My 2026 Annual Goals
In my last post, I took a look back at my 2025 annual goals, taking stock of where I succeeded and where I failed.
I’ll be honest. 2025 wasn’t a banner year for me. I feel like I bit off far more than I could chew. Juggling six goals, all of which required a major time commitment, proved to be far too much to be sustainable. Just a few months into the year, I abandoned some, so that others could survive. I also underestimated both my free time and the amount of energy my day job would zap out of me.
Work was tough this year. As a manager by day, I dealt with several wild personnel issues and other random curveballs that, on many days, left me utterly depleted. That’s why, in coming into 2026, I realize I needed to make some major changes in the way I approach goals. A few of the necessary adjustments are:
- I need to reduce the number of my goals in order not to spread myself too thin.
- I need to dial back the barrier of entry, reduce friction and make these goals something I could easily slip into my otherwise busy and exhausting day.
- I need my goals to contribute to my vision. They have to correspond to where I want to be and who I want to become. Anything that does not contribute to that wastes energy, and it needs to go.
That last one actually serves as a first-level filter, where the other two are then applied. Two of my primary passions are writing and photography; they are two of the greatest contributors to my bedrock vision of who and what I want to become. I’m committing one goal to each of them. The other goal will get me where I want to be.
With that, I’ll quit the yapping and cut to the chase. Here are my 2026 annual goals:
1. Photo 365 Project
One photo a day. 365 Photos a year.
The last time I gave this a shot was in 2015 (and you can check out the Flickr album for that attempt here). I made it 116 days in before losing steam. Back then, the only camera I had was on my phone, and it wasn’t about being a photographer, but more about just taking photos.
I’m going to give it another honest effort this year. I purchased a Ricoh GR IV in early October, and this is my primary motivation to give it another chance. My main camera is a Sony A7IV, which is far too bulky to just carry around all the time, and now that I fancy myself a photographer, I didn’t want to just spend a year completing a photo 365 project on my phone. However, the GR IV gives me a quality camera that fits tucked away in my pocket, making the feasibility of this goal far more achievable in my eyes.
I’ll be posting a Flickr album of this project as it progresses here.
Intentions: To build and form a daily photography habit. To improve my skill set as a photographer. To challenge my photographer’s eye. To find subject matter in the mundane.
2. Write at least 100 typed words a day
I’m sure anyone who writes regularly may greet this goal with some serious side eye. 100 words? Really? My grocery list has more words than that.
100 words may seem like far too low of a bar to set for a writing goal. But hear me out. Remember what I wrote above about reducing friction? Well, 100 words is suddenly a very achievable, low-commitment goal on those days where the vampire jaws of my day job clench tight on my neck and suck the life out of me. It’s something I can just rattle out before bed if need be. The goal here is consistency, not quantity.
I believe writing 100 words a day will take me closer to becoming what I consider a writer than cranking out a handful of essays, which is what happened in 2025. The goal here is to forge and cement an identity as someone who writes daily.
And here’s the final kicker. I believe that more often than not, I will sail right past that 100-word mark. Any fellow runners out there can attest to the fact that on those days when you really don’t want to run, just putting your shoes on and getting outside is the biggest barrier, and once you make it to that point, you’re golden. Well, 100 words is the creative equivalent of just “putting your shoes on and getting outside”.
Intentions: To build a daily writing practice. To improve my abilities as a writer. To prepare myself for future projects, larger in scope. To build mindfulness and a keener observation of my own ideas and the world around me.
3. Apply to the Taiwan Foreign English Teacher Program
Because why not?
This is something that has been strongly germinating in my head for quite a while now. I’ve been longing for a big change, or a series of changes. Acceptance into the Taiwan Foreign English Teacher would provide that. Listen, I’m 46. I’m not getting any younger, and the possibility of slipping into a life of long-term complacency is beginning to frankly, terrify me.
I wasn’t built to just slide into a routine career job and coast all the way to retirement in the same old location, doing the same old thing for the rest of my years.
The time to take a chance is this year. I’m unmarried, renting, my kid is grown up and living in Tokyo, and besides a monthly car note, I have nothing keeping me here.
One year. It’s a simple commitment, provided I get accepted. After one year, I can reassess. My experience and education are going nowhere, and if I decide to return, I always have that option. But the call of a major life reset of sorts is too strong. The desire to inject meaning, creative freedom, and new experiences into my life is an irresistible pull right now. Not to mention an incredible opportunity to improve my Chinese language ability.
This is by far my loftiest goal of the year. But at the turn of this year, I am in the mood to dream big, and as I grow older, I realize that some things in life are more important than routine stability.
Intentions: New challenges, new experiences, new challenges, and an amazing opportunity to get to know the person who I know has always been hiding inside of me.
A few other areas of attention in 2026
- A healthier relationship to my day job. Knowing when to respect myself and step back. Knowing when to say no. No longer pushing myself to the brink, trying to prove how committed I am to my duties and responsibilities. Doing my job well and to the best of my abilities without compromising my health and well-being in the process.
- To no longer suffer needlessly. Extracting all the right lessons from every setback and painful experience. Forging that energy into something positive and transformational.
- To display personal integrity and confidence in silence. Words can twist and manipulate, but actions speak the truth.
- To let go of the past, plan for the future, and live in the present.
The energy feels different this year. I’m ready to face the challenges, the pain, and the opportunities to come… Let’s get it.