My New Year's resolutions for 2026

Quinn
New Year's resolutions are such a weird thing, aren't they? I think the majority of people who set them are doing so purely out of guilt and not an actual desire to improve or change something about themselves. Personally, I never set them before, but I mainly attribute that to the fact that I have only gained control over my life at the turn of November to December of 2025.
 
The funniest thing about last year was that it seemed like nothing was happening. Nothing was happening for like 70-80% of the time, and then WHAM! Everything that could happen has happened. I went through a massive mental development at the brink of November; it's almost unbelievable. Not only that, but it was extremely painful and mentally taxing. I've had moments where I felt like my internal OS went through a major kernel upgrade while the system was forced to keep running. One particular moment from the beginning of November stands out. I was grieving a specific missed opportunity for 2 days straight. I was in a mental torment and at the brink of collapse for 48 hours straight. The emotional pain and pressure were so strong that I was under the impression I was going to die.
 
I didn't die, obviously. But something did. I won't go into much detail about what I was so upset about, but after the peak finally crashed, I realized something essential. The thing I was grieving wasn't the real deal. It was merely a distraction from a deeper-rooted problem within me. I orchestrated impossible expectations because if nothing could reach me, then nothing could hurt me. I threw a giant blanket over an angry bear, hoping he would just disappear like some cheap Houdini's trick.
 
With that out of the way, here are some of my biggest resolutions/goals for this year.
 

Emotional Resolutions

  • Drop the fear of being misunderstood.
  • Stop trying to be responsible for other people's moods.
  • Stop overexplaining myself.
  • Stop worrying about taking up space.
  • Be more kind and compassionate to myself.
  • Be more intentional with what kind of content I consume.

Practical Resolutions

  • Learn Rust
  • Complete a junior Linux sysadmin certification.
  • Start learning Russian.
  • Journal every day.
  • Take my vitamins/supplements.
  • Experiment more with fashion.
  • Be more social - find a 3rd place to hang out at and surround myself with good people.

Final notes

 

Your goals should scare you a little but shouldn't feel completely impossible.

  • Your goals have to be specific.
    • Don't say that you want to learn a new language. Say which language and the level of proficiency you'd like to achieve. Don't say you want to learn Russian; instead, set your goal to something like "Learn to read and write the Cyrillic alphabet and 200 words this year."
  • Break your goals into small, actionable chunks.
    • Tasks for today, for this month, for this quarter.
  • Track your progress.
    • If you won't track your progress, you will feel like your effort isn't paying off, and you'll eventually lose sight of your goal.
  • Celebrate your progress.
    • I do not care about how little progress you think you made. Set clear milestones, and when you reach them, acknowledge them!

Music I enjoyed recently

This article was updated on 01/01/2026