Rules For Success That I Will Follow In 2026
Another year has come and gone, and I find myself in the same bear trap as others. I want to celebrate with lots of junk food and outdoor events with the promise of starting 2026 on a good note.
Except, I don’t plan to do any of the above. I’ve been here before. It’s like a cycle. I promise myself that the new year will usher in resolutions that will stick, only for me to fall back into old habits after a few weeks.
This isn’t uncommon. On the contrary, it’s a cliche at this point.
Gyms are packed like markets during January, and as the weeks burn away, so do the crowds. Motivation fizzles, and people fall right back into their old habits without actually changing in ways that they want to.
Perhaps the issue was in wanting to change. Instead of wanting to change, what if I viewed it as needing to change? Would I be more successful? Maybe. I think it’s worth a try.
If something is a need, then certain rules and expectations must be in place to ensure that other obligations or desires don’t get in the way.
Hence, my rules for 2026 are as follows:
Rules For Success I Will Follow In 2026
Rule 1. Do the minimum on bad days
When I’m inspired or fueled with energy, I know that I can do a lot. It’s the bad days that derail my progress. I assume that they’ll be few and far between, but that is absolutely untrue.
I can have a string of bad days, especially when my autoimmune diseases flare up (Hashimoto’s and arthritis since my 20s).
Rather than preparing for those good days, I plan to do the bare minimum on bad days so that I don’t create a string of failures.
For example, if I can walk 8,000 steps on a good day, then on a bad day, I will walk just 4,000 steps.
That amount of steps is much easier, but it still forces me to invest about 30 minutes towards walking. I can be slightly tired after this amount, but it’s enough to produce some benefits, and that is a win in my books.
I’ll do the same for studying, writing, and fasting because these are 3 habits that are important to me in 2026 (outside of my 9 – 5 job).
Rule 2. Don’t skip more than 1 day in a row
I read about this in Atomic Habits by James Clear, and it rings true. To avoid sabotaging the progress you’ve made, don’t skip more than 1 day in a row.
Get right back to it the next day so that you avoid an accumulation of failures.
Skipping 1 day won’t have any noticeable effects on your results, but as soon as you stitch together a few failed days, it will show.
Then it becomes mentally and physically harder to restart and regain momentum.
I’m not going to view a skipped day as a failure, but rather as an expected break that will be needed at certain intervals throughout the year.
Even if a foreseen or unforeseen event causes it, I will not view this as a failure. I’ll just get right back to it. If resistance bites at me, I’ll do the minimum, but I’ll avoid skipping days in a row.
Rule 3. Don’t talk trash to myself
Damn, this will be hard!
I am hypercritical of myself, and I thought it was what helped me separate myself from those who are stuck in life.
I don’t know if that’s true anymore.
All that trash talk just makes me feel miserable and I’m not trying to completely change myself. I kinda like who I am. I just want to achieve my goals and challenge myself to grow.
Yeah, growth can be ugly, but the work itself can be ugly as well.
Exercising every day isn’t a beautiful endeavor. It’s sticky, sweaty, and sucks. Rather than shaming myself, I think I’m going to cheer for myself.
I’ll think about times when I overcame hardship to avoid letting obstacles tangle me up in doubts.
I’ll remind myself of all the reasons why I deserve to pursue great goals whenever I question the point of suffering through consistent effort and upward battles for progress.
Most importantly, I’ll try to be encouraging because if I don’t, who will?
Rule 4. Enjoy the process even when it sucks
Without a spiritual purpose and especially without loved ones, life can often feel sad. I probably shouldn’t speak for everyone, but that’s just how I feel at times.
Whenever I feel like I have life figured out, my perspective changes for some reason or another. Trivial or seasonal changes don’t alter my perspective, but big things like loss of a loved one or a health crisis can really change the lens through which I view the world.
One thing that has struck a chord with me is how pointless it is to be miserable by chasing certain goals, people, or outcomes.
If I’m going to chase these things, I may as well find ways to just enjoy the process. I don’t know if that means changing my self-talk or operating without expectations, but at this point in my life, I don’t want to wallow over things if I don’t have to.
Getting in shape will suck sometimes. Writing a novel will suck. Completing anything meaningful will often suck because there’s always a point of resistance. The resistance is there to create value.
It’s a filtering mechanism to weed out those who don’t truly have what it takes to cross the finish line.
I just think that if I find as many ways to make things enjoyable for myself, I have a better chance of not only accomplishing my goals, but I can have a good time even when it sucks.
I’m going to try celebrating small wins or being grateful that I can stick to something long enough to experience resistance.
