2026 has been a not so interesting year. In a good way. Coming off a terrible 2025—the literal worst year of my life, no, I’m not gonna elaborate—I had a lot on my mind, a lot to rethink life wise and business wise.
I wanted to dedicate 2026 to resetting and cutting out the fluff. To that end, I’ve been tracking what improved, what stayed the same, and what got worse.
I thought compiling the three most relevant metrics into a post might be interesting (perhaps useful?) to someone in a similar spot.
Probably a bit too early, but I don’t anticipate having much free time by EOY.
Culled. Hard.
2026’s theme was ‘Culling’. Workflows; relationships, routines. Anything and everything I deemed no longer worth my time or effort.
Professionally, that manifested in a lot of tool and pipeline creation to minimize time spent on admin. But also in a lot of difficult choices about what and who was worth keeping around and sticking around in business and in life.
It has been an uphill process for sure, one I don’t think will ever be complete. Life has the tendency to throw curveballs when you least expect them. But I’m making good progress towards the ever so elusive state of ataraxia.
My only regret is not going minimalist sooner.
Worked On Seven New Projects
This is loclait’s busiest year yet volume wise, but it probably doesn’t sound like a lot. I used to average 10~ projects a year as a freelancer.
Though I’ve never been this proud of those. Because each one of these seven is someone trusting my judgment, my approach, and letting me do my thing to get things just right.
Someone trading the comfort of a drone for the judgment of an expert.
I’m especially proud of two of these and looking forward to talking more about them in the future.
Collaborated With Six New Partners
Not really a metric I tend to care for, we sign on with three partners a year on average, but rarely end up working with most due to our ‘unique’ stipulations.
However, this year’s roster was a highlight for a couple of reasons. Almost all of them had us in mind for a project by the time of contact, and all of them reached out independently (not via a recommendation, nor due to solicitation).
The last time I actively solicited partnerships was, I think, in 2024.
Since, I found it more effective to just talk about how I do things, and increasingly more importantly, how I don’t. I think marketing ghouls call that ‘Anti-positioning’ nowadays.
Personal Thoughts
Overall, I think the most valuable pivot—on a personal level—was the culling.
Putting myself through that momentary stress has done wonders for my cortisol levels long term.
On a purely business level, the most valuable pivot was me speaking my mind unfiltered. Well, more unfiltered than usual, I guess.
It’s nice to have an approachable, inoffensive persona that keeps doors open and prospects unguarded. But it’s much nicer when everyone comes into a room knowing what to expect and what they want.
By Seif Chaib.
Originally posted on Linkedin.