Happy New Year.
I am writing this on the morning of January 1 from my parents’ home in the San Francisco Bay Area. Visiting my parents every Christmas has been a family tradition for nearly 20 years, interrupted only briefly during COVID.
Each year, I also reconnect with high school and college friends. I went to Santa Clara High School and then studied Computer Science at UC Berkeley, so many of my friends work at FAANG companies, unicorn startups, or established tech firms.
What stood out this year was a mix of optimism and realism.
Two friends who have been at Google for nearly two decades told me they are genuinely energized. With AI, everything needs to be rewritten. They are back in build-fast mode, and it feels like a startup again. At the same time, their orgs have not added new headcount in over three years.
Another friend, John, is a CTO at a mid-sized tech company that has been aggressively acquiring smaller firms in adjacent markets. Their playbook is disciplined and effective: centralize operations, reduce redundant roles, and improve profitability. AI is heavily leveraged to accelerate integration and efficiency. It is a smart strategy, but it does not create many new jobs.
Lisa, a senior product manager, was laid off a few months ago and recently landed a role at a large ecommerce company. The transition was not easy. She had spent her entire career in software companies, and working in ecommerce at a large retailer is very different. It feels closer to being part of an IT organization than building pure software products. Still, she landed an offer relatively quickly, which is encouraging in today’s market.
As conversations stretched from lunch to dinner, topics naturally shifted to kids and parents. Most of our kids are now in high school or college. Our parents are aging, and elder care is becoming something many of us are starting to confront.
At the same time, we are paying closer attention to our own health. From Bryan Johnson’s work on longevity to Peter Attia’s Outlive, many of us want not just to live longer, but to live better as we age.
One story stood out to me. A stay-at-home mom in our circle enrolled in a two-year sonography program and is currently completing a six-month internship. She travels several hours round-trip, three times a week, to a rural hospital. It is not easy, but she is fully committed. As kids leave home, many parents struggle with purpose. I have seen this firsthand in my own neighborhood.
Healthcare, especially allied health fields like sonography, is one of the strongest career paths right now. Demand is high, pay is solid, geographic flexibility is strong, and the required investment is relatively low.
So what do all these stories mean if your goal is to make 2026 the most successful year of your career?
I am personally navigating several transitions at once: kids leaving home, paying for college, caring for aging parents, and potential relocation. It can be overwhelming. On mornings when I wake up early and feel the weight of it all, I remind myself of three things.
First, put one foot ahead of the other. Take the next step and make progress.
Second, at the end of the day, ask whether I am one percent closer to my goal.
Third, surrender. I am a big fan of Michael A. Singer’s The Surrender Experiment and The Untethered Soul. When you feel overwhelmed, surrendering does not mean giving up. It means letting go of unnecessary resistance so you can focus on action instead of fear. Momentum builds confidence, and momentum creates more momentum.
Next, define one clear career goal for the next six months and go all in.
Choose one outcome. A new job. Higher compensation. A promotion. Launching a side hustle. These are not small goals, and meaningful results take time. Six months is long enough to make real progress but short enough to maintain urgency.
Be clear and specific about the outcome you want. Study what has worked and what has not. If your goal is a promotion, understand the internal playbook. Performance is necessary but rarely sufficient. Observe how others have been promoted. Learn how decisions are actually made, and create a plan to navigate the organization intentionally.
If your goal is a new job, preparation matters more than ever. Analyze job descriptions carefully. Research the company, its culture, and its leadership. Look at each interviewer’s background, what they talk about publicly, and what they seem proud of. You want to reach a point where they feel like you already belong there, even before you are hired.
Commit to getting one percent better every day over six months.
Take care of your physical health. Energy compounds just like skills.
Here is what I currently do:
- Upper body strength training twice a week
- Lower body strength training twice a week
- High intensity interval training using the Norwegian 4×4 protocol three times a week
- Daily walking or Zone 2 cardio for about 45 minutes
- Eight hours of sleep with a bedtime before 10:30 PM
I schedule workouts on my work calendar like any other meeting. If you never miss a meeting with others, you should not miss a meeting with yourself.
Develop at least one source of side hustle income.
Relying entirely on a paycheck is risky. Income can disappear overnight. In a challenging job market, having multiple income streams provides both financial and psychological security. My recommendation is to start with one hour a day. Apply the same one percent improvement mindset. With consistent effort, that hour a day can eventually turn into your first meaningful side income.
Finally, prioritize mental health and purpose.
The stay-at-home mom pursuing a healthcare career does not need the money. Her family is financially secure. What she needs is purpose. Without it, no amount of comfort brings peace. We have all seen people retire and then decline quickly. Humans need purpose, connection, and contribution.
You may feel frustrated or angry about your job right now. I encourage you to invest time in understanding your why. Not in a vague or romantic sense, but in a practical one. What could you do for the next 30 years without burning out? I do not believe everyone should simply follow their passion. But I do believe in finding the intersection of three things: purpose, excellence, and a viable economic engine.
That intersection is where sustainable success lives.
To summarize, making 2026 the most successful year of your career comes down to a few fundamentals:
- Put one foot ahead of the other and get one percent better every day
- Define one clear six-month career goal and commit fully
- Protect your physical health through consistent exercise and sleep
- Build at least one additional income stream
- Invest in finding work that aligns purpose, skill, and economic reality
Execution beats anxiety. Momentum beats fear. One step at a time adds up faster than you think.
If you need help to set your 6-month goal, determine the right strategy and roadmap, have daily check-in Accountability Partner to make sure you’re getting 1% better everyday in the next 6 months, fill out my coaching inquiry form at the bottom of my coaching page or email andrew@nailyourjobinterview.com and ask me about my 6-month “1 goal, 6 month, All in” coaching program.
If you want to start 2026 strong in your job search or career progression, I am also offering a limited time New Year New Job interview preparation package.
The package includes
- resume and LinkedIn profile review
- target employer list definition
- five one on one interview preparation sessions covering behavioral, domain, and technical topics
- unlimited email based consultation
- and compensation negotiation support.
- The price is $1,999, discounted from the regular price of $2,500 (20% discount).
If you are interested, fill out my coaching inquiry form at the bottom of my coaching page or email andrew@nailyourjobinterview.com to schedule a FREE 15-minute consultation.