Hello 2026!
Systems > Resolutions
Dear Learners,
Happy New Year 2026!.🎉😀
Wish you a Happy New Year and a great start to 2026. Financially, too!!
Most people treat New Year as a "reset" button. But as students of the market and of life, we know that real progress doesn't come from resets—it comes from compounding. Just as a great business reinvests its earnings to grow, we must reinvest our time, capital, and curiosity into ourselves.
Systems over Resolutions
"Goals are about the results you want to achieve. Systems are about the processes that lead to those results." — Atomic Habits, James Clear
As we step into 2026, I want to challenge the readers to stop "resolving" and start "designing." In the words of James Clear, "You do not rise to the level of your goals. You fall to the level of your systems."
Stop making resolutions that break by February. Instead, build systems that compound.
Some systems that I find useful:
Undistracted Learning: Every morning, before you check your whatsapp, email or the markets, read 20 mins. Treat this as a non-negotiable appointment with your future self.
Learning Tax: Spend guilt-free if you are spending it for personal growth. This isn't an "expense"—it’s your R&D expense.
Arrange a small, automatic monthly transfer (even if it's just the price of two coffees) into a separate "Knowledge Fund." Use this money—guilt-free—exclusively for books, premium newsletters, workshops, or software tools that make you better at what you do.
Read Voraciously: A library isn't a trophy case; it’s a laboratory. To truly grow, we need to shift our focus toward the Anti-Library. Read as wide as possible - Skim, scan, and sample books on topics you know nothing about, helps in building your "lateral thinking" and allows you to connect dots.
The concept of Anti-Library is quite popular from Nassim Taleb’s Works - a constant, humble reminder of everything you have yet to discover.
Read some books deeply, 2 or 3 core topics that define your career or passion. For these, don't just read; study. Most of the books in the following list are always handy for a re-read.
Organise for Action: I have found the PARA method, borrowed from Tiago Forte’s works, very effective in maintaining digital declutter. Basically organise the notes and documents in order of actionability.
Projects: Short-term efforts with a deadline
Areas: Ongoing responsibilities that require a standard over time
Resources: Topics of ongoing interest
Archives: Everything else that is no longer active.
"Social Proof" Circuit Breaker: A major threat to our financial goals is spending triggered by "Lifestyle Creep" driven by social proof. If you are tempted to buy something over a predetermined threshold just sit on it a day or two to avoid impulsive purchases.
The Philosophy of Wealth: Naval’s Triad
Of all the frameworks I’ve explored on this journey of lifelong learning, a key learning that has stuck with me is the triad from The Almanack of Naval Ravikant.
Wealth creation is framed as a derivative of three core pillars: Compounding, Leverage, and Judgement.
All real wealth comes from Compounding—not just in your bank account, but in your relationships and your reputation. To accelerate this, apply Leverage: using code, media, or capital to work while you sleep. However, because leverage is a force multiplier for your decisions, Judgement becomes your most valuable skill. In an age of infinite leverage, one right decision can lead to outsized returns, making your ability to see the truth more valuable than mere hard work.
The goal isn't to reach a finish line, but to build a machine that keeps running. Shift focus from fragile resolutions to robust systems.
Move away from the anxiety of "trying harder" and toward the quiet confidence of "building better." The compounding of these small, systemic shifts is what eventually creates the "overnight success" everyone else will wonder about years from now. Let’s stop chasing goals and start designing a life that makes growth inevitable!!
Happy New Year!!Thank You for all the support!!
Wishing everyone a wonderful 2026 ahead…filled with joy and prosperity :)
Invest in yourself…. be a learning machine.
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The systems over resolutions framing is one of those ideas that seems obvious once you hear it but is easy to forget. The Knowledge Fund concept is smart, treating learning as R&D rather than discretionary spend changes the whole mental accounting around personal development. I've noticed the Anti-Library approach works well for building lateral thinking, having books you haven't read yet sitting around actually reinforces intellectual humility. Good reminder to shift from anxiety-driven goal chasing to designing systems that make growth more automatic.