What If You Built 2026 From Strength Instead?
A more intentional approach to goals, growth, and the year ahead
The Year Isn’t Asking You to Fix Yourself
January has a way of whispering the same message every year:
Do better.
Be more disciplined.
Fix the parts of yourself that didn’t quite measure up last year.
Even when we say we don’t buy into “New Year, New You” energy, it sneaks in anyway. Through goal lists, habit trackers, and quiet self-judgment about what we should be doing differently.
But what if we started the year from a different place?
What if this year wasn’t about fixing yourself—but about building from your strengths?
Build Forward From What’s Already Working
So many resolutions are rooted in perceived deficits:
I didn’t do enough.
I wasn’t consistent.
I should be further along by now.
But growth doesn’t actually require self-criticism.
It requires awareness.
Before rushing into goals for the year ahead, it’s worth pausing to ask:
What worked last year?
Where did I feel most energized?
What strengths showed up again and again?
When we build from strength, we’re not lowering the bar. We’re choosing a foundation that’s sustainable.
Today Is Where Your Book Begins
There’s a lyric I’ve always loved from Natasha Bedingfield’s song “Unwritten” that comes back to me this time of year:
“Today is where your book begins.
The rest is still unwritten.”
I find this comforting, not because it means “anything goes,” but because it reminds me that:
You are the author.
You don’t have to have the whole plot figured out.
You’re allowed to write one chapter at a time.
This year doesn’t need a perfect plan.
It needs intentional direction.
A Simple Framework: Choose Your Themes
Instead of setting dozens of goals, I like to anchor the year around 3–5 personal themes that are guiding principles that shape decisions, priorities, and energy.
My own themes for this year are the 5 C’s:
Create
Contribute
Connect
Curiosity
Consistency
This year, create means challenging myself with new forms of content and creative pursuits. Contribute looks like expanding my workshop offerings. And consistency? I’m learning to hold it more lightly after rigid weekly publishing taught me that sustainable beats perfect.
What matters most isn’t the specific themes. It’s being clear on what they mean to you in this season.
For each theme, ask:
Why does this matter to me right now?
What would it look like to live this out—not perfectly, but intentionally?
From there, you can set a few intentions or goals that bring each theme to life.
Not as rules.
As direction.
Don’t Skip the Celebration Step
Before moving fully into the year ahead, there’s one step many of us skip—especially high performers:
Acknowledging what we’ve already accomplished.
Take time to reflect on the past year and name your successes:
moments of courage
growth you didn’t fully recognize at the time
ways you showed up differently than before
And just as important, decide how you’ll celebrate progress this year.
Not just at the finish line, but along the way.
Maybe it’s calling a friend and sharing your win. Taking yourself out for coffee after a tough conversation. Or capturing it in your Daily Delights.
Celebration isn’t indulgent.
It’s how we teach ourselves that progress counts.
Measure What You Can Control
One final reframe that’s especially important this time of year:
Focus less on outcomes—and more on inputs.
We can’t fully control:
job offers
promotions
external recognition
But we can control:
the conversations we initiate
the work we raise our hand for
the habits we practice consistently
Inputs compound.
Outcomes follow. Many times later than we’d like, but rarely without the groundwork.
Accountability doesn’t have to be harsh to be effective.
It can be steady, compassionate, and grounded in action.
An Invitation for the Year Ahead
So as you step into this new year, here’s a different question to hold:
If this year were about becoming more of who you already are—rather than fixing who you aren’t—what would you choose to build?
The page is blank.
The pen is in your hand.
And the rest is still unwritten.
I’m Tracy Stone, a leadership coach who helps leaders build from their strengths - through coaching, through intentional goal-setting, through creating space to figure out what they actually want. If you’re ready to start 2026 by building forward instead of fixing backward, I’d love to support you.
Until then, may your year begin with clarity and self-compassion. Keep carving your path. One intentional choice at a time.
📌 PS - If this reframe resonated with you, would you share it with someone starting their year?
Forward it to a colleague who needs permission to build from strength, restack it on Substack Notes, or share it on LinkedIn. Your shares help me keep creating content that supports leaders carving their own paths.