2026 and your goals. Let's try to set them for Q1.
Since I haven't been able to meet my work goals very well in the last few quarters, I now plan to approach them more systematically and not push myself too hard on work goals, as that ultimately led to problems that made my plan less sustainable.
So here is my structure and list:
Work goals:
👉 Edit min. 15 pre-recorded YouTube videos
👉 Remove inactive newsletter subscribers, which will be in the hundreds (this will be mentally difficult)
👉 Product launch on Product Hunt (this is a specific product, not a random product)
Personal goals:
👉 Stay consistent in exercising
👉 Learn 4 languages (+ read lessons from textbooks I ordered), ideally every day
👉 Eat less sweets
👉 Go to bed before midnight more often (and not at 2, like I did before)
What are your goals for the first quarter of 2026?
Replies
My personal goals would be
1.Get my first clients
2.Develop more with AI
3.Focus on my business
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@dragos_marincas I have my fingers crossed for you.
@busmark_w_nika thanks! Appreciate your support
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@dragos_marincas You are welcome :)
I’ve been in a similar spot with my own work goals. For me, the big shift was getting more systematic (and less “push harder”) with my SEO goals for rivieraproduce.com.
Instead of trying to do everything at once, I’m focusing on a simple, sustainable cadence: pick a few priority pages each week, improve them (intent match, internal links, on-page fixes), track visibility/keyword movement, and then iterate. It’s basically “small, consistent optimizations” over heroic sprints.
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@ursula_schultz Probably I should refocus on a few things rather then trying to complete everything. :D
Great list, Nika! I can totally relate to the "systematic approach" – pushing too hard usually backfires. Good luck with your Product Hunt launch!
For my Q1 2026, I’m focusing on a mix of scaling and finishing chapters:
📚 Reading: Read more books (I have some favorites in mind, happy to share/chat about them if anyone is interested!).
🚀 Business: Continue building my website and scaling my new Shopify app business.
🎓 Education: Finally finish my degree in E-Commerce.
✨ Life: Simply enjoy the beautiful things in life (balance is key).
Let's make this a great quarter! 💪
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@noel_dario_andres1 Thank you, Noel :) What books do you want to read? :)
Don't drink alcohol for a year (4health)
Run 100 Miles
Cycle 400 Miles
75 theProgram workouts
Water therapy: 50 cold plunges + 50 heat sessions
Monthly date night
Host a friend’s game night
Own a Gun (home defense)
Learn a skill: Gun safety
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@trackslife These are pretty useful for health. Are you planning launch them all here? :)
@busmark_w_nika Yes, still testing with a small group of users at the moment but excited about how its coming together.
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@trackslife Then lemme know about the launch ;)
Hey! Love seeing this structured approach: scaling back the intensity to make it sustainable is smart. I've been there with burnout from over-pushing work goals, and that "less is more" mindset really helps long-term.
My Q1 goals lean into that same vibe:
Work goals (Focido-focused):
👉 Ship core accountability features: get real people witnessing daily tasks, no more solo grind.
👉 Hit 500 early users who stick around (testing that "why bother without witnesses?" hook).
👉 One solid Product Hunt launch (fingers crossed, no forum blocks this time!).
Personal goals:
👉 Morning walks 5x/week - clears the head for coding sprints.
👉 Read one non-tech book/month (starting with something on intrinsic motivation).
👉 Bed by 11pm, because 2am regrets are real.
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@vladimir_solovev How your bed time is going? :D I am trying my best, but I go to sleep after midnight LOL :D
@busmark_w_nika I have the same thing. But it can be fixed. I just need to be stubborn.
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@vladimir_solovev Stubbornness is my core character trait :D
Seeing this only now, hope I'm not too late to the party! One of my goals for 2026 is to play more with AI, let it bring my ideas for products to life - as a goal, I'd love to bring 1 product / Q to life (of course, to Product Hunt as well).
Let's see 👀
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@ruxandra_mazilu you can join literally anytime :D What product do you want to launch? :)
Super late to this party, but here goes:
Work Goals:
>> Ship our company's AI product this month - get real world feedback and scale that product
>> Ship a 1 solopreuner product and see if I can get anyone to pay me something for providing them value - any money, is my first step.
>> Find and befriend other solo/small team founders builders who will keep me on the good and straight path (see above)
Personal Goals:
>> Go ham with my Meta Ray-Bans just have fun creating content for no other reason than fun (sample - https://x.com/Bingeljell/status/2018381164596408751?s=20)
>> Get my kids to build stuff - got an FPGA board and a R-pi at home, want them to get familiar with tech
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@nikhilshahane You are not late to the party. Parties start later anyway :D
What products do you want to finish? :)
@busmark_w_nika True that! :D
I spent Jan thinking about what products might have some market and monetization potential; shortlisted a few and got planning. But life is funny...
I run a Strategy + Creative agency in India and had to send out some proposals for new biz in early Jan. Absolutely hated our old word doc format and manual approach of doing stuff.
So I started building a tool to help automate it. Shipped a few proposals for work and kept adding stuff I wanted. 2 weeks later and I've built out a full proposal suite that's AI Agent first, fully encrypted and can work as a pipeline tracker with user analytics, templates, a wizard to guide you through the proposal and of course a bunch of templates.
Figured, I'd just go for it! I want to launch it this week and see where it goes.
That's one reason I ended up here too.
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@nikhilshahane Cool! How big is the agency? (I mean the number of employees or so) :)
@busmark_w_nika We're at ~80 I think - all inclusive. The general trend across agencies (at least in India) is that - we're dying a horrible slow death :P - (I wrote about it last year - https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/death-thousand-cuts-implosion-advertising-industry-nikhil-shahane-l5byf/ - and given all the mergers in the last few months I think I got it right. I wish I hadn't though :( )
Triforce Todos
Love how you’re balancing work and personal goals. The focus on sustainability is so important 👏
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@abod_rehman Abdul, not gonna lie. I am not doing great at balancing. Now, it is mostly work what I do :D
Hi! Your goal list is so clear, and the "sustainability" focus is awesome! Here are my 2026 Q1 goals:
Work: Secure 3 key client renewals, optimize contract templates, publish 2 industry insights
Personal: 3x weekly strength training, practice business English, meditate, read 2 books/month
Let's keep moving steadily—no burnout, just consistent progress! 💪
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@vivianzheng In what industry are you operating in? (when you want to 3 client renewals)?
Thanks for an amazing question! I adore such types of discussions
My work goals:
- Take a course on Gen AI for creating images
- Use AI tools to streamline content creation and save time
-Continue developing Product Hunt
My personal goals:
- Continue growing my personal art Instagram
- Publish my book (a dream since childhood and I am planning to make it real in Q1)
- Start learning Turkish and continue improving Hebrew
- Sport every day
- finish knitting a hat& a scarf (hat is ready)