A New Year for Your Mind Body Soul | 2026
- blonde2brunette
- Jan 1
- 5 min read
In 2025, I leaned deeply into my passion projects, both new and familiar. From Mind Body Soul planners, refining my health and wellness routines, and exploring herbalism through my garden, to fine-tuning business systems, traveling, and most importantly improving my time management. That shift alone created something invaluable: more intentional time with my family and with myself.
As I move into 2026, my desire isn’t to reinvent everything, it’s to expand on what’s already working. To create even more space, clarity, and alignment. So here I am, planner open and filled with notes, gently mapping out my focus for Mind, Body, and Soul.
You don’t need new goals or sweeping resolutions to begin again. What I do recommend is asking yourself where these three areas of your life could be supported just a little better.
There’s no correct order. I personally work on all three simultaneously, because they’re deeply interconnected. When one area is nurtured, the others naturally begin to shift and strengthen as well.
MIND
How you focus, decide, and move through each day—at home, at work, and in life.
Before adding anything new to your life, pause and look at the systems you already have in place.
Ask yourself:
Do you have a specific day, or time of day, where you list and organize your priorities?
How do you separate your work life, personal life, and home life?
Where does your current structure feel supportive, and where does it feel chaotic?
One of the most important distinctions to make is this: your home life and your work life should not blur into one another. Your home is the foundation that allows you to function everywhere else. It should be, as much as possible, organized, calming, and restorative a place where your nervous system can exhale.
When your environment supports rest, your mind becomes clearer and more capable of making hard or important decisions. Choose a specific day or window of time to tend to your home. Decide what needs to be cleaned, organized, or reset and give yourself a realistic timeframe to complete it.
There are countless studies showing that organizing even one small corner of your home can help pull you out of stress, anxiety, and emotional overwhelm. The next time you feel stuck, try it. Clear a drawer. Tidy a surface. Let that small win ground you.
Next, look at how you structure your workday.
Does your current schedule support your energy-or drain it?
Does your time management need refining?
For those of us without a traditional 9–5, structure doesn’t come automatically, it has to be created. Personally, block scheduling has been a game changer for me. I give myself hard deadlines, with the reward being more personal time on the other side. I love what I do, but it still requires discipline and effort and it’s far less glamorous than it may appear from the outside.
If you do work a 9–5 and have the ability to fully disconnect once you leave, protect that boundary. Finish projects within work hours when possible. Let your off-time truly be off. That freedom is precious and it’s meant to be used for rest, exploration, and life beyond productivity.
Lastly, and most importantly: schedule personal time. Not as an afterthought, but as a non-negotiable. Put it in your planner. Block it on your calendar. And then work hard around it so that when the time comes, you can fully let go whatever that looks like for you.
BODY
How you nourish, strengthen, and allow your body to recover.
At its core, caring for the body comes down to a few essential systems:
Making time to move
Choosing nourishment that is both sustainable and affordable
Prioritizing rest and recovery as part of performance, not separate from it
While I could do a deep dive into everything that’s worked for me (and what’s worked universally for friends as well), the most impactful shift I’ve made is this:
I stopped aiming for perfection—and started creating three performance versions of how I move and nourish my body.
These versions allow flexibility without guilt. They meet you where you are—without abandoning your long-term health goals.
Below are my examples. Yours may look completely different, and that’s exactly the point.
Version 1: Peak Productivity
Strength training: 6x/week
Recovery flow: 3x/week
Anti-inflammatory diet
12-3-30 cardio: 5x/week
Lymphatic drainage: 5x/week
Vitamins: daily
Water: ~1 gallon/day
Version 2: Mid Productivity
Strength training: 4–5x/week
Recovery flow: 3x/week
Anti-inflammatory diet (Mon–Fri)
12-3-30 cardio: 4x/week
Lymphatic drainage: 3x/week
Vitamins: daily
Water: ~¾ gallon/day
Version 3: Low Productivity
Strength training: 3x/week
Recovery flow: 2x/week
Anti-inflammatory-ish diet (Mon–Fri)
12-3-30 cardio: 3x/week
Lymphatic drainage: 3x/week
Vitamins: daily
Water: ~¾ gallon/day
Every version still supports my body. None of them rely on punishment or shame. They simply adapt to the season I’m in.
SOUL
How you nourish joy, creativity, connection, and the parts of life that make it meaningful.
Feeding the soul is not optional - it’s essential.
Your mind and body can only carry you so far without moments of joy, spontaneity, and connection. You must make room for hobbies, relationships, creativity, and self-care. Routine needs interruption. Life needs texture.
You’ll likely discover that many things you do for your mind or body will eventually feed your soul too, but those realizations tend to come later, once your foundation feels steady.
For now, I’ll ask you to do two things:
First, schedule it. Put soul-filling activities in your calendar, your planner, or even on a sticky note on your mirror. Treat them with the same respect as an appointment.
Second, find small, daily moments of soulful enjoyment. This doesn’t need to be elaborate.
Maybe it’s:
Reading a few pages of a book
Trying a new recipe
Listening to a podcast while you eat
Sitting quietly with yourself or planning something joyful with someone you love
During the workweek especially, I try to do something each day that feeds my soul. I’ll listen to a podcast while getting ready or driving. Paint in my watercolor workbook. Prune or wander through my garden. Journal. Create collages for the month ahead. Plan a date night or a girls’ night in.
There’s no right way. Only what feels grounding and life-giving to you.
As we ease into 2026, my hope is that this post feels like a gentle reset, not pressure. A reminder that growth doesn’t require starting from scratch, only refining what already exists. Simplify where you can. Strengthen what matters. Align your days with your values. And watch how much clarity and confidence you gain as you move closer to whatever goals, or intentions, this year holds.
Happy New Year, friends.
With love, Caro
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