Let Regret Rewrite Your Next Turn: An Anti-Resolution for 2026

DanF9 | Dec 29, 2025 — Every time a new year rolls around, we suddenly get all introspective and make promises we know we won't really be keeping. Sure, we like this idea of a new self; one that remembers to eat well, keep fit, ride more, etc. But we are who we are, and we typically tend to make promises based on ideals, not on what's realistic.

To be "real" with yourself is to hold up a mirror, and to chip away at hope without action. Except, we love to hope. It's a comforting friend, and it's nice to have them by our side as the uncertainty of 2026 looms.

While I don't condone kicking this hope to the curb, here's my proposition: an anti-resolution to balance out all the empty promises. One that you can concretely follow through with, even if you never get the time to actually build this idea of a "new you."

Sounds Mystical, but I Promise It Isn’t.

Instead of focusing on things "you will do," in some future 2026 experience of yourself, start by focusing on what you already have done. This can be done today, on your drive home, while you're spacing out in front of that family member who's reciting their yearly monologue.

Why? To expose regret. It's residing at an address somewhere in 2025, and you have the opportunity to Sherlock your way into it. This is important for the following reason:

Your regret holds the secret to the actions you shouldn't be chasing.

Instead of making grand promises on changing your ways and becoming a different person in the new year, why not start by identifying an action that led you down a path you regret, and choose to take a different path when faced with a similar decision?

Concrete, Situational Action vs the Adoption of a New Behaviour

You know where you made that bad decision, you know because these things have a tendency to weigh on you. These types of decisions could be one-offs, except more often than not, they tend to repeat themselves.

Upon the next inevitable repetition, all you have to do is turn left instead of right. You don't have to change who you are or go on some fancy diet; all you have to do is pick a different lane. It’s low cost, but the impact of the outcome can make all the difference in your life.

What I’m trying to say is that a small, simple action goes much further than this murky idea of "changing" in the name of some good you've identified and hope you can attain.

Let 2026 Be a Year of Unravelling...

Of undoing the things that you have the power to undo, by refusing to repeat the actions that took you down paths of regret. This is how you space out the things that weigh on you. They never go away, but you can choose to open up new paths and expand the map. In so doing, you also space out the heaviness, and allow yourself more room to explore.

Happy New Year from the F9 team, here's to the great rides that lie beyond the horizon of this icy late December day. As I write this from my peacefully empty office, late-80s Italo-disco playing on laptop speakers, I replay all the moments that made 2025 a part of me.

Health, friendship, and open roads ahead!

—

A Note From the Author

This is the kind of resolution I will be trying out for myself in 2026. I don't know if I can deliver on the promise, but the whole idea was to formulate an intuition, put it to words, and execute. I have many regrets, nostalgia is often a mental space of refuge for me, but I also realize that I romanticize the past instead of treating each moment like a lesson for future action. My "anti-resolution" will seek to dispel this idea that the past cannot be touched, cannot be rewritten in future actions that present similar choices. If nothing is done, those future actions will eventually become romanticized and I will forever be a prisoner in this loop of "it was better back then." A selfish endeavour perhaps, but if I have one hope, it's that it might also be of use to those who experience similar difficulties. Cheers to you, dear reader!

Have something to say about the matter? Join the Discussion.

Want more tips like these to improve your rider's mindset? Subscribe to The Break-In, FortNine's weekly newsletter!