Jordan Bench

During my 2 weeks off for christmas break, i’ve wrestled with what I want to dedicate myself to in 2026.

This afternoon, I sat in the sauna after a god workout and while everyone was taking a nap. While in the sauna, i turned on speech-to-text with ai, and verbalized all of my feelings as a way to vent and get some feedback. I’ve been feeling overwhelmed lately and needed to dump all my thoughts somewhere so i could try to make sense of them.

As a said things out loud, I realized… It’s impossible do everything really well all at the same time. Things can have a season.

Some things I'm juggling (bullet points):

Being a present dad and intentional husband
Full-time software engineer
Early-stage founder
Bishopric counselor and follower of Christ
My health and wellness
General Contractor (finish basement)

So i drew up this yearly sequence plan for 2026 to help me commit to things more easily. And yes I drew this.

My 2026 yearly sequence plan

Leading up to today, my list of 'goals' for 2026 seemed to be all over tha place. With no real focus. I'll name several things on my list for next year (numbered list):

To inspire those around me through words and actions (wife, kids, church, work, family).
Profitable business that I can continue to work on growing
A healthy and fit body
Clear thoughts through reading and writing. Mostly writing.
Memories with my wife and kids. And more video (Travel, dates, outdoors, and planned activities.)
A finished basement.
Self improvement: go to therapy, attend a tony robbins event, think week alone, be uniquely myself
Live with Gratitude
Teach my kids things: curiosity, hard work, love
Continue traditions: 4th of july hike, utah summer camping, dinner discussions, winter ski,

Questions I'd like to answer by the end of the year (numbered list):

Most memorable experiences with kids
Best investment of the year
Worst investment of the year
Biggest personal loss
Coolest moment
Frame-breaking person of the year
What 2026 taught me

Phrases we live by in our family:

"Work Hard and Dream Big and Be Honest"
"Love God, Love People"
"Child of God"

One question i’ve thought about recently, is “What things light me up?” it’s a good question. I have a list of things I like doing but don’t make time for. I could get lit up by any one of those things but I don’t get lit up by much these days. Mostly trying to make money. Which is a dumb thign ot get lit up over. I don’t want to come off as unhappy or ungrateful but it’s not as clear which things give me energy and get me pumped.

Things that would interest me, but I don't make time for (bellet points):

Gardening
Endurance training for events.
Learning to cook
Storytelling and public speaking
Seeing old friends
Service for others
Movies based on my interests
Pickleball
Yard work
Adventures
Book Clubs
Hikes

What things do I like to do daily (bullet points):

Lifting weights and running (Home gym)
Cooking amazing meals that taste great. (Kitchen)
Read, write, and watch YouTube. (Home Office)
Working to provide financially.
Doing fun things with my kids.
Go on walks and talk.

So what are my goals for 2026? (checkboxes)

[ ] To have a finished basement
[ ] To have a profitable business
[ ] Memories with my family
[ ] To be healthy and fit
[ ] To continue traditions
[ ] To work on myself
[ ] To have written blog posts

Now, I should probably get clearer around what each goal actually means and how I plan to accomplish them. But that’s not the fun part about setting intentions. So i’ll document that here.

Things I still need to do as part of the new year planning and goals (checkboxes):

[x] Clarify measurable goals - http://localhost:3000/writing/2026-measureable-goals
[ ] Schedule what i can ahead of time
[ ] Get light and detox social apps, notification, closet and anything else.
[ ] Define the year by 1 thing.
[x] Close out 2025 - https://www.jordanbench.com/writing/2025-year-in-review