2026 Will Not Be a Repeat of Last Year

A few weeks ago, I was driving home late at night. The roads were quiet, and instead of playing music, I decided to put on British physician Dr. Rangan Chatterjee’s health podcast. It was one of his final episodes of the 2025, and he was promoting the new edition of his 2022 book Happy Mind Happy Life.

During the episode, he asked the listeners a question that hit me hard:

The life that you are living right now—could you see yourself living exactly as you are, without any changes, for the next five or ten years?

My immediate reaction was saying "HELLLLLL NO." out loud.

That moment of honesty shook me and started tearing up. I was already thinking about my real ambitions for 2026 since October. But the question made me realize that the life I’m living right now is not getting me anywhere. I spend my mornings waking up early for a job I’m not enthusiastic about and performing work for a company that views me as nothing more a unit that can dispatch me wherever they need me to be. When you spend your days doing something you aren't passionate about, it affects the rest of your life. It affects your hobbies, your relationships, and your mental health.

As I look toward 2026, I’ve decided that I don't want it to be a repeat of 2025. I don’t want to keep going in circles on the same path. I’m not necessarily looking for radical, overnight transformations, but rather small, intentional changes that can create a different outcome and lead me to the path I was meant to be on.

Ultimately, the goal is to find a way to work smarter, not harder. I want to find ways to work less while keeping more of the profits and find ways to generate passive income, moving away from the "scraps" of traditional employment and towards a life that actually feels like mine and my dignity never trampled on again.

2026 WILL be the year where the cycle finally breaks.