Your Career Needs A Breaking Change

Forget resolutions. Change your defaults.

Most people start the year with goals but I am going to ask you to do something different. I want you to ignore goals.

Goals have a major bug. They assume you have perfect clarity on the destination. They assume the world will remain static while you execute but that rarely happens. When you don’t know exactly where you are going a goal is just a guess. It is “hope-based” planning.

If we ignore goals then what should we care about? I think we should focus on behavior.

When it comes to outputs like goals you don’t have direct control. You can’t control whether you get a job but you can control how many jobs you apply to and how much you work your network. You cannot control whether you get promoted but you can control the code you ship, how you communicate, and putting in extra effort.

When you fix the behaviors the goals tend to solve themselves.

The problem is that the future is murky. It is noisy. When you sit down to set a rigid goal you are trying to anticipate the unanticipatable. You create a massive structure on a shaky foundation. If just one assumption fails the whole thing falls down. It is fragile and ultimately not useful.

You cannot just patch this system. You need a Breaking Change. In software a breaking change means the new version is incompatible with the old one. That is what we are looking for. We want a clean break. We want to build a version of you that is fundamentally incompatible with your old habits.

This is important because this is not a goal. A goal is something you either achieve or you don’t. It is binary where you win or you lose. This is different. This is about changing how you approach your life and show up.

Instead of goals we will focus on something robust. This exercise only takes fifteen minutes. Note the time right now, and I guarantee you you will feel amazing in just a quarter hour. We are going to analyze your operating system. We will ask three simple questions. What behaviors from 2025 will you Keep? What behaviors will you Stop? And finally what new behaviors will you Start in 2026?

We’ll spend 5 minutes on each question and I promise you it will reenergize you for the upcoming year.

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If you are finding this article useful, you might also enjoy the top five articles from A Life Engineered in 2025:

Nobody Cares How Hard You Work
The 7 Behaviors That Separate Juniors From Seniors
5 Simple Ways to Impress Your Boss
Your Career Needs a Vision, Not More Goals
Your Job Is Not Your Career

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1. STOP (The Deprecation List)

We start with what we are leaving behind. What are the things that we did in 2025 that we want to stop?

We all have "legacy code" in our daily lives, the deprecated behaviors running in the background. These are the habits that used to serve us or that we drifted into by accident. They take up space and energy but don’t add value anymore.

One thing to note is that it is totally fine if the thing you are deleting was useful to you in the past. Maybe working late nights got you that last promotion. That does not mean it is the right tool for the next level. These are the hardest habits to say goodbye to but if it is time it is time.

Here is what I am stopping in 2026.

• Packing my calendar: I used to treat a full calendar as a badge of honor. It is actually a bug. I am stopping the back-to-back meetings.

• Overworking: I am stopping the late nights and the weekend sprints. When the laptop closes I want to be done. Mentally checking emails during dinner ruins my family life.

• Doing domestic chores: I am outsourcing the cleaning. It is not what I am best at and I need that time to recharge.

• Saying “Yes”: I have enough on my plate. If I execute well on what I already have I will be successful. Adding more now is just scope creep.

Now it is your turn. Set a 5 minute timer.

Look at your last month. What drained you? Here are a few common ones to help you brainstorm.

• Deriving your self-worth from being needed or busy.

• Solving problems that aren’t yours just to feel valuable.

• Measuring your progress by comparing yourself to others.

• Confusing presence with contribution.

• Waiting for permission to act on what you already know is right.

• Prioritizing being liked over being respected.

Write yours down. Be ruthless. If it does not add value drop it.

2. KEEP (The Core Features)

What are the things that we did in 2025 that we want to carry into 2026?

We often change things just for the sake of changing them. We get bored with what works. We chase the shiny new thing and neglect the basics.

Do not do that.

You need to identify your “Core Features.” These are the things that keep you stable. They are the foundation that allows you to take risks elsewhere. If you remove these the rest of your life gets shaky.

Here is what I am protecting in 2026.

• Creating content: I will keep making videos and newsletters. It is the engine of my business and I love doing it. I made more content than I ever did in 2025 and I want to keep that train going.

• Family memories: I will keep prioritizing time with my wife and kids. This is the “why” behind all the hard work.

• Working out: I will keep training. My health is the foundation. If my body breaks down everything else stops.

Now it is your turn. Set a 5 minute timer.

What actually worked this year? What gave you energy? Do not let anything new crowd these out.

Here are a few common ones to help you brainstorm.

• Protecting Attention: Treating your focus as a finite resource and defending it accordingly.

• Grounding Relationships: Investing in the people who challenge you and tell you the truth.

• Creating Space: Carving out time where you owe nothing to anyone—no notifications, no availability, no guilt.

• Staying Curious: Learning things that have no immediate payoff just because they interest you.

• Holding the Standard: Maintaining your quality bar even when no one is checking and no one would notice if you didn’t.

• Doing It Anyway: Showing up for the habits that matter even on the days you don’t feel like it.

Identify these things and draw a circle around them. They are not up for negotiation. All you have to do is keep going.

3. START (The Breaking Change)

This is the upgrade. What are the things that we didn’t do in 2025 that we want to start in 2026?

This is about introducing a behavior that the “old you” would not do. This is the Breaking Change.

Here is what I am deploying in 2026.

• Dating my wife: We have been in survival mode with the toddlers. I want to start giving her alone time. I want to reinstate regular date nights to reinvest in our relationship.

• Hobbies: I need space to learn things that have no ROI. I need to play. Creativity requires an idle state and I have been too focused on productivity.

• Hiring stellar people: I cannot scale vertically anymore. I need to scale horizontally. I need to find the right people to help my company grow rather than trying to do it all myself.

Now it is your turn. Set a 5 minute timer.

What have you been avoiding? What is the one thing that feels slightly dangerous?

Here are a few common ones to help you brainstorm.

• Taking Up Space: Putting yourself forward instead of waiting to be invited, whether that’s speaking up in a meeting or volunteering for visibility.

• Owning Your Needs: Treating what you need to succeed as legitimate rather than inconvenient to others.

• Valuing Your Time: Saying no without guilt because your hours are worth as much as anyone else’s.

• Embracing Visible Incompetence: Asking for help and admitting you don’t know, even when people are watching.

• Betting on Yourself: Making moves that assume you’ll figure it out rather than waiting until you feel ready.

• Letting Go of Control: Delegating outcomes, not just tasks, and trusting others to deliver without you.

Write yours down. If it does not feel uncomfortable it is probably not a breaking change.

The Reflection

How do you feel right now? Hopefully you feel a bit lighter. Hopefully you feel a bit more focused. I want you to take the top three items from each list. Write them on a physical sticky note in small writing. Stick it to the side of your monitor where you will see it every single day.

You are going to mess up. You are going to catch yourself checking email at dinner. You are going to say “yes” to a meeting you should have declined. That is fine. You didn’t fail.

Just notice it. Nudge yourself back to the new behavior. Keep nudging until the new behavior becomes the default.

Happy New Year. I hope you shed the behaviors that are no longer serving you and show up the way you were meant to in 2026.

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