Goals for 2026

Something that I haven't been doing is setting goals for myself. I've always been the type of person to just float through life and not really have any direction. If I were to look back at myself, I would be disappointed on how I spent my time. I would even say that I was complacent.

This year, I'm going to change how I approach my life. I want to hold myself accountable for my actions and make sure that I'm always in motion.

Putting Myself Out There

It's scary to put yourself out there and share yourself to the world. But I know if I don't, or at least put it in writing, I'll never be able to hold myself accountable—which is why my first goal is to put myself out there and in uncomfortable situations.

I've noticed that a lot of people around me—classmates, friends, even coworkers—have pushed themselves to step outside their comfort zones and embrace new experiences. And it's been super rewarding for them. They've made new connections, got new opportunities, and have grown as people. I want to be like that. I don't want to turn down whether it's company fiars, info sessions, club events, or just hanging out with friends. The people that I admire most aren't necessarily the smartest or most talented. They're the ones who say yes. They show up. They take the chances, And because they do, good things happen. I want to embrace that same mindsset this year.

Always Build

I've always loved building things. The process of creating something from nothing, solving problems, and watching an idea come to life is incredibly fulfilling. But I have a terrible habit of stopping halfway through. I get excited, I start coding, and then somewhere along the way, I lose momentum and the project dies.

My friend Jonathan and I met at HackHarvard in 2024, and we've been wanting to build a product together ever since. We talk about ideas constantly, sketch things out, and plan features. But we've never actually shipped anything. One conversation with him stuck with me: "Potential is simply energy not in motion. Having it means you have done nothing." That really spoke to me. All our ideas, all our plans—they're just potential sitting there. They're meaningless without execution.

This year, I want to change that. I want to build consistently and actually ship. Not just for the sake of building, but because I believe in quality over quantity. I want to create beautiful experiences that are actually useful and have real impact. That's what I admire about Steven Yang. He's constantly building, and everything he creates is clean, thoughtful, and meaningful. He's proof that you can build consistently without sacrificing quality.

So my second goal is simple: always build. Keep moving. Turn potential into motion.

Get Super Good at Go

I've spent the last few years jumping around, learning a bit of everything. I know enough about a lot of things, but I'm not really exceptional at anything.

Go is where I want to go deep. It's simple, fast, and perfect for building the kind of systems I care about. But more importantly, it's a choice. I'm committing to mastery instead of collecting surface-level skills.

I've heard people say depth over breadth, and that's exactly what I'm doing. I want to understand Go inside and out—not just syntax, but the philosophy behind it. I want to write code that's clean, efficient, and idiomatic. I want to be the person in the room who knows Go.

I want to be really, genuinely good at one thing. And then building amazing stuff with it.

Be in the States this Summer

It's no secret to Waterloo students that the phrase "Cali or bust" carries a substantial cultural weight (although now it's more like "get a job or bust"). It operates as a paradox: a recurring joke implying that failing to reach California means your career is cooked, yet it carries an underlying sincerity that dictates student ambition. While Canadian tech salaries are competitive, they do not rival the compensation levels found in the Bay Area or in the US in general.

My three previous co-ops all have been in Canada, and while I've learned a lot and gained experience, I want to go back home and work in the States this summer. I haven't had the best of luck in the 2026 summer recruiting season (and by the way, it is 99% luck), but I'm going to keep trying to land a job in the US in the next four months.

Get Off of Reels

I don't even want to know how many hours I've lost to Instagram reels. I open Instagram to check one thing, and suddenly 30 minutes are gone. I didn't learn anything. I didn't connect with anyone. I just... brainrotted.

The worst part is I know it's happening. I can feel my brain craving the next video, the next dopamine hit. I want to see Tung Tung Tung Sahur. It's designed to be addictive, and I've let myself get hooked.

All the goals I wrote above—putting myself out there, building consistently, mastering Go—they all require one thing: time. And right now, I'm giving that time away to an algorithm that doesn't care about me.

So this is the goal that makes the other goals possible. Less scrolling, more doing. Less consuming, more creating. I want to be intentional with my time and actually use it on things that matter.