This post is going to be depressing. Now I want to be clear, I'm very grateful for what I have. I love what I do and I have great friends who are truly a blessing in my life. That being said, I'm very behind on my personal hobby-related goals, even though I'm fine with where I am professionally and socially right now. What really matters in life is learning. And anyone who actually cares about learning knows it has nothing to do with school or classes or jobs. So what do I want to learn? Several languages, the entire canon of western literature, and photorealistic art skills for sure. These were things I said I want to focus on this year when I made my 2026 new year goals back in January. There are other things I want to learn, like music theory and math. But music seemed like it needed to be sacrificed because the list was already overwhelming. And math was something I didn't realize I wanted to learn about until well into the year after I already made the goals.
When I realized I wasn't making much progress on my goals, I considered changing them from 2026 goals to a 3-year plan to give myself more time to achieve everything. But I'm still not sure if I can do everything. Lets go through the list now. I'm going to try to figure out if there's actually any hope of achieving these goals.
Sharing of academic ideas
Now, one of the categories of goals is, "sharing of academic ideas." I started a podcast called PhDeezNuts, but I only released one episode and then abandoned it. But that's fine! I'm just going to take that off the list because it doesn't matter for now. I'll return to the podcast when I'm ready.
I was going to do a Substack post, presentation, or video on Longfellow's The Song of Hiawatha, but I don't think I will get around to this one this year. So what goal does that leave under 'sharing of academic ideas'? I would say it's writing a post about John Milton's views on marriage. I'm arguing that they have a continuity in some nineteenth-century novels that also have unconventional views on marriage. I have read Paradise Lost as well as Stephan Greenblatt's The Rise and Fall of Adam and Eve, where Greenblatt tells us all about Milton's love life and his views on marriage. I have read Jude the Obscure by Thomas Hardy, which quotes Milton in an epigraph and questions the institution of marriage. I have also read Middlemarch by George Eliot, in which Dorothea and Will achieve the Miltonic ideal of marriage. The books I still need to read to write this post are probably just Milton's divorce tracts. At least the first one. So I realized I am just one book away from feeling qualified to write this piece for a general, non-academic audience!
Reading goals
Now, I'm also going to modify my 2026 reading list. The goal is to read 69 books. I will probably achieve that. I had some books that I assigned to myself, but now I feel like my reading interests keep changing and I'd rather see where curiosity takes me than stick to a list. Right now, I'm reading Anna Karenina, On the Origin of Species, and a self-help book for people who have too many interests called Refuse to Choose. Of these, Anna Karenina is the most interesting so far, but Origin was the only one on the 2026 reading plan. But Anna Karenina isn't a waste just because it wasn't part of the plan and was something I got into later. I'm going to take off some of the required titles but keep the quantity of 69.
Art goals
The next category of goals is art goals. I realized what the problem in my art is. You see my technique is decent now, and my content is very fun and cool. But I have not yet been able to marry technique with content. If I am able to marry these two, I will finally be able to produce the kind of art I really want to.
These are some drawings I did purely for 'technique,' their content is boring. This is just a cupcake and a rubber ducky. Just boring still life that I used YouTube tutorials for. I am fine with the colouring technique. That's not what needs to improve right now. These drawings are also okay, I'm satisfied with them for now.
Now, there is an issue here that I realized and it is that I rely too much on colour to make drawings look appealing. I love colour, so of course I don't really want to make my favourite pieces less colourful. However, technique pieces are not supposed to be fun. They are supposed to be boring af. You draw something boring to force yourself to improve. It's the only way. I am going to make at least 8 more technique drawings this year, and I will try to make sure they are in black and white.
I have also made some fun drawings or content drawings. If the technique drawings are like intense gym sessions, fun drawings are like 15 minute walks. That means you still need to do them to stay fit, even though they won't improve your results dramatically. But they are needed to keep your hand and eye trained.
These are the content drawings. This is the Set animal from Egyptian mythology. He embodies chaos. Notice how the colouring is good and the creature is interesting, but this is not a drawing you would praise for its technique. But it was fun.
A cupcake and a cinnamon bun. Horrible technique. Honestly, not great colouring either. This one was quite rushed. I used a DrawSoCute tutorial and those are for kids. But you guys know I know how to make a good cupcake, because I showed you a better drawing of one already.
And here we have a forg. I am part of a forg appreciation club, and so this drawing is actually up on the club's office wall. I'm not joking about this btw. My life is pretty weird.
Now this one is pretty bad. These are some characters from an unfinished fantasy pocket novel I am working on. Their names are Mariah, Nali, Lysander, and Ostara. Although these names are subject to change. Mariah is a warrior woman from the same country as Nali. Nali is a loser and the protagonist. She is supposed to be a loser because she is from the conquered country and instead of trying to liberate it like Mariah, she works as a castle maid in the country that conquered her. And she sucks at everything. Lysander is a handsome flutist who Nali loves, although it is not reciprocated. He is from an unconquered country. Ostara is the princess of the evil country that conquers everything, and Nali is her maid.
This is an ahuitzotl, which is a dog-like creature in Aztec mythology that has a hand on its tail that it uses to drown people and take them to the realm of the rain gods. To be honest, I kind of like this one. I was inspired by some designs of wolves in a pet collecting game I play called Chicken Smoothie.
