Want to succeed in 2026? Stop chasing someone else’s version of success. These three commitments will bring you clarity, consistency, and self-respect—while helping you avoid burnout.
Here’s what usually happens at the start of a new year:
You set ambitious goals. You promise yourself this will be the year. You push hard in January, maybe even February.
Then March hits. You’re exhausted. The goals feel overwhelming. You start comparing yourself to others who seem to be moving faster, achieving more, living better.
By mid-year, you’re either burned out or feeling like you’re falling behind. By December, you’re looking back thinking: “Another year wasted. What happened?”
I’ve seen this cycle play out thousands of times. And after 15+ years of coaching people on productivity and achievement, I’ve discovered something critical:
The problem isn’t your goals. The problem isn’t your discipline. The problem is you’re running someone else’s race at someone else’s pace.
Today, I’m sharing three commitments that will change everything about how you approach 2026—commitments that honor who you actually are, not who you think you should be.
These aren’t resolutions you’ll abandon by February. They’re foundational principles that will shape an entire year of meaningful progress without burning yourself out in the process.
Why Most New Year Commitments Fail
Before we dive into the three commitments, let’s talk about why New Year’s resolutions have such a terrible success rate.
According to research, only 8% of people achieve their New Year’s resolutions. That’s a 92% failure rate—year after year after year.
But here’s what’s interesting: The failure isn’t because people lack ambition or discipline.
It’s because they make commitments based on:
- What they think they should want
- What other people are achieving
- What society says success looks like
- External timelines that ignore their natural rhythms
They set themselves up for a constant race against arbitrary standards, fighting their own nature every step of the way.
This is exhausting. And it’s unsustainable.
The three commitments I’m sharing today are different. They’re designed to work with who you are, not against you.
Commitment #1: Honor Your Natural Rhythm
Here’s the paradox of New Year goal-setting:
The moment we enter a new year, we immediately throw ourselves into a race. We tell ourselves we need to go faster, do more, achieve bigger things—now.
We compare ourselves to others. We feel behind. We panic that we’ve wasted years. We convince ourselves we need to make up for lost time.
This is the fastest path to burnout.
The truth? Everyone operates at a different pace. And your pace isn’t just different from others—it changes throughout the year.
Understanding Your Natural Cycles
Think about it: Do you feel the same level of energy in January that you feel in July? Does your creative capacity stay constant throughout the year? Or do you have natural rhythms of intensity and rest?
Most people do. And ignoring these rhythms is like trying to swim against a current—you can do it, but it’s exhausting and inefficient.
Here’s what I want you to do instead:
Take a step back and look at the patterns in your life.
Ask yourself:
- Are there seasons when I naturally feel more energetic and creative?
- Are there times when things slow down and I need more rest?
- Do I have cycles that repeat themselves year after year?
- What times of year do I feel most alive? Most drained?
Planning According to Your Seasons
Once you understand your natural rhythms, you can plan your year accordingly.
For example, you might discover:
Winter is your time for introspection and preparation
- Use this time for planning, learning, reflecting
- Set foundations for what’s coming
- Allow yourself to move slower
Spring is your time for creation and growth
- Launch new projects
- Build momentum
- Take bold action
Summer is your time for reaping and harvesting
- See results from earlier work
- Maintain what you’ve built
- Enjoy the fruits of your labor
Autumn is your time for evaluation and release
- Review what worked and what didn’t
- Let go of what’s no longer serving you
- Prepare for the next cycle
These are just examples. Your actual rhythms might be completely different—and that’s the point. You need to honor your natural cycles, not follow some arbitrary calendar.
The Three Flow Styles
In my work, I’ve identified three primary rhythm patterns that people follow:
1. Variable Rhythm Energy and capacity change day to day. Some days you’re on fire, others you need rest. This requires building flexibility into your schedule.
2. Continuous Rhythm Fairly steady energy throughout time. You can maintain consistent output but need to avoid overcommitment. This is my personal rhythm.
3. Periodic Rhythm Alternates between periods of intense activity and necessary rest. Sprint-and-recover cycles. Trying to maintain constant intensity leads to burnout.
Understanding which rhythm you operate on is transformative. It allows you to:
- Plan your year around your natural energy patterns
- Stop fighting yourself
- Build sustainable consistency
- Avoid burnout cycles
When you work with your rhythm instead of against it, achievement becomes easier and more sustainable.
