Look, 2025 was fine I guess. It was a year. Things happened. Some good, some not so much. I made some major improvements to my lifestyle and how I approach my physical and mental health. But "good" is not the goal, at least not for me anymore. Noboady ever wrote a memoir about a year that was just "good".
So here's the deal. There are three things I am committing to in the coming year, 2026, that are going to make a real difference for me.
Actually Using the Systems I Build
I have a problem. I love building systems. Dashboards, spreadsheets, trackers, workflows, you name it. I will spend four hours creating the perfect service management or project management template and then never open it again. It sits there, pristine and unused, like a treadmill two weeks after January 1st.
In 2026, I'm flipping the script. Before I create anything new, I'm asking one question: "Will I, or someone else, actually use this in two weeks?"
If the answer is anything other than a "Yes", I'm not building it. The best system is the one you actually touch. A sticky note you look at beats a Excel dashboard you forget exists.
Saying No Without the Guilt Spiral
This one is personal. I have spent way too much energy in 2025 saying yes to things that drained me and then feeling resentful about it. Family and friend invitations. Calls that could have been emails or text msgs. Projects that sounded interesting but did not align with where I'm actually trying to go.
Here's what I learned: every "Yes" to something misaligned is a "No" to something that matters. Time is not renewable, nor is it replaceable. Energy is not infinite, especially for me and my challenges. And contrary to what my people pleasing tendencies suggest, most folks respect a clear "No" more than a reluctant "Yes" followed by mediocre, or worse, failed execution.
In 2026, I'm protecting my calendar like it's money. Because in a way, it is.
Finishing Before Starting
I am a starter. I love the beginning of things. New projects have that fresh notebook energy. Lots of bullet points, check marks and boxes. Everything is possible and nothing has gone wrong yet.
But I have too many half finished things sitting in folders on my computer desktop and in the corners of my little brain. All just taking up space rent free. There is that online course I was 60% through. The certification material I keep meaning to review. The content series that got three episodes finished before I got distracted by a shinier idea.
This year, completion is the priority. I'm not starting new projects until current ones are done or purposefully abandoned. There's a difference between quitting something strategically and just letting it rot in a task list. One is a decision. The other is avoidance masquerading as productivity.
The Bottom Line
None of this is revolutionary. You've probably heard versions of these ideas before. I certainly have. The difference between knowing something and doing it is where most of us get stuck.
2026 is the year of doing the obvious things I've been ignoring. Using what I build. Protecting my time. Finishing what I start.
Simple. Not easy. But simple.
Let's see how it goes.
Thanks for reading,
Joe
Notes:
-All content is mine unless otherwise annotated.
-Images are my own unless otherwise noted.
-Photos edited using MS Paint and/or iPhone SE.
-Page Dividers from The Terminal Discord.
