Public Commitment 2026

Theme: Metamorphosis

“You can’t change the past. You can’t even change the future, in the sense that you can only change the present one moment at a time, stubbornly, until the future unwinds itself into the stories of our lives.” – Larry Wall

Where 2025 was about incremental progress, 2026 will be about the results from the changes implemented.

The theme Metamorphosis – for me – reflects the ability to make big transformations in my life, even at the ripe age of 35.

For example, I will focus much more on cardio/running (over weight lifting). And I will realise a transformation of our house’s first floor. Similarly, I will complete the transformation of Blossom’s database and turn the project from a hobby/community gift into a real business.

As I did last year, I will track these through OKRs. The OKRs update quarterly, become weekly goals, and trickle down into daily planning. Scroll down to see them grouped per category.

Pillars

Objective (O): Transform our house whilst compounding our finances

KR1: Finish the cabin toilet space (M1)
KR2: Make the big chicken enclosure (M1-2)
KR3: Full remodel of the first floor (M3-6)
KR4: Keep track of family finances every month
KR5: Donate 10% of our income (M12)

Pillars covers our core foundations: home, garden, and everyday finances.

Over the past year, I’ve laid the groundwork for the first-floor remodel. I figured out what needed to be done and estimated the costs. I even bought the materials for the remodeled toilet. But, I wasn’t ready to actually work on these changes (see 2025 Recap). Now the time has come.

I foresee it won’t always be fun, and it will be quite a bit of work. At the same time, I enjoy doing work around the house and think I will learn quite a lot.

Before we start on the first floor, I plan to finish the cabin toilet (paint the walls, install a door, and add decorations) and build an enclosure for the chicken coop.

As I did last year, I will track our finances and donate to effective charities at year’s end.

People

Objective (O): Take good care of our relationships and community ties

KR1: Help Lotte’s family with moving houses (Q1)
KR2: Deepen our relationship with weekly dedicated time
KR3: Celebrate 10 years together (M12)

People covers all our important relationships – our marriage, friendships, family, and community connections.

Looking back on 2025, I can confidently say that we’ve done our best to see many people (both together and separately) and that our marriage is going well.

As much as I’m mentally trying to get some metamorphosis-themed goals here, I think I will leave this section as ‘bland’ (or maybe steady) as always.

Pursuits

Objective (O): Go from uncertainty to a renewed sense of stability

KR1: Make Blossom into a revenue-generating business (Q1: €10k)
KR2: Post daily progress updates for Blossom
KR3: Support Lotte in getting consistent clients for FLO

Pursuits covers my business and creative projects, where I focus on building reliable companies and making steady improvements.

For now, I’ve simplified the Pursuits section to just three key results. Two of them are related: building and sharing what I’m building at Blossom. The third goal is to support Lotte with FLO Coaching.

During 2025, I felt quite a bit of anxiety, at least compared to my baseline, around my business activities. With Delphi, there was/is a challenge in finding clients and getting paid on time (though this seems to be heading in the right direction). For Queal, things have been going steady, but a new ‘sugar tax’ is something we have to navigate this year. And although I’ve been building the new version of Blossom, the current site isn’t generating money.

Looking through the lens of change, I hope that within a few months, I can confidently say that a steady stream of profit/salary/fees is coming in each month. And this isn’t to say we’ve been struggling financially, but rather that I would like this to be (even) less of a concern.

Finally, I also feel there is now room to focus on building out Blossom. Over the last year, there were times when the consulting work was heavy, times I had to support Lotte quite a bit, and the drag of moving things over from the old to the new infrastructure. All these things are now resolved, so I feel ready to go.

Physique

Objective (O): Transform into a ‘hybrid’ athlete

KR1: Do sports 6 out of 7 days, training towards the Styrekx
KR2: Research food and supplements to support the transformation (Q1)
KR3: Pause drinking alcohol until after Styrekx

Physique encompasses my attitude toward sports, nutrition, and overall health.

Physique is the category where the theme Metamorphosis will shine brightest. Last year, I didn’t have a specific goal to work towards. This kept me at about the same weight, staying strong and muscular.

Whilst I do plan to keep training ‘bodybuilding style’ for at least once a week, all other training will focus on a combination of running and cardio-focused exercises (e.g., rowing, skierg, burpee broad jumps). To support this key result, I will draft a schema for the coming months shortly. I will also pause drinking alcohol until after the Styrekx race (which I will be doing with my brother, who is a much better runner).

Next to sports, I feel a renewed sense of energy in looking at what I’m eating and taking as supplements (e.g., creatine, vit B12, vit D3). Currently, I’m going on autopilot – which is fine – and I hope that at the end of Q1, I can confidently say that what I’m eating is transformed.

Presence

Objective (O): Become undistractable

KR1: Make a weekly plan with concrete goals
KR2: End the workday with a shutdown ritual and time block planning for the next
KR3: Stop the scroll (block distracting sites on PC and phone)

Presence is about being more aware and making my life experience better.

If there is one ‘blocker’ to getting things done, it’s being distracted with browsing Twitter/X and watching YouTube. So, I’ve now blocked them during work hours.

Next to that, I’ve slightly changed the daily goal to do the shutdown and planning for the next day at the same time. In my LCD ‘whiteboard’ that I use as my daily planner, I’ve now added a section around doing the shutdown & planning.

Notes

I have a good feeling about the coming year. Things are already great AND I can take some directed actions to transform them into an even better life.

If you read this far, please feel free to provide me with feedback!