Schools of thought…

To all my friends, family and avid readers across the globe wishing you a fabulous 2026!

With most things there are varying schools of thought.  How about 2026 – what do you have planned?  Not a resolution per see, but personal goals for the coming year…

Many of us tend to gravitate toward the grander things in life as we think about the coming year – wealth, travel, a new house or car, or perhaps a promotion at work…

But the one thing I’ve learned over the years is that your health is the most important thing you can focus on.  Without it, your quality of life is compromised and each and everything you do will be impacted one way or another.

The investment in your health and wellbeing includes every aspect of your life from what you eat, to the amount of sleep and rest we give ourselves, to the volume of stress we expose ourselves to and the extent of time we devote to our fitness and wellness.

Yep, it’s far reaching and impactful – no question!

One school of thought may be to look at each aspect that I’ve outlined above and tackle them each individually and not correlate them into a cohesive effort.

For the past three years, thanks to my beautiful wife Judy my diet has moved away from being a carnivore (eating meat and poultry) to now eating a plant and fish based diet (pescatarian).

For me this has been beneficial on several fronts.  Firstly, I don’t get the same energy swings as I did prior to changing diets and find that my energy levels are so much more even and consistent.  It has also helped regulate the amount of Uric acid I have in my body which is the main cause of Gout.

Sometimes when you primarily have a plant-based diet you don’t get enough protein in your diet but ensuring that we include fresh fish (wild caught if possible) in our diet has really helped round out my food intake.

Yes, I can still get hangry, but I’ve found that one way to minimize this is to keep well hydrated.

Additionally, long gone are the days of staying up late followed by an early morning.  Given that I work out in one form or another every day I find that I look forward to getting to bed relatively early to ensure I get lots of sleep.  I find that by starting off my day with a 20 – 25-minute workout sets me up for a great day albeit starting at 5:20 am most days.

Now combine all these aspects from your diet, to rest and rejuvenation, to exercise and you find yourself with a comprehensive base to enables you to not only survive the rigours of day-to-day life but thrive into your later years.

One school of thought tells us that as we age the people who tend to live longest are the ones that take muscle mass into their 50’s and 60’s.   This can’t be achieved without a balance of diet, exercise and rest.

Okay, if that’s number one what are my other goals for 2026?

The next goal is a collective one with Judy in that she’ll be able to apply for her citizenship in May.  Of course, we don’t know how long this will take but hoping that she can be approved, sit her exam and get sworn in by the end of the year.  The challenge with something like this is that it’s completely outside our control once the paperwork has been submitted, but we are optimistic.

My next goal is to continue to build Indelible Adventures Media and grow my new client segment, while continuing to work with many of my existing customers.

If I step back another school of thought is not plan at all and just let life happen.  Not a bad alternative, although I personally find that have some concrete goals is good for me, I can see where this may be great for some people as it takes away the stress of working toward a goal or objective.

Each of school of thought is valid and likely will work for those using either approach. I suppose I’ve always been a planner and find it comforting.

Perhaps it’s the start of a new cycle that gets us all thinking about our accomplishments over the course of the last year but also looking forward to a new beginning where literally anything is possible.

Well, so far, I’ve done all the talking.  Where does this leave you?   Are you a planner or do you prefer to let life come to you?

If you’re the planner, what do you have on your agenda for 2026?   What are you going to prioritize and more importantly what tactics are you going to employ to achieve your goals?

Is it time to move beyond ideas to a more concreate plan or vision board?

Until next week.

Ciao!