For some reason I like to make my life more complicated, and after complaining about having to write about 46 goals last year, I now have 55 for my 2026 goals.
It might feel like micro-managing but there are broader goals – to lose weight, be healthier, expand my knowledge and earnings – and to bloody well enjoy the year ahead.
Setting goals does seem to work. And this year I’m attaching them to an actual target, so the percentage achieved will determine where I go for my first solo-holiday of 2027.
Only 50%, then northern Europe. But if I get a whopping 85% then South America.
So…let’s get my 2026 goals in writing:
Get Fit, Feel Fab
Lose 12.5kg. It’s the usual one, lose weight – sometimes I do lose some weight, sometimes I don’t – in 2025 I actually put on weight. Hence the unachievable target. Well…there is always the ‘jaro.
Do 3 forms of exercise that are not walking. Another standard target with the idea being that I find some exercise that I enjoy which isn’t walking. Fully expect 0% achieved.
Go dancing. This could be anything, going to a festival, taking a dance class. I used to love dancing (I may not have been so sober) and I need to get less unfit. It could be an answer, if I can be bothered.
3 month detox in the UK. Full 3 month detox of no alcohol being drunk in the UK. Once I get past passport control however…
30 units a month, until 85kg. So I know I won’t lose 12.5kg during my detox, maybe 8kg if it goes well. So this is to limit alcohol (in the UK) until I have got to my weight goal. Will I do it? Who knows!
18 weekend days off drinking after March. Specifically targeting some sober days at weekends. Again, I really only care about this due to being overweight and unfit.
Only eat cake/chocolate on 65 days. I totally failed this last year – but I always feel better if I eschew cake/chocolate for a period, even a week helps, much in the same way as eschewing alcohol. But I like it too much!
3 separate 30 day periods with no cake/chocolate. If I fail the above, then this gives me a reason to not totally go on a chocolate binge afterwards for the rest of the year.
Reduce blood pressure. Well, it’s too high and it went up a tad last year – it is very correlated to my weight.
Don’t drink on a flight. I’ve very much got into the habit of a couple of small bottles of wine each flight, even had 5 once – utterly pointless. So this is the first time to target this, and then will up it in future years. Though having a beer/wine on a flight is nice, and I don’t want to stop it totally.
2x <2,500 calorie days on holiday. There are normally no rules on holiday so I eat and drink as much I want, and then always put on weight. This is just baby steps towards trying to behave healthier on holidays. I don’t need 3,500 calories (half of which is beer) every single holiday day, surely?
Healthier December – 10% less calories, 10% less alcohol. December was an unhealthy month – very much so. I call it “sod it” season, and boy did I live up to it in 2025. So my goal here is to have a somewhat healthier December in 2026, so I don’t feel quite as crap in January 2027.
Learning and Coding
Finish My Pubs Database. I started making a database for pubs last year, so I’d like to get this finished as my first b/e-focused project that I’ve ever done. Who knows if anyone will ever use it or pay for the data, but we’ll see.
An AI project, ie a chatbot. I feel obliged to work towards having my own AI bot or at least learn how to create one – maybe an AI companion for Roast Dinners in London?
One other web project, TBC. I have far too many ideas of what to build, and far too little time. But one more project.
10 new features JS/CSS/React. I’m trying to keep up with all the new features in the various languages I use, so this is me having a list of new features, learning about them – and most importantly, trying them in an existing (or new) project.
Build stuff with my Raspberry Pi. I bought a Raspberry Pi to play around with, so I want to build some things with it.
Read all non-technical books I owned on 1st January. I have 12 books unread, some of which have been on my side for years, pre-Harrow days in one case!
Duolingo – Section 6 – Unit 100 (started section 5, 201). Well they always change the curriculum every year so tracking this is pretty hard, but basically I want to improve my Spanish further and this is the only way to track it I know of.
Read book on investing, engineering and Spanish. Read books about 3 areas I want to improve in my life.
Learn touch typing. Why can I only type with one finger on each hand? Stupid.
Gravy boat emoji proposal. I want to propose adding a gravy boat emoji. There’s a long process to go through, gathering evidence of potential use, applying to some board or other – I looked into it but it’s a lot of work. But it really would cement my legendary status in roast dinner circles – imagine if I actually got this through, I would forever be known as the person who introduced a gravy boat emoji to the world’s official emoji collection.
100 New Substack subscribers. I have a Substack for Roast Dinners in London, and I’m trying to grow it – amazingly I have two paid subscribers lol.
Stay Organised
Have nothing on my to-do list one day, in 4 separate months. Should speak for itself, and that is to keep on top of my to-do list, which is where I manage all my cleaning/coding/writing tasks. On average there are about 40 items outstanding each day!
