Okay a quick thought on life satisfaction as we enter a brand, shiny new year! We all want 2026 to be satisfying, don’t we? Whether you set New Year’s Resolutions or not, I think one thing we can all agree on is that we all want to be HAPPY in 2026.
Here’s the thing to ponder though. When we set those intentions/goals/resolutions they tend to be about reaching a special milestone or experiencing a peak moment. They are the stuff of losing 10kgs (yay!) or crossing the line in a half marathon (yay!); or moving to our dream home or a spendy family holiday to Sri Lanka (yay! yay!).
These peak moments of achievement or experience are great, (of course they are!), however the reality of life as a human is that most of our life will not be extraordinary peak moments.
Most of our life will actually be simple, ordinary, routine every-day moments.
So, if we are only going to feel happy or satisfied when we are on holiday, or fitting in a bikini, or getting that promotion finally, or living in that new house, well, the reality is we are going to spend the majority of our life dissatisfied.
Which is such a waste. Life is not meant to be a game of stepping stones with each moment of happiness we land on few and far between.
How do we do better? How do we add more satisfaction to our year?
The key I’ve found is counterintuitively to not to try and cram in another 14 resolutions in a desperate quest to collect more peak moments. Then we only end up not achieving any of them as our focus/energy/time/capacity is so split. We are far better with a short, tight suite of carefully chosen goals* and a deliberate strategy to mine the every-day for happiness.
The secret to experiencing more happiness in 2026 is to focus on the non-peak moments, the regular every-day moments. Walking the dog. Loading the dishwasher. Answering the email. Calling our Mum. Doing the school run.
There is (if we look carefully) more joy and connection available to us in all of these moments than we are taking, if we look for them. It’s a deliberate choice to seek more happiness in the ordinary now which equals a happier, lighter life. Not when That Big Thing happens, but right now, in this moment we are living in right this moment.
It might be noticing the birds singing as you walk the dog. It might be how great the podcast you are listening to is as you load the dishwasher. It might be reflecting on the good work you have done with this colleague as you answer their email and praising their input.
It might be that you feel lucky to have your Mum still around so you take extra care to listen and pick up on a new piece of information she is sharing. It could be the joyous noise that children make as they are released at the end of the school day just makes you smile from the sheer every of it.
There is satisfaction and joy to be found if we are actively looking for it, rather than just trying to tick a thing off a list so we can move to the next.
Peak moments are fantastic, but they are 5% of our life. If we can mine our every day for the moments of satisfaction that are hidden in plain sight I promise you that’s the bigger win in the overall happiness department for 2026.
It’s important because Every Day moments comprise 95% of our actual life, so if we don’t learn to love the every day more as it is, we won’t really love our life at all.
I wrote this blog for yout, not AI. From my heart to yours, just as coaching should be.
Happy 2026: let’s fill 2026 with a million ordinary happy moments
