AI writing, strategic friendships, and other things I'm leaving behind in 2026.

Stop trying to optimise life and start living it.

It is that time of year where the topic of productivity will be top of mind, whether we want it to be or not.

Regardless of who you follow or what you consume, you will no doubt be confronted with an endless list of resolutions and tips for how to make 2026 your best yet.

New Year’s Resolutions used to be fairly broad and prescriptive: eat less, move more, be kinder, find a better job, consume less. But these days the goal post has changed to become more, dare I say, toxic.

The internet - often, an influencer - is setting unrealistic (and sometimes just plain wrong) expectations for what it means to live a good life and we are letting it take over.

As we are pushed to do more, be more, earn more, this endless pursuit of optimisation is costing us our ability to just, well, live life.

So as we move into 2026, here is a top 5 roundup of the new years resolutions I won’t be following.

See below ↓

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1. Letting AI optimise my business and life

I don’t know about you, but I am fed an endless supply of ads promising me time freedom through the use of AI. According to the experts, all I need to do is build an army of AI bots to do my work for me and watch the money roll in.

I DEFINITELY got caught up in the hype earlier this year.

But here is the thing, AI just isn’t that good yet. Claude even told me they weren’t that good. Yet we are all trying to find that short cut when really, we just need to do the work.

AI writing is terrible, it makes mistakes all the time, it gives lousy advice, and if you’ve prompted the hell out of it like I have to avoid confirmation bias, it can even start to become TOO snarky and combative when all you want to do is test ideas.

I realised I was giving too much decision making power to AI rather than just fucking about and finding out and the results were devastatingly terrible.

So for 2026, I’ve cut most of my AI subscriptions and will be returning to good old fashioned thinking for myself, and more importantly, writing with pen and paper. It will take time, but that is okay. Good things take time and I think we have forgotten that in the modern age.

I also want to say here and now: human-generated thoughts and writing (because I also refuse to call long-form writing content) WILL be the next stage of luxury precisely because it is becoming an increasingly rare and valuable skill. But that is a post for another day.

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2. Listening to Business podcasts

I am a serial podcast listener. According to Spotify, I once racked up nearly 30,000 minutes of podcast streaming in a single year, mostly business advice. That is roughly 3-weeks solid of nothing but people talking at me.

I don’t know when I started binge listening to business podcasts, but this year I hit a breaking point. By 3pm my brain could barely function and I would have a low-key headache. But this can hardly be surprising?

I’d listen while cooking, I’d listen on walks, I’d listen while doing work. If I wasn’t staring at a screen, I was listening to a podcast.

I kept telling myself all of this business information was making me a better business owner, but a recent study uncovered that all of this podcast listening may be doing more harm than good because all of this audible content isn’t giving our brains sufficient time to rest and recover.

The hardest truth to admit is that I wasn’t even fully retaining what I listened to yet felt completely overwhelmed by the never ending lists of “should be doing”. This culminated in a real case of analysis paralysis and often kept me stuck in “research mode,” never taking action on anything.

To quote Greg McKeown, “Without great solitude no serious work is possible.”

I think we could all do with a little more solitude in our lives to unpick our own unique paths.

So in 2026, I will be trusting in my own ability to run my business in my own messy way.

And if you must listen to a podcast then may I recommend: This American Life, Heavy Weight, Mystery Show, Reply All, anything from the Serial group.

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3. Paying attention to business growth hack accounts on social media

When did becoming a 7-figure solopreneur turn into the new goal? This seems to be the new messaging coming out of the endless supply of business growth hack accounts on social media. The funny thing is I don’t even follow these accounts, but the algo has decided I need to see it. And I am not okay with it.

Part of me wants to let it go by saying “you do you, earn what you want” but then part of me thinks “this is insanity and can we take a hot minute to discuss what enough really means” because no good comes from pursuing that amount of money.

The relentless pressure to do more, be more, earn more is 100% guaranteed to leave you feeling miserable.

Instead of allowing these growth hack accounts to psychologically trick me into thinking I need to do, earn, be more by buying their course for $2,997.00 (spoiler alert: the secret is always taking action consistently), I’m recommitting to my own definition of success which is a whole lot less than 7-figures. And I am okay with that. I just need to take action consistently. I don’t need a course for that.

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4. Using Instagram to build community

This one is going to be controversial, but using Instagram to build an authentic community is dead. #sorrynotsorry

For years I was told that building a community on Instagram was the secret sauce for having fun as a business owner on social media. But after more than a decade, I can say that Instagram is the thief of joy. Because everyone has their hidden agenda and you better believe will push you out of the way to get ahead. Plus the performance of it all. The curated photos, the perfect morning routines, the supposed $30k months. Exhausting and distracting. And all those people living their best lives, I can say with complete certainty that their best life is spent almost entirely on their phone curating their best lives. Because Instagram only rewards being on Instagram. Speaking for a friend and all here….

Earlier this year I ditched Instagram completely and my life improved dramatically.

Now that I am building a new business, it has become an essential evil that I am reluctantly using again. But I am coming at it from a different angle. Instagram is now simply a store front for me. No need to optimise my profile and build a community. I simply need to communicate what I do and be safe in the knowledge that is enough.

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5. Curating a strategic group of friends

2025 seemed to be the year people realised we are in a friendship crisis. But here is the curious part. The answer wasn’t to get offline, call an old friend, or join a choir. It was to optimise the fuck out of friendships.

Every friend that annoys you slightly is now toxic, every friend having a bad day and needs a friend to talk to is violating boundaries, and, my new favourite, every friend not aligned with your “highest self” is holding you back and needs to be ditched. The parameters for friendship are now so narrow, I’d argue the crisis has gotten worse.

To quote the brilliant article by Olga Khazan in a 2023 article in the Atlantic, “Stop Firing Your Friends.”

Friendship is hard, it takes work, it won’t always be even, and it sure as hell won’t be perfect. But we have become so accustomed to this idea that relationships have to be frictionless. Everyone has to be perfect with zero problems and you better not come to me with any negative energy.

For 2026 I am going to be leaning into my current friendship circle regardless of where they are at or where they are going. The stay-at-home Mom ride-or-die bestie, the precarious actor who will try any and every restaurant with me, the Tory-voting friend who provides the best political sparring partner, the childhood bestie who will always be at least 30 minutes late, the friend who I only see once a year yet we revert to our 16-year-old selves in minutes and it is like we haven’t missed a day. None of them have any clue what I do nor are they at the same stage or in the same space. Some of them truly annoy the hell out of me. But at the end of the day I can be myself with them and that is all that matters. No optimised friendship in sight. No agenda. Just connection and enjoying time together.

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2026 promises to be the year of “fuck about and find outs.” Because what is the point of pursuing a perfect life? Nothing will lead to disappointment faster than expectation. So here is hoping we all calm down and just live life as it unfolds.

Wishing you all a Happy New Year!

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