Cultivating Excellence: When 2026 Is About Depth, Not Expansion

In my first week back coaching, I’ve encountered a question that’s surfacing again and again: Is it acceptable to NOT have a stretch goal for 2026? Is it acceptable to deliberately focus on refining what already exists rather than expanding into new territory?

I met with Ashley early in the week, and something she said resonated with me. “I’d like to work on time and energy efficiencies,” she began. “I’ve had moments lately where I feel that I put in just the right amount of time and effort and it was great. I could leave the office feeling more calm. My colleagues noticed, and my kids noticed that I was just a nicer person in general. How can I work on the right amount of time and effort so that my vibe reflects that?”

The Right Amount

It’s interesting that our culture emphasizes stretch goals and setting a high bar. Most high-achieving Turbo Thinkers© with whom I work do the same for themselves. This creates a situation in which it’s hard to succeed because we continuously move the goalpost. It also creates a situation which can leave us overstimulated, overwhelmed, and exhausted by the end of the year.

A Conversation with Future Me

At the end of December, I had a similar coaching session with a dear colleague in Montreal. In this situation, I was the client. I wanted to know what would future Adela say to today Adela. In order to do so, I needed to know — who is future Adela?

The keyword that came out of this beautiful session was patience.

The 2026 me takes time. She savors what she accomplished in 2025. She is pausing and observing and appreciating. She is polishing and refining. She is enjoying the garden that she planted. She is discovering the novelty that stimulates her Turbo Thinking brain in what is already there. She notices and appreciates what is developing and growing. She does not see the need to plant more seeds or rush into new opportunities. She has the ability to pause. She can ask: Am I the only one who can do this? Can I let someone else do it? Does it have to happen now? Could it be later? Does it have to happen at all? She has the ability to slow down.

2025 was a year of work hard and play hard, but maybe 2026 can be work soft and play soft.

Intention, Not Complacency

This is not about settling or becoming complacent. It’s about making a deliberate, strategic choice about where to direct our finite reserves of time, energy, and attention. It’s about recognizing that depth and mastery require sustained focus, and that constantly pivoting to the next new thing dilutes our impact and exhausts our resources.

When we choose to refine and optimize what we’ve already built, we’re not stagnating. We’re cultivating excellence. We’re allowing ourselves to move from competence to mastery, from good to exceptional. This requires discipline, discernment, and the confidence to say no to the seductive pull of novelty. The question isn’t, “Should I do less?” The question is, “Where can I deepen my investment to create more meaningful results?”

How Will I Know When I’m Succeeding?

For me personally, it means that I’m reading fiction at night before bed. It means that my Turbo Thinking brain is slowing down and enjoying this moment. It means that I remember to take care of myself and serve myself first so that I can serve others and take care of others. I can check my capacity and rather than overestimate it, I can underestimate it.

Maybe 2026 is about refining, tending to the garden and enjoying its beauty. Maybe it’s not about adding more and more. Maybe the new goal could be about depth instead of expansion. It could be to maximize and increase the harvest of what seeds we’ve already planted. It doesn’t have to be creating and adding new offerings, new products, new services, new business lines.

Maybe we can look at what we already do and work on doing it well. Maybe we don’t need to seek out something new. Maybe we can trust that the opportunity will come and that we will see it. We can also learn to trust our ability to pause and determine if we need to jump on that opportunity right now, this very second.

Cultivating the Garden

How can we go into 2026 observing and tending what we already have?

When I sit on my back porch and look out, I can appreciate the butterflies landing on the flowers, the herbs, the salad greens, and the peppers. I can notice the new shoots on the willow tree that I planted. I can also see the weeds and decide what to do with these voluntary plants that don’t serve me.

The space in my garden is limited. Rather than continuing to plant so that it is over capacity and nothing grows well, I can curate and tend to what is already there so that it receives ample water and light to grow big and strong.

Voltaire said it best: “Il faut cultiver notre jardin.” We must cultivate our garden.

In 2026, could we cultivate an ecosystem full of hope and light and love in which all beings care for one another? How will we know when we are making progress? Will it be like Ashley, who can notice her vibe (her temperament)? Will it be by noticing that you have more time for a relaxation activity? Will it be measuring hours of quality sleep?

How will you see that your 2026 is flowing without striving, growing without pushing?

Flourishing without forcing?

What are you already doing well?

How can you refine your process?

How can you tend to the seeds you've already planted?

How will you measure your progress?