Read this before setting your 2026 goals!

Short, sweet, and to the damn point.

I woke up this morning and got the notification that The Slow Living Lane was #21 rising in philosophy.

After taking a few months off, (1st trimester pregnancy iykyk) I was shocked to see how quickly my Substack was growing again.

And I immediately realized one thing:

You can’t achieve your goals if you don’t show up for them.

You won’t wake up and immediately run a marathon, but you will run a marathon when you wake up and run every day.

You won’t wake up to 10,000 subscribers, but you will reach 10,000 subscribers by creating and sharing content daily.

You won’t wake up with a positive mindset, but your mind will become more positive each day that you practice positive thoughts.

We’ve all heard the saying “consistency is key” and while it’s annoying and frankly a lot of work… it’s true.

I am always being shown, in many different areas of my life, that showing up consistently is the number one key to making things grow.

Some days that looks like showing up for 10 minutes and some days that looks like showing up for 10 hours.

You’re proving to yourself and your goal that you care enough to continue to show up day after day.

Whether your goal for the new year is to lose weight, make more money, or become a happier person. It all starts with consistency. You don’t need to focus on the big picture or the end goal. Just focus on what you can do today. Then show up and do that.

Let’s be real, you are most likely not going to want to do any of it! Humans love comfort. Why wake up and go to the gym when you can sleep in? Why set aside time to write and create when you can sit on your phone? Because, your future self will thank you! Start doing things for them. Your now self does not care, because they can’t see the achievements. But your future self is always there, cheering you on.

Have you ever noticed how much happier you are when you wake up and your home is already cleaned? Sure you would have rather gone to bed and cleaned later, but doing it now saved your future self from the burden you would have had to endure.

So set your goals.

Bring them down to actionable, daily steps.

Show up daily.

Next thing you know, your dream becomes a reality.

& please remember consistency doesn’t always look like doing the same thing every day. Maybe one week it’s you showing up daily, and the next week it’s you showing up every other day. That still counts. One day off does not mean you need to restart.

I’ll leave you with one of my favorite books, and a really great podcast to dive into.

My #1 book recommendation (audible version)

My #1 book recommendation (book version)

A podcast for 2026!

Thank you for reading! I hope this helps you with your 2026 goals, you got this!

Much love,

SJ