How Will You Choose to Live This Year?
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Welcome to Rewire | Reboot, a weekly newsletter where I share reflections from my ongoing personal growth journey and provide tested ideas, frameworks, tools and practices to help you create the life you want.
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Rewire - Idea I'm Exploring
How Are You Feeling About 2026?
When I was recently asked, “How are you feeling about 2026?” the instinctive answer that popped into my head was: optimistic.
Optimism matters. After all, people who carry it through life often tend to have improved mental well-being and even tend to live longer. It’s something I value and strive to cultivate. But when I sat with the question a little longer, I realized a one-word answer like “optimistic” doesn’t quite capture how I’m feeling about the year ahead.
What I am certain about for 2026 is that nothing is certain - and things will continue to change. That has always been true, but arguably even more so now, given things like recent world events and the accelerating rate of technological advancement the likes of which we have never seen before, especially in the area of artificial intelligence.
Without question, unexpected things will happen. Some will bring good fortune - moments that make us feel lucky, like we’ve been handed an unplanned gift. Others will be challenging, disruptive, or test our patience, resolve or confidence. That’s not pessimism. That’s just reality.
Rather than trying to predict what’s coming, My focus will be on being prepared to face whatever does.
Part of my personal ethos is striving to be unbreakable. To forge ahead no matter what is thrown at me. Because the ability to tolerate uncertainty is what sets people apart. To respond, adapt and move forward when the unexpected occurs. To build the confidence that whatever happens, I’ll figure it out.
So how do I feel about 2026? I feel like it will be what I make of it regardless of what comes my way. Whatever happens, I’ll face it - one moment, one action at a time.
Perhaps the better question to ask ourselves is not how do I feel about 2026, but how do I intend to live it?
For me, in one word: Present
I want to meet what’s in front of me fully. To give my attention to the work I’m doing, the person I’m with, the next action that actually matters - without trying to fortune-tell the future or replay the past.
Uncertainty is guaranteed. How I show up is not.
Plan with optimism. Prepare for chaos. Be Present.
Approaching life with this mindset isn’t something you achieve once, check off and move on from. It’s a continuous effort - a daily practice. A decision you make again and again.
So how will you choose to live this year?
Reboot - Health & Longevity
Get Moving
If you only commit to just one health habit this year, make it this: move your body every day.
Nothing pays greater dividends for your current health - or your long-term longevity - than regular exercise. When you become physically stronger and more fit, it has ripple effects into all other areas of your life. You have more energy, greater physical capability, improved mood, reduced stress and anxiety, better cognitive function and often even sparks of creativity. It’s as close to a universal upgrade as we have. If there were such a thing as a magic pill, it would look a lot like exercise.
Decide to become the kind of person who doesn’t miss workouts.
Set a daily floor - something small enough that you can always clear it. Even on busy days or recovery days, you still move.
If you’re struggling to get started, try this: 10 minutes a day for 10 days.
Pick any form of exercise. When the timer ends, give yourself permission to stop - even if you feel like doing more. The goal isn’t intensity yet. It’s showing up. You’re building consistency and stacking small wins.
At the start, it’s not about having enough motivation, willpower or discipline. It’s about building a daily system and making it part of your life.
Once the habit is in place, you can build from there. Over time, the compounding effect becomes obvious. That’s when the real magic happens and the results fuel motivation.
Being present matters here too. Don’t worry about days missed in the past or optimizing weeks into the future. Focus on what’s immediately in front of you. If today is ten minutes, do ten minutes. Track it. Check it off. Tomorrow can wait.
Master the basics. Standardize before you optimize. Consistency is the key to progress.
Toolkit - Something I'm Using
Tracking Tool
Having a simple way to visualize progress is a powerful tool. Checking things off each day reinforces the habit of showing up and helps turn good intentions into daily systems.
I use spreadsheets to define my goals and track my daily habits. In the same workbook, I also keep detailed logs of all of my workouts and record progress I’m making on projects I’m chipping away at with as little as ten minutes at a time. Keeping all the data in one place lets me see patterns, stay present with what I’m working on daily and adjust course when needed without losing sight of my bigger, long-term vision.
I keep this file open on my computer every day, all year long. It’s not about perfection. It’s about building evidence that I’m doing the work to become who I want to become.
If this approach resonates, you can download a copy of my goal-setting template and daily habit tracker here.
Inspiration
James Clear posted this week:
“The antidote to a bad day is a good workout.”
I couldn’t agree more. Whether it's preemptive or a remedy - training early to set yourself up to be unbreakable, or moving at the end of the day to release stress and anxiety - exercise is the best medicine.
One Action
Show Up
This week, redefine success as showing up, not hitting a lofty target. Start building the daily action into your identity.
Let me know how it goes - just reply to this email.
Reader's Corner
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Until next week,
Kevin
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