Making the Commitment
Here’s your first commitment:
“I commit to honoring my natural rhythm in 2026. I will plan my year according to my actual energy patterns, not arbitrary external expectations. I will stop comparing my pace to others and respect my own cycles.”
This means:
- Identifying your natural rhythms (seasonal, weekly, daily)
- Planning intensive work during your high-energy periods
- Scheduling rest during your natural low-energy periods
- Stopping the comparison game with people on different timelines
- Giving yourself permission to move at your own pace
Commitment #2: Set Goals That Actually Matter to You
Here’s an uncomfortable truth: Most of the goals you set aren’t actually yours.
They’re goals you think you should have because:
- Society says they’re important
- Other people are pursuing them
- They sound impressive
- You feel like you’re supposed to want them
But when you’re chasing goals that don’t authentically resonate with you, you’re essentially living on autopilot—following someone else’s script for your life.
This is soul-crushing. And it guarantees you’ll lose motivation.
The Power of Meaning
There’s something I’ve observed over 15+ years of coaching:
People always ask about discipline, motivation, systems, accountability. They want tactical advice on how to push through when things get hard.
But here’s what actually works: Meaning.
When something truly matters to you—when it aligns with your deepest values and authentic desires—you don’t need to force motivation. It emerges naturally.
You don’t need elaborate accountability systems. The goal itself pulls you forward.
“When something has meaning and it’s important to you, you find the motivation and discipline.”
This is why generic goal-setting frameworks often fail. They focus on the mechanics (SMART goals, action plans, tracking systems) without first addressing the fundamental question: Does this goal actually matter to me?
How to Set Intentional Goals
This year, I want you to approach goal-setting completely differently.
Before you write down a single goal, sit with these questions:
1. What truly fulfills me? Not what would make others impressed. Not what sounds good on paper. What actually brings you genuine fulfillment and satisfaction?
2. What really matters to me? If you could only focus on 3-5 areas this year, what would they be? What would you regret not pursuing?
3. What am I doing on autopilot? What goals are you carrying simply because you’ve always had them, or because you think you should, even though they no longer resonate?
4. What would I pursue if I wasn’t afraid of judgment? Sometimes our most authentic goals are hidden beneath layers of what we think others expect from us.
5. What aligns with my values? Do your goals reflect what you actually value, or what you think you should value?
The Sorting Process
Once you’ve sat with these questions, it’s time to sort your potential goals into categories:
Authentic goals:
- Resonate deeply when you think about them
- You’d pursue even if no one knew
- Align with your core values
- Excite you even when they’re difficult
Borrowed goals:
- Sound good but don’t genuinely excite you
- You’re pursuing to impress others or meet expectations
- Feel like obligations rather than opportunities
- Drain your energy rather than fuel it
Be ruthless in this process. It’s better to pursue three goals that actually matter than ten goals you think you should want.
Making the Commitment
Here’s your second commitment:
“I commit to setting goals that truly matter to me in 2026. I will take the time to discern what I authentically want from what I think I should want. I will pursue meaning over approval.”
This means:
- Taking time for genuine reflection before setting goals
- Being honest about what you actually want vs. what sounds impressive
- Releasing goals that no longer align with who you are
- Following your own definition of success, not society’s
- Choosing depth in what matters over breadth in what doesn’t
Commitment #3: Embrace Resilience Over Perfection
Let’s talk about the years that didn’t go according to plan.
Maybe you’ve had multiple tough years. Years where things felt like they were working against you. Years where you struggled, failed, or felt stuck.
There’s a tendency to write these off as “bad years” or “wasted time.” To feel like you’re behind, like you’ve lost ground, like you need to make up for lost years.
This perspective is not only painful—it’s fundamentally wrong.
Nothing Is in Your Way—Everything Is the Way
There’s a saying I love: “Nothing is in your way. Everything is on the way.”
Or as Ryan Holiday puts it in his excellent book: “The obstacle is the way.”
What this means: Every obstacle, every difficulty, every challenge is actually part of your path, not an interruption of it.
The tough years? They’re building you. The failures? They’re teaching you. The delays? They’re preparing you.
When you look back years from now, you’ll see that the “bad years” were actually foundational years—the ones that gave you the strength, wisdom, and capacity for what came next.
Beyond Black-and-White Thinking
We tend to categorize years as either “good” or “bad.” But life is far more nuanced than that.
A year can be incredibly difficult and profoundly transformative. A year can be easy and stagnant. A year can be painful and exactly what you needed.
