My Focus for 2026

Like many, I set goals for the new year, but I’m also among those who don't accomplish them. I’m like a seasoned vet when it comes to strategizing and defining goals, but when it’s time to execute, I’m an inexperienced rookie.

I wish I could say that 2025 was the year I turned things around, but I can’t.

My success rate was abysmal, and I ended the year feeling unprepared for this one.

Here were my 2025 goals:

Read 12 books
Publish 10 quality blog posts
Rebuild my blog using HTML/CSS/JavaScript
Become proficient in Python

Reading: I finished exactly 12 books in 2025. I didn’t track my reading stats for the first five months of the year, but collected data from June to December. Within that seven-month period, I read 3236 pages, spent roughly 3350 minutes reading, started 19 books, and completed 9. These stats make me proud.

Writing: I published 29 blog posts last year, 7 more than in 2024. My goal was to publish 10 quality blog posts, but the definition of “quality” is arbitrary and left to my discretion. I judged that at least 10 posts fit my criteria, so I count this goal as completed

Rebuilding my blog using HTML/CSS/JavaScript: To rebuild my blog from scratch, I needed to strengthen my almost nonexistent JavaScript skills. I spent two weeks working with the language and made some progress, but I eventually gave up. My dream of coding my website from scratch faded, along with any chance of completing this goal.

Become proficient in Python: I had high hopes for this one at the beginning of 2025, and I spent January coding nonstop. But as the year progressed, I couldn’t obsess over Python and found myself improving little. I’m now at a point where I can write decent Python code, but I’m not strong enough to call myself a Python developer. So, I failed this goal.

I only completed half my goals, which is not great. Since I failed the two programming-related goals, I feel I wasted much of the year. I wanted to make up for that in 2026.

I waited until the last few days of 2025 to brainstorm my goals for this year. My initial plan was to mimic what I did in 2025 but add more. The list looked like this:

Become proficient in Python
Post 2 blog posts per month
Grow a tech/data social media following
Read 24 books
Redesign my website using HTML/CSS/JavaScript
Pick up a new hobby
Write a novel draft

After compiling this, I analyzed each item and found some eye-opening insights that led me to abandon the plan.

First, I realized the list was too long. The reading and writing goals are scaled in quantity, and I added more on top of last year's goals. If I couldn’t even succeed in 2025, doing so this year would have required too much discipline. Had I followed through on these goals, I would have felt overwhelmed and unmotivated throughout the year, ultimately failing to accomplish most of them.

I needed to shorten the list and pivot to a new strategy.

The first change I made was to disregard programming this year.

Since 2023, I have told myself I would improve my programming skills enough to transition into a high-paying, lucrative career. However, every time I attempted to obsess over a language and become somewhat of an expert, I failed. I’d fascinate over a language for 3-7 weeks and code daily, but the same pattern emerged each time—I’d get bored.

I realized that while I love being involved in tech and software development projects, I do not want to be the one coding websites/applications. I’m better at and more interested in the data side of building and maintaining databases.

I don’t want to force myself to program if it’s not what I’m passionate about. This will be the first year, in a long time, that I give myself permission not to prioritize programming in my life.

The second change I made was to ditch specific goals and instead define core ideas I wanted to focus on this year.

As someone who loves learning, I wanted 2026 to revolve around exploring new subjects.

Since 2023, most of my personal studies have related to the tech field. While I love tech now, and will continue to do so for the next few years, I recognize that there may be something else I care about more. I’ve never had the “aha” moment where I knew tech was the industry for me. I came close at times, but I never felt the clarity others feel when they discover what to dedicate their lives to.

While I can’t force my “aha” moment to strike, I can increase my luck by exposing myself to new ideas and not limiting my studies to tech. I created a plan to select multiple subjects that have interested me over the years and dedicate 1-2 months at a time immersed in them. Some of the subjects included economics, finance, supply chain & manufacturing, psychology, and military history.

I outlined the entire year and set up a detailed learning schedule. It looked promising, and I even initiated the plan by reading an economics book.

But one week into the year, I re-examined the plan and identified a mistake. My schedule prioritized consumption over creation and application.

One of my weaknesses has been spending more time consuming than creating. I learn best through action—building projects, teaching, and writing. By emphasizing consumption—reading, watching videos, and taking notes—I still expand my knowledge, just not as effectively or efficiently.

I needed to pivot once more.

Finally, I encountered what I would truly set as my “goal” for 2026…

Rather than being rigid, setting specific goals, and creating a strict learning schedule, I decided to be extremely flexible. I won’t have multiple focuses for the year. Instead, I’ll have one.

That “goal” is to write. Often and a lot.

Writing has been my longest-standing hobby ever. Since I began in 2020, I’ve had slow periods where I spend days or weeks writing nothing. But regardless, I always return to it.

What amazes me, and that I didn’t realize until days ago, is that despite writing being my oldest and favorite hobby, I’ve never made it the focal point of a year. I’ve had at least one writing-related goal each year, but I always prioritized other goals.

2026 is where that changes.

Writing will be my sole priority for the year. This will be the “Year of the Writer” for me.

I know that other intellectual hobbies will emerge as the year progresses. For example, I will continue reading and trying new things. But no matter what else I fall in love with, I will prioritize writing first.

The question that naturally arises next is: What will I write about?

My writing since 2023 has unsurprisingly centered around data, tech, and programming (with a little math sprinkled in). It makes sense to continue that trend, but I’m still interested in exploring new subjects and finding out what I want to devote my time to in the future.

So, there’s no one or two subjects I plan to write about, yet. As I write about a broad range of topics throughout the year, I hope to find the intersection of ideas that I care about most.

A successful 2026 will end with me identifying the subject I want to dedicate my writing to in 2027 and beyond. Having fewer self-imposed constraints than usual should help me make this happen.