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10 Things to Start Doing in 2026 to Create More Joy and Peace

If you want more joy, balance, and emotional ease in your life—especially if you tend to over-give, struggle with guilt, or feel responsible for keeping everyone else comfortable, listen up!

These changes may sound simple, but simple doesn’t always mean easy—particularly if you’ve spent years showing up for others before yourself.

As you listen, I invite you to choose one or two practices to focus on this year. You don’t need to do all ten at once. Sustainable change happens one small step at a time.

10 Things to Start Doing in 2026:

1. Check in with yourself before you say yes
   Pause. Check your energy, your calendar, and your needs before committing—rather than agreeing automatically and figuring it out later.
2. Honor your energy instead of constantly pushing through
   Rest is not a reward. Building real rest into your day helps prevent burnout, illness, and emotional exhaustion.
3. Allow discomfort to be part of personal growth
   Growth often feels uncomfortable. Learning to stay present through discomfort helps you build resilience and confidence.
4. Notice when guilt shows up even though you’ve done nothing wrong
   Someone else’s disappointment does not automatically mean you’ve done something wrong.
5. Speak your needs without over-explaining
   Your needs and wants are valid. Practice stating them clearly in one or two sentences—no justification required.
6. Choose peace over approval
   You don’t need everyone to understand or agree with your choices for them to be right for you.
7. Release roles that are keeping you small
   You are more than the helper, fixer, or peacemaker. Tap into other roles to find more balance. 
8. Trust the small inner nudges again
   Your intuition is not broken. Even when things don’t work out, you are learning and refining—not failing.
9. Allow joy without feeling like you have to earn it
   You’re allowed to experience joy even when life is hard or the world feels heavy.
10. Practice compassion toward past versions of yourself
    Growth includes missteps. One moment of being out of alignment does not erase years of progress.

Work With Me

If you’d like support turning these practices into real, lasting change, I’d love to help.

👉 Book your free clarity call here to see if you might be a good candidate for coaching:
https://calendly.com/maryannwalkerlife/freeconsult

We’ll explore what you’re navigating and see if coaching together is the right fit.

Don’t Forget to Subscribe

Make sure you’re subscribed so you don’t miss next week’s episode, where I’ll be diving deeper into separating guilt from discomfort—a huge theme for emotionally sensitive, over-responsible people.

Links Mentioned in This Episode

• 🎧 Last week’s episode: 10 Things to Stop Doing in 2026 https://www.buzzsprout.com/2028767/episodes/18509028
• 🎧 Episode 188: Choosing Joy with Natalie King https://www.buzzsprout.com/2028767/episodes/18158644
• 🎧 Episode: You Are Not for Everyone (And That’s Okay) https://www.buzzsprout.com/2028767/episodes/11162078
• ✨ Work with me: https://www.maryannwalker.life
  
  
• 📩 Join my weekly newsletter: https://maryannwalker-life.kit.com/fbd72512dd

Remember: you don’t need to do all ten of these at once. Pick one or two, be patient with yourself, and trust that small shifts create powerful ripple effects.

You’ve got this. 💛