Over the past few weeks, I have been receiving messages from people saying things like: “I can’t wait to see your 2026 goal list! This is one of my favorite things you post!”
And I kind of chuckled as I realized that the decision I made in November, with the encouragement of my husband and business coach, might come as a shock to some people. It was, “I’m not setting any goals for 2026!”
know! It’s not like me at all.
I’ve been setting goals since I was a teenager.
In fact, as I reflected on my goal setting, I realized that I probably started setting goals when I was 11 years old. I was so excited at the thought of starting a new year. And I’m an overly ambitious person! — I would pull out a blank piece of paper and create a long list of big, audacious goals.
I loved the fresh start. A blank slate. A chance to make big dreams come true. And set big goals.
The goal ceased to serve me and began to enslave me
The problem is that over time those goals became less useful to me. They began to enslave me. For example, I felt like I needed to attack them, but I often felt really discouraged or down on myself if I didn’t.
Another thing I didn’t really do when it came to goal setting was really think about the season of life I was in. I was excited about all the things I wanted to do and aim for, and I was setting big goals for myself without calculating the cost…like, how much time do I realistically need to accomplish the extra thing next year?
It also doesn’t take into account interruptions or unforeseen circumstances. No, I was focused on all the things I wanted or felt like I should be doing. I tried setting just weekly or monthly goals instead of yearly goals and it worked, but I found myself still pushing myself pretty hard (too hard!) to reach my goals.
Goals became unhealthy and harmful to me
As I mentioned here, I started working with a nutritionist in mid-2025. She ultimately changed my life and helped me understand so many dysfunctional beliefs and patterns that I had in my life. One of them was overexerting myself, not paying attention to my body’s cues like hunger and sleep.
Slowly, when I started noticing my body’s cues like food and rest, I realized that I had really been neglecting my health and myself. Especially with so much going on in our lives over the past five years.
Motivated by this, I found a functional medicine doctor to help me become healthier. She seriously complained to me that I wasn’t taking care of myself and that my blood work and health were showing signs of that. She told me that I might be okay now, but if I continued this pattern, my body would start to fall apart in 15 years.
The process of scaling back and saying no
This was a real wake-up call for me. I started looking at ways I could reduce my responsibilities and obligations so that I could have more downtime, more rest, more time to recharge, more sleep, and less go-go-go in my life.
I started tracking how much time I worked each week and was shocked to find that I almost always worked at least 50-60 hours (sometimes more!). I love my job, but it’s no wonder my body doesn’t accept my pace of life.
When I thought about what it would mean for me to reduce my work week to 40 hours and start creating more freedom and space in my life, I knew the only way to do that was to say no to a lot of things and stop pushing myself to achieve ambitious things for a season.
Free yourself from finding your worth in your accomplishments
I’m trying to free myself from finding my worth in my work and accomplishments. I didn’t realize how much I was obsessed with work, busyness, and doing things.
It’s scary and strange to have wide open spaces in my daily life. I’m going into 2026 without a big, ambitious list of goals. There’s nothing big I’m chasing, pursuing, or building other than publishing a new book in the fall, running a business, and taking care of my family, my marriage, and myself.
I feel anxious and quiet. And exactly where I need to be. I’ve learned so much and grown so much this year, and it truly feels healing for me in so many ways. I can’t wait to see what the next 12 months hold.
Want to learn more about this change? Jesse and I recorded a podcast and shared more about it below Reasons for not setting goals this year. please listen here.
Important words about goals
Do you think goals are bad or wrong? Absolutely not. In the season I’m in, they don’t help much. If your goals are motivating, refreshing and you’re in a healthy season, then go ahead and set them. And I’m here to support you!
I feel like it’s just a season not to set this goal, but I’ll probably go back to setting goals once this year is over. But I’m not thinking about that now. For now, I’m taking this quiet season to absorb the lessons I need to learn right now.
If you have any comments, feedback, or questions, we’d love to hear from you.
Source: Money Saving Mom® – moneysavingmom.com
