Happy New Year 2026

Happy New Year!

The beginning of a new year often feels like having a fresh canvas, an open space that invites us to start again, to imagine what could be different, and to draw a better picture than the one we feel we created before. Naturally, many people respond to this moment by planning. They set goals, write long to-do lists, and outline everything they hope to accomplish in the months ahead. 

Don't get me wrong. I have nothing against planning as it gives us direction and focus.

However, before we start filling the canvas, I think it helps to pause and reflect on the sketch that came before this one. The past year was a canvas too, and it already carries lessons worth paying attention to. Some lines drawn last year worked well and gave shape to growth, while others stayed on the page far longer than they should have. Some choices were made out of habit, obligation, or the desire to keep relationships, businesses, or situations going, even when the cost was quietly increasing.

This is why, before coming up with more plans, to-do lists and commitments for this new year, it can be helpful to create a not-to-do list. Not as an exercise in regret or self-criticism, but as an honest way of deciding what no longer deserves space on the new canvas. 

A not-to-do list allows reflection to happen before momentum takes over, and it creates room for better decisions to follow. Looking back at the previous year often reveals patterns that were easy to justify at the time. 

For instance:

1. How many times did we say yes, when it would have been healthier to say no?
2. On a personal level, how often did pleasing others come at our own expense?
3. How frequently did we stay in situations where effort was taken for granted and sacrifice went largely unrecognised?
4. How often did we find ourselves massaging people’s egos simply to preserve friendships that were no longer mutual?
5. In how many instances did we keep bending over backwards for people who did not appreciate the cost?
6. In business, how often did we hold on to customers who were more of a liability than an asset, simply because letting go felt uncomfortable?
7. How many times did we convince ourselves that holding on was strength, when it was really fear of letting go?
8. And how often did we mistake burning ourselves to give light to others for something worth being proud of?

The truth is, energy may have been spent massaging people’s egos just to preserve friendships that were no longer mutual. Effort may have been extended repeatedly to people who took consistency for granted and only noticed when boundaries were finally introduced. In some cases, bending, adjusting, and overextending became normal, even when appreciation was absent.

The same applies in business, where holding on to certain clients or customers may have felt necessary, despite the fact that they consumed more time, energy, and emotional bandwidth than they contributed. Saying yes too often, especially at personal expense, may have seemed like the right thing to do in the moment, only to result in exhaustion, resentment, or burnout later on. In the name of patience, loyalty, or kindness, difficult decisions may have been delayed, even when the signs were already clear.

From that place of reflection, a not-to-do list for the year ahead might include choosing not to continue massaging egos simply to keep relationships intact, disengaging from people who consistently take effort for granted, and stopping the habit of bending over backwards for those who do not recognise the cost of that flexibility. It may involve, in business, letting go of customers who are more of a liability than an asset, rather than holding on out of discomfort or fear. It could also mean refusing to keep saying yes at one’s own expense, choosing instead to protect wellbeing, time, and energy, and recognising that burning oneself to give light to others is neither sustainable nor noble. It requires acknowledging that endurance is not always strength, and that avoiding hard decisions by calling them patience often comes at a high price.

This kind of list will look different for everyone, because it is shaped by personal experience. The intention is not to copy someone else’s reflections but to allow them to prompt deeper thinking about what needs to stop before anything new begins.

The year has just begun, and the canvas is still open and the sketch is not yet complete. As you think about what you want on it, ask yourself whether you have the strength and boldness to let go of what no longer works, because what you choose NOT TO draw WILL matter just as much as what you decide to include.

Question to you is, 𝙒𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙙𝙤 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙬𝙖𝙣𝙩 𝙩𝙤 𝙨𝙚𝙚 𝙤𝙣𝙘𝙚 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙥𝙞𝙘𝙩𝙪𝙧𝙚 𝙞𝙨 𝙘𝙤𝙢𝙥𝙡𝙚𝙩𝙚?

Be Ignited. Be Inspired. Be Influenced. 

As the year unfolds, choose to become the best version of yourself you can ever be by finding the courage to release what, and who, no longer serves you.