When I do my annual reviews, I don’t focus on whether the year was “good” or “bad.” I focus on:
- What did I learn?
- How did I grow?
- What strength did I develop?
- How did this shape who I’m becoming?
- What is this preparing me for?
This reframe changes everything. Because when you see challenges as part of your development rather than obstacles to your success, you stop resisting what is and start working with it.
The Commitment to Resilience
Resilience isn’t about never struggling. It’s about trusting that the struggle has purpose.
It’s about understanding that:
- Some years are for building foundations you can’t yet see
- Some years are for rest and recovery after intense periods
- Some years are for unlearning and releasing old patterns
- Some years are for transformation that feels like destruction in the moment
All of it is part of your journey.
Giving Yourself Grace
This third commitment is also about being kinder to yourself.
Releasing the hellish pressure that everything needs to be perfect. Letting go of the idea that you should be further along. Trusting that you’re exactly where you need to be.
This isn’t passive acceptance. It’s active trust in your process.
Making the Commitment
Here’s your third commitment:
“I commit to resilience and self-compassion in 2026. I will trust that everything—including the challenges—is part of my path. I will release perfectionism and embrace the process.”
This means:
- Viewing obstacles as teachers, not enemies
- Extracting lessons from difficulties instead of just enduring them
- Releasing the pressure for everything to be perfect
- Trusting your timeline instead of comparing to others
- Giving yourself grace when things don’t go according to plan
- Understanding that transformation often feels uncomfortable
How to Implement All Three Commitments
These three commitments work together to create a completely different approach to the year ahead.
Here’s how to integrate them:
Step 1: Understand Your Rhythm (Week 1)
Action items:
- Reflect on past years: When did you feel most energetic? Most depleted?
- Identify your natural cycles (seasonal, monthly, weekly)
- Take the Flow Style assessment to understand your rhythm pattern
- Map out your year based on these rhythms
Time investment: 1-2 hours
Step 2: Set Intentional Goals (Week 1-2)
Action items:
- Use the New Year Flow Journal for guided reflection
- Ask yourself the five key questions about authentic goals
- Sort your potential goals into “authentic” vs. “borrowed”
- Choose 3-5 goals that truly resonate
- Ensure goals align with your natural rhythms
Time investment: 2-3 hours
Step 3: Build Your Resilience Practice (Ongoing)
Action items:
- Create a daily or weekly reflection practice
- When obstacles arise, ask: “What is this teaching me?”
- Keep a learning journal to track growth through challenges
- Practice self-compassion when things don’t go as planned
- Monthly review: What did I learn this month?
Time investment: 10-15 minutes daily or weekly
Step 4: Monthly Check-Ins
Once a month, review:
- Am I honoring my natural rhythm or fighting against it?
- Are my goals still authentic to me, or have I drifted into “should”?
- What am I learning from this month’s challenges?
- Do I need to adjust anything based on what I’m discovering?
Time investment: 30-60 minutes monthly
The Philosophy That Changes Everything
There’s a powerful saying that captures the essence of these three commitments:
“Don’t count the years. Make every year count.”
This is the shift I want you to make in 2026.
Stop obsessing over how many years have passed or how many you have left. Stop measuring yourself against arbitrary timelines. Stop feeling like you’re behind or running out of time.
Instead, focus on making this year meaningful.
Not by achieving the most. Not by impressing others. Not by checking off an endless list of accomplishments.
But by:
- Living in alignment with your natural rhythm
- Pursuing what actually matters to you
- Growing through whatever comes your way
When you do this, you can look back without regret—not because everything went perfectly, but because you lived intentionally.
You respected yourself. You followed what mattered to you. You built a year that had meaning.
That’s success.
Final Thoughts
As time passes—and yes, it seems to pass faster each year—the question becomes: What are you doing with it?
Are you racing through life on autopilot, chasing goals that don’t really matter, burning yourself out in the process?
Or are you living intentionally, honoring your natural pace, pursuing what truly fulfills you, and growing through every experience?
The choice is yours.
These three commitments aren’t about achieving more. They’re about living better—in a way that respects who you are and what you value.
They’re about building a year you can look back on without regret, not because everything was perfect, but because you lived with intention and authenticity.
So make these commitments now. Not next week. Not when you feel ready. Now.
Because you don’t control life—you live it.
And 2026 is your opportunity to live it fully, consciously, intentionally.
Don’t count the years. Make every year count.
What’s one commitment you’re making for 2026? Drop it in the comments—I read every single one.