A new year is upon us (and today happens to be the first New Moon of the year), and that means I’m thinking about my yearly themes again.

For those unfamiliar with the concept of yearly themes, they’re effectively a replacement for New Year’s resolutions. Rather than setting goals that are more black and white (e.g., lose 20lbs), yearly themes focus more on setting themes to follow during the course of the year. In my experience, this makes them a lot more effective throughout the course of the year, and place the emphasis more on growth (even it ends up being just a little) over simply succeeding or failing at something.

THis year, I’ve chosen to continue on a theme from the past couple years, as well as introduce two new themes to help guide me alongside it. This year, my themes are “The Year of Chilling Out,” “The Year of Letting Go,” and “The Year of Being Present.”

The Year of Chilling Out⌗

While my yearly themes are presented in no particular order, the first I’ll discuss is The Year of Chilling Out. This theme comes from a desire to be able relax into more moments in my life while also worrying and ruminating less. This has been a long-running challenge for me, but I think this year is the right time to be more active about being chill.

Often, I spend too much time thinking (when it’s not needed) or worrying, even in moments where the circumstances don’t create much room for things to go wrong. I’m also hypercritical of myself and what I do, which tends to leave me feeling on-edge or like I have to always be “on” in some way to avoid a catastrophic issue. I’ve made some progress toward being more chill in the last few years, but I still have a long way to go.

The Year of Letting Go⌗

The second theme of 2026 is “The Year of Letting Go.” This theme is a carry-over from the last few years, and one which I feel has yielded a lot of positive change.

Effectively, the theme of letting go (to me) means evaluating what I have in my life (in terms of both tangible and intangible things) and letting go of those which I feel no longer serve me (or otherwise are keeping me from my goals).

Starting with tangible things, The Year of Letting Go means decluttering and helping the things that I don’t need or use find new life. I wouldn’t describe myself as a hoarder, but I do feel like I have more things than I use or are useful in my life, and that some of the things that I don’t use could be doing more for other people. In this year already, I’ve found new homes for two computers that weren’t getting much use, which felt nice. I’m hoping to continue that progress by going through the closets and crawlspace in my house and getting rid of the things that I don’t need or haven’t thought about in a while.

I tend to have a harder time with letting go of the intangible things. On this front, I look at the things that consume my time and energy on a regular basis and evaluate the impact of those things (both for me and anyone else they affect) relative to the “investment” I make to sustain them. I suspect that this needs to be a more regular exercise in my life, as I find myself overcommitted more often than I don’t. I also think that cutting back in areas where it makes sense might create more space for me to chill out.

The Year of Being Present⌗

My final theme for 2026 is “The Year of Being Present.” This theme ties into the other themes I’ve established for the year in a way I’m particularly proud of. When I was thinking about what my themes should be for 2026, I realized that being present can help me chill out more and let go, but also cn be aided by chilling oit and letting go. The synergy of my themes this year makes them more impactful, especially if I take a more active role in following them.

For me, being present means taking the time to enjoy the moments I’m living in and focusing less on what happened before or what’s next. In addition, it means spending less time engaging with devices while other things are happening.

One of the bigger things I realized in the last few weeks is the role my iPhone plays in my life. I found that I tend to keep my iPhone with me almost all the time, in part because I feel like I need to do that to ensure I’m available at all times. The problem with this is that I feel like I always have to be “on” as a result, meaning I can’t fully relax or be present. To put it in a different way, I view my iPhone as a vital connection to the commitments in my life (e.g., work, community commitments) and I struggle to give myself breaks from those things (even when they’re more than warranted or needed). I’ve started experimenting with putting my iPhone in a drawer in the evenings and using Focus Modes more and it’s been very refreshing. I’ve even gone as far as taking time away from both my iPhone and my Apple Watch to feel even more disconnected (in a good way). I really like it and I think it’s made a larger impact than I anticipated.

Closing⌗

I’m excited to see where these themes will take me in 2026 and what I might learn along the way. I hope that reading about my themes might inspire you to pursue your own as we kick off the new year.

Let’s make 2026 a year of growth and positive change.