Have 0 unread e-mails in all inboxes, one day, in 4 separate months. My main inbox is under control at last, but I have various others as I have different inboxes for various things – all my websites have their own inboxes, plus I separate e-mails for shopping, London stuff, etc.
Prepping. I’ve seen enough shit in recent years and am worried enough about the threat of Russia and USA to think it’s time to prep. So my goal is to ask ChatGPT for the top 10 things I need – ie batteries, torch, water, etc – and make sure I have it ready.
Make a will and website prep. Sounds grim but now I have assets I should probably make sure that they do actually go to my sister if something happens to me. Plus I want to make sure there are instructions (and money to pay for) Roast Dinners in London to still be available to read, and maybe my other blogs.
Feed the Foodie
Oldest 10 roasts. This is just my goal to make sure I’m clearing down my roast dinner to-do list.
2 roast dinners in other countries. Didn’t have any abroad last year. Probably better to fail this goal.
18 excellent (or think will be) restaurants. I have like 120 restaurants on my normal to-do list.
12 restaurants in Croydon. I should eat out in Croydon more, and support local places. One a month cannot be difficult, surely?
10 of the oldest 20 restaurants on my list. Like my roast goal, this is to make sure I go to some of the restaurants that have been on my London to-do list for years, like since I moved here.
Less than £100 food waste. The one green thing I can still be bothered to do.
150 new recipes. I like cooking. Cook more.
Be Social
Go to some music events. I think I miss music events, though quite how this can fit in with my post-clubbing life, I’m not sure.
Plenty of London culture. The goal is to go to 20 shows, exhibitions, etc.
Go to Hull City games. I really enjoyed Millwall away, so I’m going to try to go to 4 games this year.
Visit two friends that don’t live in Reading/London. Trying to keep in touch with dear people who moved to really awkward places!
Attend some meet-ups. Go to 4 different types of meet-ups, be it tech, Spanish language, foodie, etc. Only managed the Croydon one in 2025.
Wander the World
4 different new countries. I never do 4.
1 of the 3 closest new countries (Norway, Montenegro & Bulgaria). Should be easy enough…should be easy to do all 3 lol.
2 new European Capitals of Culture. I’ve decided I should visit all the European Capitals of Culture, so my goal is 2 per year.
Leave Europe once. Well, I’ve booked flights to Japan so surely this is happening?
Warm sunshine in a winter month. I think this would be my biggest life upgrade possible!
Upgrade My Life
Upgrade wardrobe. I’ve not really bought much in the way of new clothes in the last few years, and I’m really bored of my t-shirt collection – but also I have shortages of jeans, short, etc as things keep getting damaged. But I increasingly loathe shopping…even online.
Less vinyl on wish-list. I have like 2,000 vinyls on my wish-list, so my aim is to reduce this, one way or another. Yeah, I’m still music-obsessed.
Finish bathroom. I have a list of 11 things I need to do to get my bathroom looking how I want it.
Finish bedroom. Likewise I have a list of 10 things to do/buy to get my bedroom how I want it.
Finish entertainment area. And I have a list of 17 things to do for my entertainment zone, ie shelves, plants, art, etc.
Finish kitchen/lounge. Same thing here, more focused on making it more relaxing and cosy. Last year this was just one goal, but I’ve split it out to increase it’s importance in my thinking.
Put £15k in my ISA. The reason I say £15k is because the new tax year starts in April, and I’ve already filled my allowance for 2025/26. I highly doubt I will next year, because M&S haven’t announced a bonus scheme, and the year before was exceptional…but it’s a goal.
Be On Track With My 2032 “Retirement” Plan. I have a plan where by 2032 I won’t need to work – I will still work, but I just will easily be able to say “fuck it” if remote work is banned by a far-right government for example. It’s on track. There is a less strenuous goal of December 2034, and if I’m only on track for that, then that would suffice.
De-America Services. It’s pretty clear to me that we need to de-couple ourselves from American Big Tech, which is hand-in-hand with the fascist Trump administration. But this is fucking hard – how to entangle 27 years of using US tech? My goal is to swap 3 services out – be it my calendar, Outlook, social media – whatever I can. There is a good guide here if you are interesting in reclaiming your digital sovereignty.
Finish 3 cookbooks. I have 11 cookbooks ongoing, which is kind of insane, but it’s hard not to buy new ones.
Spent £100 on dating. I really don’t know if I can be arsed as I’m sooooo used to life on my own, but I’ll at least make a token effort.
Wish me luck – that seems like a fuck-load to achieve. Maybe one year I’ll make my life easier?
So vaguely I mapped out these as rewards – ie where I will go for my first solo holiday of 2027, but I might change it:
40% UK/Ireland
50% North Europe
55% Med
60% North Africa/Middle East
70% Costa Rica
75% Mauritius
80% Grenada
85% Argentina/Uruguay