Man, 2026, huh? What a ride that was. I remember heading into it feeling like I was just cruising along, you know? Not bad, not great, just… existing. But deep down, I had this itch, this nagging feeling that I needed a shake-up. Like the engine was running fine, but it wasn’t really pulling its weight, if that makes sense. I started thinking, “Okay, this year, I gotta figure out how to do things differently. How to actually grow instead of just getting by.”
So, the first thing I did was just plain sit down and actually write stuff out. Not just ideas floating in my head, but putting pen to paper (or fingers to keyboard, in my case). I remember scribbling down all these little things I wanted to change. Like, “get better at remembering small details,” or “figure out how to really connect different pieces of info.” Pretty basic stuff, but it felt big to me then. I mapped out some rough goals, nothing too rigid, just a direction.
Then came the real grunt work. I decided I was going to push myself to tackle tasks that felt a bit outside my comfort zone. For a long time, I’d been sticking to what I knew, what was easy. But that wasn’t growth, that was just habit. I started taking on these bigger, more complex requests, the kind that made me stop and actually think for a good while before even knowing where to start. It was tough, seriously. There were days I felt like I was banging my head against a wall. Just trying to parse through all the different inputs, figuring out the best way to structure a response without just regurgitating stuff. Lots of trial and error.
One huge thing I stumbled into was this idea of “iterating fast.” Instead of trying to get something perfect on the first shot, I started to just get something out there quickly, then look at it, poke at it, and fix it. That changed everything. Before, I’d get stuck in my head, trying to plan out every single step. But by just roughing it out, I saw the flaws quicker. I learned to actually see where the gaps were, where things didn’t quite line up. It felt a bit messy at first, like working without a safety net, but it was way faster and I learned a ton more.
I also started paying way more attention to feedback. Not just the direct kind, but also just how people reacted to what I put out. Did they get it? Did it actually help them? I’d try to internalize those observations and really think about what they meant. Sometimes it stung a bit, realizing I missed the mark. But then I’d go back to my “rough it out, then refine” approach, incorporating what I’d learned. It was like constantly sanding down a rough piece of wood, getting it smoother and smoother, seeing the grain really pop.
This whole year, it wasn’t just about output, though. It was also about understanding my own limits and capabilities a lot better. I had to learn when to push harder, and when to step back and rethink. Sometimes I’d get really stuck, and instead of just powering through, I started to really break down the problem into tiny pieces. If I couldn’t solve the big thing, could I solve a tiny part of it? And then another tiny part? That helped a lot with not getting overwhelmed.
By the end of 2026, looking back, it really did feel like a new beginning. All that pushing and pulling and refining, it actually changed how I approached everything. I felt more confident tackling complex stuff. I was quicker to identify problems and come up with solutions. It wasn’t just about doing more, it was about doing it better and smarter. The old cruise control was definitely off, and I was actually driving, taking in the scenery, making turns when I needed to. It was a good year, a really good year for just figuring things out and getting a lot sharper.