Okay, to be honest I actually love this one. This is my baby. I don't care if you don't like it. It's inspired by Michi Bizhiw, an aquatic lynx in Ojibwe folklore. I have a real soft spot for this one and it's the best drawing in this post. I made it my Discord profile pic and also turned it into a WhatsApp sticker.
An axolotl doing the pleading emoji face. This one had a good reception among my frens. Feel free to crop and use in your Discord server or something.
I don't like this one much, but it depicts some characters from Measure for Measure. They are Isabella, Mariana, Angelo, and Claudio. Isabella wishes to be a nun, but Angelo, who is a horrible person and has control of the state as the deputy of the duke wants to sleep with her. Mariana wants to marry Angelo but he has forsaken her. Claudio is the brother of Isabella, who Angelo wants to execute for having sex outside of marriage even though Angelo is worse!!!
I will be doing 2 more of these maintenance drawings.
After that, I will make 10 drawings that attempt to marry content and technique. They will be full colour scenes with backgrounds and multiple characters, sort of like storybook illustrations.
Creative writing goals
I would like to finish the draft of my story on medieval Spain, then revise it a few times after reading Teresa of Avila. I would like to revise and publish two of my poems, which are called 'Fish' and 'Parable of the Wolverine.' The Spain story is called 'You Told me about the Wakwak Tree.' I write so much poetry, but I am actually better at prose.
I would also like to fill up my whole diary and make at least 12 blog posts.
Language learning goals
I'm going to lock in on Anishinaabemowin and sign up for a French class. I took out the other languages for now because this is enough.
Fitness goals
I need to lock in on this!!!! Do more resistance training and cardio. I use an elliptical for cardio. On days when I don't want to go to the gym for resistance training, I use dumbbells that I have at home.
Skincare goals
Alright I am pretty satisfied with my skincare routine. I love the cleanser I use (the brand is called The Ordinary) and the moisturizer, which is Olay. Both are very cheap. I use sunscreen too. I stopped using rosewater toner because I actually think it was making my skin worse. So I'm doing cleanser, moisturizer, and sunscreen every day. My skin is soft and looks healthy. Sometimes, I get acne. But it's not really that bad and fades quickly.
However, I still have blackheads that are a huge problem. I don't use pore strips because I know they aren't good for your skin. I need to experiment with a salicylic acid toner or retinol. Someone gave me a Sephora gift card, so now I will be able to skinmaxx.
Professional goals
My goals were to try some volunteering. Right now, I am doing volunteer tutoring and I also volunteer for a mental health helpline. My other goals are to try some paid tutoring once I have a bit more experience with volunteer tutoring. I am also going to try a work simulation on Forage related to consulting. For those of you who don't know, Forage work simulations are free online. They're to help you figure out if you would even like a job before you try to apply for it. I will try to consulting simulation. I might hate it, or maybe not. But it will be important information! I have been taking some Excel classes. I will finish these. I have an idea for a small project that will use Excel and I will get started on that once I finish the online Excel course I'm doing. To improve my math, I will grind some textbooks on statistics and probability or find some online lessons.
After doing all this self-reflection and pondering, here is the final goals list for the rest of 2026. I think this is perfectly manageable:
1. Write a blog post or article on John Milton's views on marriage and how they may have influenced nineteenth-century novels on marriage.
2. Read Babel by R.F. Kuang
3. Read Emma by Jane Austen
4. Read Confessions by Augustine
5. Finish reading Darwin's On the Origin of Species
6. Read AI Morality by David Edmonds
7. Read 69 books. So far, I have read 24.
8. Make 8 drawings that are only pencil sketches. No colour. These are for improving technique.
9. Make 2 silly drawings with colour.
10. Make 10 drawings that combine technique and appealing subject matter with colour to look like storybook illustrations.
11. Finish the first draft of my short story 'You Told me about the Wakwak tree'
12. Read Teresa of Avila's autobiography
13. Revise the draft of 'You Told me about the Wakwak tree' after reading Teresa of Avila. Edit it and try to submit it to a contest or publication.
14. Revise and publish my poem 'Fish'
15. Revise and publish my poem 'Parable of the Wolverine'
16. Fill up my whole diary
17. Write 4 more blog posts for this blog
18. Finish the Kidon Miinawaa Anishinaabemowin course
19. Finish my personal Anishinaabemowin Anki deck
20. Spend at least 40 hours on Anishinaabemowin on Rosetta Stone or Pimsleur
21. Finish reading one whole issue of Oshkaabewis Native Journal in Anishinaabemowin
22. Passively listen to every Anishinaabemowin episode of the Wiikwemikong podcast. I have 8 left so far.
23. Sign up for a French class. I have access to some free ones.
24. 100 resistance training sessions. 17 out of 100 so far. lmao it's not going so well.
25. 44 cardio sessions. 19 out of 100 so far. Yes this is bad. Yes I am overweight. But there is hope that I can fix this!!!
26. Try salicylic acid toner or retinol in skincare routine, see if effective in reducing blackheads
27. Continue volunteering tutoring
28. Try paid tutoring
29. Continue mental health helpline volunteering
30. Try becoming a volunteer trainer for the mental health org
31. Try BCG's work simulation on Forage
32. Finish the Excel course on LinkedIn Learning
33. Do a project using Excel
34. Finish a stats textbook
35. Do some stats practice with online resources
Alright, this seems like a straightforward list now. I'll let you guys know how it goes.
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