Resolutions 2026

I've never been one who was capable of planning out my goals day by day and week by week. It doesn't work. Eventually I feel guilty about failing to stick to the schedule and I redefine or remove the schedule entirely. My preferred way to think is in systems and habits instead of goals. I start with some intentions, and that provides a guiding framework. For every action I can ask myself if it gets me closer to where I want to be. Detailed planning is delay. It leads to over analyzing without doing.

Though it may seem contradictory to what I just said, I like having long term goals or at least long term focuses. When I was 25 and unemployed after my first job, I created a five year plan of what I wanted to accomplish in five years. I used the framework of Jordan Peterson's future authoring program since I was listening to him a lot at the time. Five years later at 30, although I didn't achieve the letter of all my goals, my life improved greatly in every direction I wrote down when I made that plan. I moved to Austin, got healthier, got a better job, and made great strides in my ability to make friends and form relationships.

I've noticed since the five year plan expired last year, it's been increasingly hard not to feel aimless. One thing Peterson is right about is that people need aims. My first resolution will be to make a new plan.

This is perhaps the first and oldest of my struggles that makes the resolution list often. Though I'm much healthier than five years ago and have even managed to finally build a habit of regular exercise by hiring a personal trainer late last year, my full health and aesthetic goals remain tantalizingly out of reach. I'm still a bit pudgy around the middle and my face isn't as defined as I'd like. I would like to touch 15 bf% and see some ab muscles at least once in my life. That's less about the specific look and more just to prove I can.

Last year I spent time trying Zepbound to make the weight loss easier. Though it worked to make me eat less and lose weight, it upset other things. My natural energy and libido plummeted and I've concluded that is no way to be. I don't want to rule out other GLP-1s, but I think I would be happier ten pounds heavier than feel tired all the time.

Last May I ended a good relationship for reasons I don't want to talk about publicly. This has been eating at me for some time because I never suspected the thing that mattered would matter to me that much. It has brought to my attention to need to reevaluate my relationship priorities, and part of that is exploring myself more deeply. There is a tangled mess of desires I'm not sure how to resolve, so I'm talking to a therapist about it.

My first long term relationship was very passionate with not enough comparability. My second was very compatible without enough passion. Hopefully the third time will be the charm and I can get the right mix of both.

I have a strong innate desire to create art, but it is always put as a secondary priority. I think I'm fine with that, but I still want to write a book, write a song, and participate in artistic endeavors. It's a form of expression that feels unique to me.