Goal Setting for 2026

Happy New Year! Although it's a little late as we are approaching the end of January, it's still a new year filled with new opportunities. The majority of people will start their new year's resolutions on the 1st January, but often, that leads to those resolutions not lasting longer than a couple of weeks.

January is the perfect time for some reflection. Take a look at the previous year and see what worked for you and what didn't?

Did you achieve the goals that you wanted to?

What did you struggle with?

The first part of January also serves as some time to unwind from the chaos of December. December ends up being so busy, that even during the "holiday", you are busy running between places and trying to finish your to-do lists. The start of January allows for decompression from that as opposed to running straight into the next project.

So now we get to the fun bit of goal setting for 2026. Once you've reflected on the questions from earlier, you should have some sort of idea of what you want 2026 to look like. Vision boards can help with this too.

It's easy to set too many goals or to set goals that are too big or vague. For example, you might want to start a business and that could be your goal. But then you have to look at the finer details of what that ideal business would look like. A different goal might be being healthier. Again, what does that look like for you? Is it doing more exercise, getting out more, eating healthy foods or cutting back on the bad ones?

A vision board is a great tool to help with specifics and also not to leave yourself overwhelmed with goals. Amber Scholl has a brilliant series on YouTube showcasing her vision boards that have inspired her over the years. It starts with a quote for the year, and then the images you use are visual representations of what you want your 2026 to look like. One of the main benefits of this is that it keeps your goals achievable.

When in doubt with goal setting, go back to the SMART acronym:

Specific

Measurable

Achievable

Relevant

Timely

The main question that you should focus on is: What do you want your year to be about? For you, it might mean a year of focusing on creativity, or it could mean progressing professionally. It could mean focusing on your mental health, or improving personal relationships? These sorts of things will help you to shape your year.

Sometimes it can help to have a goal per month - what would you like to achieve in February? Is this when you decide to write up your business plan? Or is it the month to focus on picking your art back up? Perhaps it's the perfect time to learn an instrument you've always wanted.

You may already have certain plans for the year, such as family holidays. Or places that you want to visit. Those are things that should be included in your goals or vision board too. After all, it's what you want your 2026 to look like.

That's one of the reasons why reflection is so important. It's easy to keep adding things to your goals, but you want them to be fulfilling. Speaking from personal experience, there have been times when there are so many goals for me (with deadlines set by myself) that it became overwhelming and I didn't enjoy what my life looked like. Yes I was achieving things, but I felt totally burnt-out. Reflecting on that, helps me make sure that my current goals lead to a more joyful life.

Afterall, personal development is truly about bettering yourself and that looks different for everybody. Don't compare your goals to others. Make time for the things that matter most. Perhaps you do want to start your own business but your current life means that you can't focus on that. If that's the case, your goal for the year could just be slowly setting up the foundation so that when the time is right, you can go for it.