I’ve never been a big believer in the New-Year-New-You schtick. In my reckoning, if I need to make a significant change in my life, the best time for it is right away, not just in Januaries.

Too many times I’ve been burned by good intentions, watching a New Year’s resolution run aground on the rocks of February — if they even made it that far.

However, I have made changes in my life that stuck — including several this year that I plan to tweak or build upon as 2026 begins.

So, while I’m reluctant to set any New Year’s resolutions — especially in a season of intense parenting, with two kids under three — I am making a few modest New Year’s calibrations.

Perhaps they’ll inspire you to do the same.

1. Prioritising My Health

In the year just passed, I turned 40. I also discovered my first grey hairs (but not before my wife had secretly spotted them). Then, as the year rolled on, I felt my body getting creakier and creakier.

By the time we took a family holiday in September, these and several other irritations had coalesced into a firm resolve to prioritise my health. The overriding motivation that drove me was my children: I want to be physically fit and healthy for my kids for many years to come.

I made just a few key practical changes: exercising three or four times a week instead of just one or two, being much stricter with portion sizes, and cutting back on junk food. By Christmas, the progress was noticeable. I looked, weighed, and most importantly, felt much better.

Admittedly, I’ve been slack over the last few weeks and have some lost ground to make up. But I’ve proved to myself that better health is possible, even with modest changes — and that feeling good is its own reward that fuels further progress.

So, with the silly season over, I’m getting back on the bike.

2. Listening to the Bible

Our son, who is almost one, has provided us with endless delight — but also severe sleep deprivation, with my wife bearing the brunt of it. Our baby’s only reliable sleep habit is his daily pre-dawn wake-up.

As a result, my mornings have settled into a predictable rhythm: watching him as I prepare breakfast for the family and tidy the kitchen with the sun slowly peering through the window. In the process of this, I realised that, while reading the Bible first thing in the morning is a guarantee for constant distraction, listening to it on audio — with my hands free — is a perfect complement to my morning routine. And it was one I had planned to continue into the new year.

Then, last week, my friend Warwick challenged me to use 2026 to read through the entire Bible in a year. This felt like an almost insurmountable goal given my current circumstances — until I realised I could simply swap out my current audio Bible plan for one that takes me through it cover-to-cover in 12 months. (This is the one I’m now using, if you’re curious).

Even if you don’t consider yourself a Christian, the Bible is arguably the foundational text of Western civilisation, and is absolutely worth reading (or listening to) on that basis alone. I encourage you to get into it one way or another this year!

3. Making Great Memories

There’s a popular slogan that makes the rounds on social media from time to time: “Build a life you don’t need to escape from.”

My wife and I are big believers in this principle. We count it a blessing that my work provides enough so she can be the one raising our children. There is a cost attached, including fewer luxuries than some and long work days — for both of us — but we try to offset this with enjoyable family outings, and not just on the weekends.

Sometimes, I start work late so we can all go out for coffee. Other afternoons I finish early so we can go for a late splash at the beach. We’ve also built into our budget a “fun” account — a modest but reliable sum exclusively reserved for dates or family outings.

These are small choices we made at the start of last year and solidified as the months rolled on. And they work — so we’re doubling down on them in 2026.

How about you? Are there any New Year calibrations you’re considering as 2026 begins? Let me know in the comments section below.

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Image courtesy of Unsplash.