❓ Why am I writing this?

This is a question I ask myself before every blog post, but for posts like this, I particularly feel like “who cares?” This could just as easily be an offline text file or scribbled on a bit of paper.

Accountability is the answer. Regardless of whether anyone reads this or not, writing it publicly keeps me honest. And if these goals happen to light a fire in someone else too, that’s a nice bonus.

🛍️ 2025 - a mixed bag

A lot happened in 2025, and I’d struggle to tell you whether it was a good year or a bad one. There were highs, but there were lows too - and more often than not, they closely followed each other. Womp womp.

Despite that, I’m going into 2026 with a much fresher mindset. If motivated is the right word, I’m motivated by something fairly simple: getting my shoulder fully healed and returning to my normal life with a bit more appreciation for it.

It’s entirely possible that if my shoulder heals in four months, I’ll go straight back to taking it for granted. But at the time of writing, the desire to regain full function in my left arm is through the roof - and it’s forced me to think more carefully about how I want to spend my energy this year.

Out of all the things I could focus on going into 2026, there’s one that feels more foundational than the rest.

🎯 The keystone goal: sobriety

Going into 2026, I’ll be armed with my naive, New Year resolution style goals and, more generally, I want to show up to my own life with a bit more appreciation. Removing alcohol - at least for a while - feels like a good way to support that, improve my health, and indulge the sober-curious part of me that appeared towards the end of 2025. Less “maybe tomorrows”, less hungover days derailing other plans, and less time spent replaying conversations in my head.

For this goal, I’ve deliberately sandboxed it until June. I don’t want to treat this like a test of discipline or a Duolingo streak; I’m waaaay too stubborn for that. This is more of a checkpoint. It’s also around the time of our usual Turkey trip. It’s a good time to reassess and decide whether continuing, adjusting, or loosening the reins makes sense. But that’s a problem for future Darren. For now, I just need to get on with it.

With this goal as the foundation, the rest of my goals for 2026 are deliberately simple. I’m not reinventing myself - they’re about consistency, momentum, and doing a few things I already enjoy a bit more intentionally.

📋 The rest of the plan

With that out of the way, here’s the rest of the plan - nothing groundbreaking, just things I already enjoy doing, but want to do more intentionally.

• 📖 Read at least 12 books
  • As good as I am at buying games on Steam without playing them, or buying courses on Udemy without starting them, I’m similarly good at buying books without reading them. One book per month, tracked on Goodreads, feels achievable.
• ✍️ Publish at least 12 blog posts
  • Writing became a valuable crutch for me towards the end of 2025. Whilst I wasn’t fully fit to work, writing about tech, or about my thoughts helped my mind settle, and also gave me respite from binge watching police bodycam videos on YouTube.
• 🚴 Cycling baby!
  • Being unable to cycle makes me really want to cycle. Assuming a smooth recovery of my shoulder, I can’t wait to feel that saddle sore and complain about the weather as I question my life decisions. Until my injury/winter, I had been quite consistent. After recovery, I want to pick up where I left off. Strava will be the primary measurer (is that a word? Doubt it…) of this goal.
• 🚢 Ship a side project
  • Like most people in tech, I have no shortage of ideas of things to build. With the rise of AI, it’s easier than ever to realise these projects. Instead of having 10 projects stashed in private GitHub repositories, I want to have a live project, with at least one user that’s not me!
• 🦄 Visit a Scottish isle
  • My initial sabbatical plan for October was to “van life” it around Scotland. In my infinite wisdom, I decided going to South East Asia, having a seizure, and messing up my shoulder was a much better option! Jokes aside, I still have a burning desire to see more of Scotland, and I would love to visit one of the Scottish Isles in 2026.

📅 Checkpoint June

I’ve mentioned June already in regards to the sobriety goal, but in general, it’s a good half way point to reflect. It’s not intended to be a pass/fail moment - just a checkpoint. Around that time - roughly coinciding with our usual Turkey trip - I plan to pause, take stock, and write a short follow-up about what’s next.

That might mean continuing with some goals, adjusting others, or dropping a few entirely, and honestly, all of those outcomes are acceptable. The point isn’t to stick to a rigid plan for the sake of it, but to make decisions based on how things are actually going rather than how I predicted they would go in January. Unfortunately, I’m not Mystic Meg, and I don’t have a crystal ball.

⚠️ Pre-2026 disclaimer

I don’t expect to hit every goal perfectly. Life has a habit of getting in the way, and I’ve had enough reminders recently that things don’t always go to plan.

If I make progress on most of these and stay healthy, that’ll be good enough for me. Anything beyond that is a bonus.