2026 New Year’s Resolutions

For the entire month of December, I pondered and meditated about my 2026 Resolutions. Then…bam! It’s the “new year” and I’m off to a slow start. Or am I? Some resolutions only work if you start immediately on Day-1 (ie “Exercise Every Day”), but most resolutions are year-long quests. At least mine are.

Sure, you can say, “in 2026, I’m going to quit smoking,” or, “I’m going to run a 5K,” or, “I’m going to write a book.”  Whatever you promise yourself, it’s about “becoming” something or “finishing” something.

Like some of mine…

• Finish writing two books
• Perform 10 times at The Moth
• 150 Minutes of Exercise Per Week

These are year-long goals. Things that will transform me. I”ll be an author. I’ll be a regular performer and storyteller. I’ll be a healthy adult.

Other things are all-or-nothing. But even if at first I don’t succeed, these are things I’ll keep trying and trying to make everyday habits (like for years I promised myself I would floss every day and FINALLY in 2025, for whatever reason, it stuck … I now floss every day and it’s easy).

• Work at work and only work at work 8:15-5:15 every day. No hobbies or silliness or errands during the workday
• Wake up at 5:25 and have a strict morning routine Mon-Fri
• Write in my journal for 15-minutes every day
• Read for 15-minutes before bed

All that said, I’ve got some real goals for 2026 and I’ve finalized the initial list … and I’ll add things as I go. Maybe I’ll call it “Resolution-A-Week” where I add something new every week … that’s more manageable than my “Resolution-A-Day” madness.

Here’s my New Year’s Resolutions and I’m off and running:

• Every Month and Every Quarter, Review and Assess my New Year’s Resolution Progress
• Develop a Strict Morning Routine that starts at 5:25 a.m.
• Power Weekends (aka have a plan for each weekend and don’t just sleep in and do nothing … writing ths, it’s currently 9:52 a.m. on a Sunday and I haven’t even had breakfast or done anything)
• Work-Only while at Work (8:15 a.m. – 5:15 p.m. daily)
• Find a journal brand and make it my brand (you know I am big on “my brands” and I don’t have one for my journals … let alone pen and pencil brands, and boy oh boy do people have passion for journals and writing instruments)
• Restart my Journal Project (reviewing and editing all my old journals)
• Be able to do 10 Pull-Ups, 10 Chin-Ups, and 100 Push-Ups
• 150 Minutes of Exercise Per Week (75 Minutes of it being Strength Training)
• Block out 3x daily for 5-Minute Slow Breathing (aka meditation)
• Spend less time on my iPhone (goal:  < 2 hours)
• Work every day for min. 15-minutes on finishing my two books
• Read 1-Book Per Month (but my actual goal is 2-Books Per Month … 1 fiction, 1 non-fiction)
• Start a Podcast with my College friends
• Go to 10 Moth events with the intention of telling a story
• Organize my YouTube Channel
• Organize my Photos
• Implement Walter Green’s “Say It Now” (video below) into my year

Stacking. Stacking. Stacking. Thinking, thinking, thinking. Improving, improving, improving.