A quiet reflection on fresh starts, small decisions, and how a few gentle intentions at the beginning of the year can shape what 2026 becomes.
I sat down at my desk this week to get started on my learning journal for 2026.
A quick backstory. As a registered psychologist, I’m required to keep a learning journal and complete a certain number of hours of professional development each year. January has become the time when I put the finishing touches on the previous year’s journal and set the new one up.
I won’t lie – it’s a bit of a laborious process. Over the years I’ve shifted from keeping an administrative-style journal to a more reflective one. That change has been valuable, but it also means these journals are pretty wordy and complex. My 2025 journal will finish at around 63,000 words. A mini-thesis, if you will. If you are a glutton for punishment, you can see the template (which I share with other psychologists) here.
Checking the template aside, you can breathe a sigh of relief. I’m not going to suggest you keep a journal like that.
Still, the start of a new year is a good time to take stock of where you’re at, consider the path ahead, and maybe set a few intentions or goals.
There’s a running joke (based on reality) that many New Year’s resolutions fail within a few weeks. But it’s also true that behaviour change efforts that take advantage of “fresh starts” tend to work better than those that don’t. And the New Year is one of the strongest fresh starts we have.
Decisions made early in the year can quietly shape how that year unfolds.
In 2024, I decided to go alcohol-free for the year and succeeded, with the exception of a couple of celebratory glasses of champagne. In 2025, I decided to really lean into BetterU, and we made great progress on the site, particularly through hosting students on placements. This coming year, I will be attempting to wrest my attention away from distractors (e.g. YouTube, TV) and apply that attention to some lapsed goals.
So what would you like 2026 to be for you?
And just as importantly – what would you like to make sure it isn’t?
Once you have a sense of that, the next step is simply translating it into small, realistic practices: things you might do daily, weekly, or monthly. I think of it like any typical day should be a micro-version of what you want the year to be like. So if you want 2026 to be a productive year, it means that on any typical day you set it up so as to have periods of deep work.
To do this processing and planning, you don’t need thousands of words or hours of writing like my learning journal. It might just be a cup of tea, a biscuit, a brief visualisation of the year ahead, and a few small but important decisions to get things moving.
And if you’d prefer to simply enjoy the break for a little longer, that’s a great choice too.
Happy New Year, everyone.
