The advice on how to set goals is very generic and is a one-size-fits-all. But we are unique, and we therefore need unique strategies on how to set meaningful goals for ourselves that we will actually achieve in 2026.
In fact, I will go a step further and say that we need to set goals differently based on which stage of life we are in. That will require more work than the typical goal-setting advice, but I will guide you through it. I promise it will be worth it when you are living your dream life in 2026.
Reflect on 2025
Before you even think about making 2026 your year, you need to tie up all loose ends from 2025 and adequately put 2025 to rest. You do that by reflecting on the good and bad times of 2025 and making peace with everything that happened.
Make sure that you leave all your bad habits, limiting beliefs, and draining relationships in 2025.
Reflecting on this year will also give you valuable insight into things that worked that you need to replicate next year, and things that didn’t, that you need to learn from. If you skip this step, you will find yourself repeating the same behaviours in 2026, and wondering why you aren’t making any progress.
To make this easier for you, I have written a detailed blog post along with a printable digital to help you with this step.
Reflect on your values:
Values are the unspoken rules that govern your thoughts and behaviour. More formally, Ethics Unwrapped defines values as individual beliefs that motivate people to act one way or another. They serve as a guide for human behavior.
This means that you cannot copy the goals of your favourite influencers because you don’t have the same values.
I am very passionate about the notion of finding one’s values and living in alignment with them. I believe that is the key to living a happy, peaceful, and fulfilling life. I have a whole section about finding your values in my book, No Bullshit Guide to Self-love.
The simplest way to find your values is to take 3 different values quizzes online and pick the 5 common values you got. When you take these quizzes, actually stop and reflect on your life and be honest with yourself.
When you get your values, you can have clarity on which goals to set and not set. For example, I can never be those entrepreneurial businesswomen who work for themselves and make millions of dollars per month because one of my core values is stability. I cannot stand being my own boss. And the only reason I can blog is that in two months I will be doing my postgraduate degree in psychology.
Remember the bigger picture:
In this step, you have to recommit to your dreams. Your big, scary, risky dreams. The things you are scared to utter out loud because of how ridiculous they sound. I want to hold your hand and tell you that they do sound ridiculous… to the small-minded. But we are not small-minded here; your dreams matter here. And I will help you achieve them.
So, breathe in, breathe out, and then write down a list of all your wildest dreams. Now you are going to break down these crazy dreams into smaller, more manageable goals.
For example, if you dream of being a travel influencer who gets paid to visit every country. In 2026, you can start posting consistently on Instagram/TikTok (3–4 times a week), grow your accounts to 100k followers, and start working with brands in your city.
Think about what a small-scale version of your dreams looks like and set those goals for 2026.
Determine the phase of life you are in:
I have had phases of my life where I would write 15 goals at the beginning of the year, create a vision board for them, then achieve them, no problem. Then there were other times when I would only set goals in 90-day increments. I would create a detailed pamphlet of the person I wanted to be at the end of the 90 days.
And now I am in a phase where I can only care about one thing at a time. Instead of fighting it, I am embracing it. For 2026, I only have one goal. In the other aspects of my life, I am just doing maintenance work.
You need to honor the phase of your life you are in. Respect the amount of time and energy you have to dedicate to building your dream life.
Maybe you have time to set one goal per month. Or you just had a baby, and your only goal for next year is being a good mom.
Do not set yourself up for failure by setting a million goals when you can only afford to have 2 goals for the entire year.
Set Meaningful Goals:
Now, let us get to the juicy stuff. What do you want in 2026? Picture yourself at the end of 2026. What have you accomplished?
We need to curate this list to make sure the goals you have written are truly yours:
- Are your goals in alignment with your values?
- Will pursuing these goals make you feel proud and fulfilled, or are they just what other people expect of you?
- Do these goals bring you closer to the life you actually want, or do they serve someone else’s definition of success?
- Do your goals fit with the way you want to live, your priorities, and what matters most to you?
- Do these goals challenge you in a way that excites you, not just overwhelms you?
- Will achieving these goals help you grow in areas that are meaningful, not just convenient?
- Do these goals reflect who you truly are, not who you think you should be?
- Are your goals aligned with your long-term vision, or are they short-term distractions?
- Do these goals give you energy and motivation when you think about pursuing them?
- Are these goals realistic enough to make progress this year but ambitious enough to inspire you?
This curated list of goals should make you feel excited. You should feel absolutely elated to work towards these goals and to reap all the benefits of your hard work at the end. They should be in alignment with who you are and who you want to be. And the number of goals you have should be respectful of the season of life that you are in.
Set systems for your goals:
This is the step most people do not do, and then they wonder why they didn’t achieve any of their goals. Your goals mean nothing without hard work. You have to intentionally make time to work on goals every day or every week. That is how your dreams become a reality.
Building systems for your habits is creating habits in your life that will automatically help you achieve your goals.
For example, say you want to lose 10 kg in 2026. Instead of being overwhelmed by wanting to lose weight daily. You put systems in place to ensure that you lose the weight. You walk 10k steps a day, meal prep nutritious meals on Sundays and Thursdays, drink 2 litres of water daily, and strength train every Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and Friday. And you weigh yourself and take a progress photo on the first of every month.
Create a vision board:
This is the fun part. You get to create a visual representation of your goals. I feel like we have covered so much ground in this article, so I will post another article walking you through how to create a vision board. Subscribe to my newsletter and join the family so that the article can go straight to your inbox.
I honestly love being your big sister. And I enjoyed writing this article, and I hope you found it helpful.
If you have any questions, do not hesitate to ask.