Every year there is a new year and that gives way to reflect on the past year and deciding on how we want to spend the new year, like new year resolutions. The intention is to reflect on the ending of one year and plan for the new year. A chance to begin again reigniting your passions, dreams with personal rebirth and reinvention.
Most plan big and fall short of the annual delivery. It does not have to be that way. Every day is a new day. A chance to take a step towards what you want in the new year and learn from the past year. Take inventory every season not just at the end of the year. Adjust as you go. Consistency and vision are key. Don’t let that you may not have had the year go like you wanted it to be. Small steps even if you are discovering what you want to do or achieve can have great impact on a large goal.
Before I agree to 2026, I want to read the terms and conditions because I’m not going in blind again. I am not signing up for another year without knowing exactly what I am agreeing to. I need details. I need a bullet point list. Recommended coping mechanisms. Does it come with emotional stability and financial peace. Does it come with a month where I am not questioning my entire existence? Don’t have it be another 12-month subscription to chaos. I’m tired of starting a New Year like this is my year and then by February, pretend that everything is fine per social media influencer Davi.
By thinking anxiously about the future, we forget the present. Such that we live in neither the present nor the future.
Here is your permission slip. If there are no guarantees that you are going to succeed, then there are also no guarantees that you are going to fail. All the permission you need to try.
I want you to have the best year of your life in 2026. From Mel Robbins, author of The Let Them Theory, there are 6 questions that you have to ask yourself before 2026. The best year of your life, it happens by choice not by chance. Plan for next year. Have a year-end planning process:
- What went well this year? What were the highlights of this past year?
- What was challenging? What were the hardest aspects?
- What did you learn about yourself? What do you need to say, do, or let go of to feel complete with this year?
- What will you stop?
- What will you continue? What gave you energy this year?
- What will you start doing? What can you do today to get started on your next steps?
She encourages you to use your camera roll and calendar to help recall events and to identify the “next steps” to create the life you want in the coming year. How will you protect your peace and be true to yourself and your goals in the new year?
From Organizing Solutions for ADHD Decoded: Is your personal life not as productive as your work life? Have you ever noticed how at work you thrive. You can hold it together and meet deadlines, stay focused, and get things done. At home you shut down, or it all falls apart. Your brain connects work with accountability and structure and reward. There is a clear start and end point, and other people depend on you. That lights up your dopamine. At home that structure disappears, so does your motivation. Your brain needs external anchors to kick in, that is why systems at home matter. They recreate the same queues your brain naturally responds to at work. Try building microstructures. Set a timer for 20 minutes. Put one task on a sticky note or start with something really small. Systems over motivation. It is how you start the foundation of working with your brain instead of against it. Systems to get you out of survival mode. Build a life that fits your brain. Move from chaos to clam. Boost focus and feel confident with simple hacks to organize and declutter your personal and professional life. When you have goals but do nothing about them. Especially if you have big dreams and goals, but you just keep doing nothing about them. You feel lazy, unmotivated, like you are failing in life. It’s not a character flaw; it’s a missing system. The right systems and tools can pull you out of that cycle of self-sabotage. Half the battel is just realizing what you are doing. You can trick your brain into being more productive. Imagine how your life could look different just a few months from now, if you just took one step and stopped fighting your brain.
Psychological trick for you to help achieve a large goal with a deadline. Set your standards low. You want to know why? Because when you meet those standards, it is a win. If you go over those standards, it is a win. So mentally, it feels like a successful day. I am only going to this bit of the goal, or another task towards the goal, because when you go above and beyond it, because you will, it is a successful day. You have got to trick your mind so it doesn’t feel overwhelming. You can get the task done that you want to get done and it keeps you motivated. Because we know motivation is fickle. We cannot rely on it. So, we need to do what we can to be consistent. Advice by author Gemmavale.
Joe Dispensa says: Stop telling the story of your past and start telling the story of your future. Stop believing in your past real or imagined and start believing in your future. Stop romancing the past and start romancing the future. So, the unlearning the process then you know 95% of who we are is a set of memorized behaviors. Automatic responses, unconscious habits, hardwired attitudes, beliefs and perceptions that are automatic like a computer program. If we are in a program, then we are unconscious. So, in order for us to change we have to become conscious of our thoughts and the story and narrative that we tell and those memories to become familiar with how we speak or how we act and become so conscious that we don’t go unconscious to that behavior. Act as if everything always works out.
When you forget who you are. Dr. Michelle Maidenberg, author of Ace Your Life: Unleash Your Best Self and Live the Life You Want, say these sentences:
- I can choose the next right step. Why this works: It interrupts overwhelm and brings you back to the present. Your life shifts when you focus on the next step, not the whole staircase.
- I can handle uncomfortable feelings. Why this works: It builds emotional resilience and reduces avoidance. Discomfort isn’t a stop sign. It is an invitation to grow.
- I show up even when it’s hard. Why this works: It reinforces identity-based change, discipline, grounding, and self-respect. Every time you show up, you teach your nervous system that you are safe, capable, and committed.
- I release what is mine to carry. Why this works: It helps unburden emotional loads, attachment wounds, and projections. Not every emotion, expectation or story belongs to you.
- I speak to myself with kindness. Why this works: Self compassion correlates with greater motivation than self-criticism. Your inner voice becomes the home you live in. Make it a soft one.
- I am becoming someone I trust. Why this works: It repairs self-betrayal patterns, and it builds your confidence. Your highest self is built through tiny moments of honesty and integrity.
- Live the life you are meant to live.
So constructively reflect upon this year. Apply your experience to your plans for next year. Reinvent yourself to match your dream and passions. Check in and adjust frequently at least quarterly. Every day is a new chance to live who you are and what you want to do as well as prepare for tomorrow. That is personal investment and development. A life worth living inspired by that consistent unfamiliar unwavering action in every step of the adventure. Your desired life.
Ann Justi is a desire life coach, yoga therapist, author, speaker, and healthcare worker. Contact her at yourdesiredlifecoaching@gmail.com
