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As we enter a new year, it’s common for some of us to reflect and set goals for the coming year. This can take the form of resolutions, to-do lists, and other goal-setting activities.

While setting goals can work well for some, it’s not always effective for everyone.

The pass/fail nature of goal setting, in which a person either succeeds in achieving a goal or fails, can be ineffective for some people because it can create unnecessary pressure and lead to a negative mindset.

If a person feels that they have failed to achieve a goal, they may become discouraged and lose motivation to continue working towards it. This can be especially true if they have set unrealistic or overly ambitious goals or if they have experienced unexpected setbacks or challenges along the way.

Furthermore, the pass/fail approach can be limiting because it does not allow for the possibility of growth or learning.

Because of this, I’ve chosen to adopt an alternative approach to setting intentions for the new year.

For quite a while now (since at least 2015), I’ve implemented the “Three Words” exercise created by Chris Brogan.

Rather than setting goals, the three words exercise involves defining three words that align with your intentions, energy, and focus for that year.

Chris explains it in this way:

The My Three Words idea is simple. Choose 3 words (not 1, not 4) that will help guide your choices and actions day to day. Think of them as lighthouses. “Should I say yes to this project?” “Well, does this align with my three words?”

I’ve found that this method is much more effective for me than setting goals. It removes the pass/fail factor and instead treats personal development as a journey and promotes continuous improvement regardless of specific outcomes or milestones.

In short, it’s been a powerful way to set myself up for success in the coming year, and I have noticed that this exercise has really helped me make progress in my personal and professional life.

Before I share my words for 2026, I will reflect on my words for 2025. Last year, I chose “elevate, present, and thrive” as my words.

Elevate: I was on a mission to level up my skills in a lot of areas. I feel pretty solid in my ability to serve my clients, but I have a hunger for acquiring deep knowledge of the nuances of financial planning. I didn't earn any new credentials in 2025, but I did go much deeper into tax and bookkeeping. Additionally, I launched a new set of resources for other financial advisors, which I'm pretty excited about. I think I did pretty well in 2025 for this word.

Present: I wanted to be more present in a lot of ways. I wanted to get better at putting my phone away and being in the moment with friends and family. I would say I did "OK" on this one. I was able to focus a bit more on relationships, and I did manage my distractions a bit better. I still have some work to do, but it's definitely an improvement.

Thrive: I don't feel like I really embraced this word in 2025. It was sort of business as usual, and we didn't travel as a family. So sort of meh.

Overall, I was mostly happy with how well I stayed in alignment with my three words in 2025.

So while 2025 wasn't perfect (because life is not perfect), I maintained some integrity with my three words, and I'm pretty satisfied with how the year turned out.

So what about 2026? For this coming year, I’ve chosen the following three words: vital, durable, and anchor.

Vital: This word is selected as a little bit of a continuation of the health and wellness theme I have used in previous years, but with a little bit of a twist. I do want to continue my focus on physical health and wellness, but also to combine it with a perspective on what's vital in my life. Not just physical health, but spiritual and mental health, as well as vital relationships in my life.

Durable: I have built lots and lots of systems and workflows in my professional life and some in my personal life as well. In fact, I'm pretty well known for being very experienced with processes and workflows. This is my year to use those workflows to continue growing my business and to continue strengthening various aspects in my personal life. These systems I've built are very durable, and my goal is to avoid tweaking them too much and simply rely on my durable systems to run my life and business. By avoiding too much change and tinkering, I can make progress with the systems I've already built.

Anchor: This is simply a word to keep me rooted in what is truly most important to me in life – my family, my friends, and my faith. These are the "anchors" in my life.

I love this exercise because it avoids the head trash that can result from the pass/fail nature of goal-setting. Don’t get me wrong, there is a time and place for setting goals. But for me, setting three words is much more effective when defining a theme for an entire year.

I love this method of approaching the new year and highly recommend learning more about it. You can get the full explanation and instructions from Chris Brogan’s three words video.

If you decide to define three words of your own, I would love to hear about it! Feel free to reach out and tell me the story behind your three words. I’m here to support you in any way that I can.