The 2026 Playbook

On the first day of the new year, I witnessed the miracle of birth. At a family farmstay, somewhere in the middle of India, an unfamiliar and heavily pregnant cow had wandered onto the grassy lands. When no one came to claim her for days, the local farmer and his wife took to caring for her. A few more days passed, and most auspiciously on the first day of 2026, the cow finally gave birth to a beautiful white and brown speckled calf with the softest skin. And guess who, by sheer chance, witnessed it all? Me! I beheld the spectacle from a vantage point; first quite unsure as to what was really happening, and then to be pleasantly surprised by the inelegant, yet equally magical, almost squirting out of another living being. A common sight for the farming community I’m sure, but for a city dweller like me, such a happening was wondrous to behold.

A new year is a symbolic reboot because frankly, nothing really changes at the strike of midnight, except maybe our perspectives that are strengthened by liquid courage. Life is an unpredictable mess that keeps us on our toes. We are but eternal students in this school of hard knocks. And every year, at the end or in the beginning, life reiterates this to us. When I look back at the year gone by, I can’t help but accept that I learned more in 2025 than in the two decades preceding it. For various reasons, last year was a watershed moment for me. It taught me that I could be strong, weak, and strong again, and drilled in me the power to get up after a fall. If we introspect on the past year, it presents a playbook for 2026 — a handy guide if you may, to help us along the way.

The last year fanned and fed my ambitions with professional highs but kept me humbled with sudden crises; ensuring that my feet stay firmly on the ground. Frustrations, helplessness, exasperation — such moments were numerous as many of us learnt to accept that we cannot control everything. That many situations are created by external factors and actors. Therefore, no amount of planning, organising, or emergency strategies help when things go south. You just have to pull up your boots and wade through the muck. Relinquishing control and going with the flow is the true mark of growth and it’s not impossible. This is also where you must realise that God makes us struggle in quicksand, only to fortify us, and also to naturally remove toxicity from our orbit. Even in 2026, when adversity hits, believe in the process — it will carry you through.

The world around us may become difficult to recognise, your mind may be drawn in opposite directions, any and every thing may seem joyless, and always never enough. This year could be an opportunity for you to get closer to spirituality (not religion, though it can mentor you). As you’ll seek the true meaning of life, practise self-wellness that includes distancing yourself from situations and people who drained your energy, you will have finally put yourself first. We live in an age of hyper religiosity; where matters of faith are aggressively paraded like fashion shows. This increasingly divided world is scared, petty, and insecure. And to feel like the top dog, people will continue to turn on each other. Blood and violence will flow, peace will feel other-wordly. But in this discontented, chaotic quagmire, there is great value in pursuing inner peace and showering a bit of kindness along the way.

The new year can be arduous; but remember, that when you feel lost or particularly knackered, we already have the playbook for 2026. I’ve been feeling anxious and I’m sure you have as well. A new year is just a change of the calendar, which psychologically can mean so much more. It can mark new beginnings or the continuation of old patterns. It contains mystery and hope as fate plans its machinations. Just keep repeating to yourself that we have the will; we can make a difference. Even though my heart flutters, I can’t wait for the lessons that 2026 will bring. And I know there will be many.

Views expressed are personal. The writer is an author and media entrepreneur