Most importantly, I’ll let you know if this approach works.
Rule 5. Step out of my comfort zone
I won’t waste my time on things that haven’t worked for many years.
I hate this because I hate to quit on things I care about.
But if I haven’t achieved anything meaningful from years of work, then it’s just not meant for me right now, or my system doesn’t work.
Either way, I have to change, and that’s not something I expect to find easy at first.
What spurs me on is the thought of winning at something. That feeling of success is worth it because it comes with a healthy dose of self-esteem and validation.
With life being so short, I don’t want to lose out on choosing the brave option. I won’t hold it against myself if things don’t work out, and I’ll celebrate the novelty of new things or approaches.
What I do know is that I’ll learn a lot more from exploring new avenues than by repeating the same year again.
Rule 6. Track habits
The featured image for this post is the actual tracker I’m using to track my early resolutions for 2026.
I was reflecting on 2025 and having the hardest time ever figuring out what I did in certain months. It’s a blur to me, especially with the stability of a 9 to 5 job (no complaints).
I’m not making that mistake again because far too much time is lost by not tracking my daily or weekly actions.
Habit tracking used to stress me out in the past, but that’s because I didn’t want to commit. I want to commit now so every day that I get to shade in a block fills me with dopamine. It’s a simple little tool for accountability and motivation.
I want to see more ticks or green blocks than red blocks by a large margin.
Oh, also, I’m only tracking habits that matter to me personally.
I’m not tracking anything else because my life is more important to me than money and other material items at this point.
Also, making more money and acquiring more new things just come from working smart and hard without being reckless.
Rule 7. Accumulate actions
Many years ago, a friend of mine recommended we read a book called The Slight Edge. He didn’t, but I did read it, and I learn about the cumulative effect.
Essentially, if you string together consecutive actions, invisible results accumulate until they become visible to you.
Additionally, the accumulation of frequency and repetition makes you more efficient and skilled.
That’s a simple recipe for getting healthier, fitter, richer, smarter, and even happier.
I have fallen into the habit of discouraging myself due to impatience. To counter this, I want to focus on doing as much as I can on a long-term, consistent basis rather than the urgency of achieving results.
While I’m at it, I may as well read the best self-development books on the market.
Rule 8. Consume content that aligns with my goals
I don’t have a clue what the science or data is on the effects of media consumption on our brains, attitudes, and emotions, but I do know that most of the content on YouTube, Instagram, and TikTok is rubbish for me.
It’s not even that I sought out this brain-rotting content; the feed just plugs this crap to me.
Meaningless fluff or bullshit ideologies that leave me feeling perplexed, bothered, and dumb.
I’m done with all that crap. To filter through all the garbage, my plan is to only be subscribed to content that aligns with my goals and lifestyle.
I want to watch stuff about history, gardening, fitness, learning, and travel. Everything else will be filtered out of my feed with no mercy.
This might be an interesting topic to write about once I’ve done it for a significant amount of time, but if you find yourself wasting anything more than an hour per day on ‘entertainment’ on these social media apps, let’s audit what we’re watching and be more selective.
Rule 9. Make memories
I absolutely love my day job, and it provides me with a good amount of flexibility and socializing, but it’s important for me to have some memorable experiences in 2026.
My parents aren’t getting any younger, nor are the other important people in my life. I want to experience some fun or interesting things with them at least once per month.
We’ve all lost people we loved, be it from death, distance, or breakups. The one thing we always wish is that we just had more time to make memories with them.
The sadness from loss can feel everlasting, but so are the good memories. I just want as many memories of them as possible so that I can soothe my heart to sleep during those lonely winter nights.
Rule 10. Be grateful
It would be so easy to count all the losses in my life, but the only thing it makes me feel is very sad. I become a victim of the past, and that doesn’t provide energy to do new things, to be creative, or to be present.
When I heard people like Ed Mylett talk about counting blessings, I thought that it was a load of nonsense.
Until I tried it.
It wasn’t instant, nor was it significant at first. That being said, slowly over time, it started to change me. I started to feel less sad.
Rather than ruminating on whatever makes me sad, I think about stuff I like and enjoy. That doesn’t mean I don’t have sad days. I most certainly do. Gosh, there are some days when I can’t shake off the feeling of sadness, but it doesn’t linger as long as it used to.
I’ve learnt to outski the avalanche of negativity by consciously being grateful for every good thing that happens to me, every enjoyable thing in my life, and every little win I accrue.
Let’s Begin
Thank you for taking the time to read this entire article. It means a lot to me and I hope that we both can have an amazing 2026 filled with courage, discipline, fun, and lifelong memories.
