My personal philosophy for 2026. These are the personal standards I hold myself to.
We are all imperfect. It's foolish to upset yourself when people screw up. Any standard you have for others, you should apply to yourself. Understand the difference between caring too much and righteous indignation. As for apologies, make and accept them, but don't forget what happened. Make sure you are genuinely concerned with correcting your own missteps. Everyone including yourself has capacity for change. Use mistakes as learning opportunities and accept valid criticism.
Equally important: cut out needlessly foolish behaviour entirely. Nobody is the centre of the universe. The best we can do is get a grip: on our own habits, on owning up to things we did, and on our emotional responses to things done to us.
This is a two-way street. The modern trend of "infodumping" is fun when welcomed, but conversations don't work like Twitter threads. Don't be afraid to share your ideas, but keep check over how feasible or realistic they are all the same; employ tact. Additionally, respond to things, don't react to them. Try to be a good listener, too. Be nice to people. The world extends beyond yourself.
Tradition can be rejected if causes pain. I think more people should "just be themselves." Embrace cringe and don't let the fear factor imposed by others get to you. Just remember that this does not apply to public displays of sexual behaviour; keep that between you and whoever else consents. (So many people forget this...) Express yourself. Acknowledge repressiveness in that it exists, but don't play to it for social credit. Too many people are concerned with fitting moulds.
Caveat: What may seem as freeing to you might be trampling over someone else. Make sure you see beyond yourself.
Another caveat: don't force others to enjoy what you enjoy, and make sure you don't fall into self-destructive behaviour.
Yet another caveat: a private home you are a guest in is a safe area for those who live there, so follow the house rules or leave.
If you believe or say something, live it. Don't sell out or yield to convenience. I believe in limiting excess and overconsumption, so I have chosen to limit my use of Amazon and DoorDash. Rejecting futility complexes and nihilism is useful, especially if you find you're using them to justify overconsumption.
Put more time into learning and bettering yourself. We all have things to learn. Put in the work and get the job done. Spending 10 hours per day in a videogame is wasteful behaviour. Surely you can find time. If you find you waste multiple hours per day with pastimes, consider stopping them. You won't be able to redo your life when you're old, so do it correctly right now. Aim to be excellent.
Clean your face. Wash your body. Don't eat junk. Clean your room. Tidy up. Exercise as you can. An extra 30 minutes of this per day will make you feel very good.