and balance my energy and social battery after a full day in office. Especially in the winter when the sun sets at 4:15pm, it's so hard to do anything other than rot on the couch after work.
But, I am going to figure out some strategies to try to make it work and to look on the positive side—after all, I'm lucky to have a job I enjoy on a team I love. Maybe it won't be as bad as I'm expecting.
This all looks like a lot, but I'm so excited for these goals that I actually want to commit, and I think that will make all the difference.
Ali
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