Things to Do in 2026: Changing My Moments Instead of Chasing Big Goals
New Year is not the magic. Who you become is.
December came surprisingly with a shift.
I wasn’t planning new goals or new dreams for 2026, but something different struck me this December.
I lost my hankering for big resolutions when my inner voice whispered something different this time.
December came like a guide. Maybe I had been reading more lately, and that somehow started the downloads inside me. December told me, “Big desire is not equal to big happiness,” and “A small fulfilling moment is not equal to small happiness.”
We’ve been sold the idea that happiness comes with big achievements because the world glamorizes them more. The truth is most of our points of view are not ours; they are handed over to us. And when we run our lives without questioning and validating those viewpoints, we don’t really discover what aligns with our truest state of happiness.
To assume that one thing will make us happy and to actually experience how happy we feel living that thing are two poles apart.
Maybe those big achievements won’t make us as happy as the idea sold to us.
Maybe our happiness lies in something the world never saw as significant.
We don’t chase our idea of happiness; we chase the one we are conditioned to. Jim Carrey rightly expresses this misalignment with happiness in his quote:
“I think everybody should get rich and famous and do everything they ever dreamed of so they can see that it’s not the answer.”
My sweet December told me not to wait for Jim Carrey’s statement to come true and then find my answer but to take prompt action in this very moment.
So, I started thinking about what mattered to me the most and what truly made my endorphins jump. While I was in this shifting mode, I didn’t stab my dreams, my goals, or my desire to achieve a lot. But I decided not to let those big things stab my small moments of life.
If I have a big dream, I don’t want it to suppress my happiness in small moments.
Having a goal and tying all your happiness to it is where we become partial to it, leaving behind the real treasure of the current moment and the happiness it already holds.
So, I segregated the two.
1. I decided I would work for my dreams but not cling to the happiness they might bring.
The deeper truth is, we anchor ourselves to happiness we are not even certain of.
2. I decided to make my present moments dreamy, meaningful, and fulfilling.
The deeper truth is, we eclipse happiness that is certain and available because we’re hooked on the one that may come with big dreams.
Maybe, if I want to, I can be happy even without those big desires being served on my table. All I need is to explore adventurously this place where I presently stand.
2026 is going to involve a lot of work, but without attaching happiness to its results. The real joy is making the work itself a therapy, a reason for happiness.
Once I became clear about Jim Carrey’s statement, I went on a mind trip looking for the things I would love to have with me every single day. This inner exploration continued for a couple of days as I went about my quotidian life.
Here’s the list I discovered: my personal answers to happiness. I decided to make 2026 about practicing these, not just knowing them.
1. I feel happy when I make mindful use of resources
I created micro-habits to avoid misusing what I already have.
a. I had a habit of not properly closing doors with springs or magnets whether it was the fridge, oven, or mesh door, leaving the latch to do the work.
The loud bang always irritated me, and I felt a subtle unkindness toward the objects themselves.
When it started bothering me deeply, I decided to gently hold and close doors with my hands. To my surprise, that silent closure came with peace. It sounds small, but in this ultra-micro action, I saw my daily irritations reduce. Happiness was waiting for me in the gentle closing of doors.
b. My mother always says that people form impressions not just by behavior, but by how carefully one handles small things.
Leaving lights on while exiting rooms especially the washroom always bothered her and eventually started bothering me too. Seeing energy wasted and the meter running unnecessarily chagrined me.
I decided to pause for a second before leaving any room, consciously checking the lights. This tiny habit made me more vigilant and uplifted my self-respect. That awareness itself became a reason for happiness.
c. My brother inculcated in me the importance of water. I used to splurge without noticing its value, and there was always a silent regret.
One day, that quiet regret pushed me to act. I haven’t perfected it yet, but now I wash with caution. Seeing less water wasted fills even dishwashing with quiet happiness.
2. I feel happy when reading nourishes my inner world
Reading didn’t come early in my life. It found me when I began my writing journey.
Reading gives me new thoughts, removes me from noise, enhances my vocabulary, and shapes my vision. Yet I don’t always reach for a book when I have spare time, doom scrolling often takes over.
Then I found a solution through Ryan Holiday. In his post “These Are My Reading Rules for 2026,” he shared how he reads while eating. He wrote:
“Spilling food on a book is a sign of respect…”
That line became a remedy for my procrastination.
I tried it. The book I had paused for a month suddenly moved, I completed five chapters. As a bonus, I began eating more slowly. Growth and happiness unlocked themselves together for 2026.
3. I feel happy when eating well gives me emotional peace
Neglecting healthy habits disrupts emotional peace; reclaiming them restores happiness.
When I realized how junk food silently robs health — and health loss robs happiness — eating well itself became a source of joy.
2026 won’t be about what great food did to me, but about what it saved me from.
4. I feel happy when I have fewer possessions
My happiness is linked to how well I can care for what I own.
Having more isn’t wrong but having more than enough demanded a boundary.
I choose 2026 to be a year of value over quantity — to cherish what I wear instead of constantly chasing novelty.
5. I feel happy when writing quietly heals me
My goal might be to become J.K. Rowling, but my happiness isn’t tied to fame. Writing is my medicine.
Even before making a mark, I choose words that heal me. Writer’s block, self-doubt, and average lines visit often but I keep carving a narrow path toward joy somewhere in the middle of my writing.
In 2026, I choose to write anyway because beauty forms only when something is created.
6. I feel happy when years lose their power over me
I can’t change my age, but I can build a lifestyle that refuses to let age define me.
Instead of obsessing over milestones, I see myself as a vessel for ongoing life.
2026 is not one year less, it’s another year to show up fully.
7. I feel happy when I meet myself in Brahma Muhurta
Who I will become by working on my goals is no longer where I fix my attention. Who I am while working, right here in this moment, is where happiness is secretly hidden.
I don’t want to wake up to see the sunrise; I want the sun to see me rise.
There is divine joy in waking up at Brahma Muhurta. I don’t just meet silence, within that silence, I feel touched by divinity.
I am choosing 2026 to be more about what I do for my goals than about what those goals will give me.
Waking up at Brahma Muhurta and seeing myself at my desk is a joy that outweighs the outcome of my work. When happiness is rooted in things I have control over, it becomes a state of life.
8 I feel happy when nothing outside controls me.
We wait for big events to feel happy and fear the arrival of bad days. Our inner state remains at the mercy of whatever is happening outside us. Somehow, allowing external events to control our happiness makes life feel empty and powerless.
I felt truly powerful when chaos failed to steal my peace, and exciting moments did not disturb my inner stillness.
In 2026, I am choosing to give myself everything that strengthens me from the inside. This may look like watching a personal growth podcast, reading a book on awakening, consuming constructive content on social media, or minutely observing my mental patterns — so I can recognize when I go off track and gently bring myself back to a state of power.
So, while I made this list and planned my life around it, I realized that we keep chasing happiness as if it’s somewhere far away, when in reality, it’s sitting right under our nose, waiting for us to notice it.
Big goals take a long time, and that means waiting for happiness.
Small daily goals take less time, and that means feeling happiness in each moment.
When we choose to take charge of our moments through tiny, intentional goals, we place ourselves in a much stronger position to eventually change our lives through bigger ones.
If we want to experience happiness daily, we must give ourselves daily goals, goals for moments. Because even the smallest acts that make us feel happy require dedication and discipline.
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