DR. WALLACE: Every year I have goals for the new year, and 2026 will be no different. I personally don't like to call them resolutions but rather goals that I wish to achieve.

Some goal are academic, some involve my future work and career, and some involve personal growth. I tend to always feel a bit depressed when I reach the end of a particular calendar year because I inevitably fall short of the goals I wish to achieve.

I have made some progress in some of the areas, but overall, I would definitely give myself low grades on achieving all my goals. I don't want to forgo making goals in 2026, so what do you think I should do given my history in this area? — Need a New Plan, via email

NEED A NEW PLAN: Given your background and how you've approached your goals in the past, I suggest for the calendar year 2026 that you keep your goals general and incremental so that you can experience success and empowerment at various points during the year.

For example, if someone had a goal of losing 20 pounds of weight during the calendar year 2026, instead of measuring everything on Dec. 31, 2026, set the initial goal to lose 4 or 5 pounds, and pursue that vigorously. Don't necessarily put a timestamp on it, just focus on gaining that amount of ground, then going after another increment and so forth.

The same mindset can be applied to the incremental stages of trying to gain entrance to a university of your choice, or pursuing a job you are interested in. Incremental steps could include doing valuable research, correctly filling out applications to a very high level, applying deductive reasoning in terms of which opportunities to pursue, and so forth.

As human beings, nearly all of us aim to improve both ourselves and our living situations year by year, so you are in good company. There are many different ways to pursue your goals in 2026, and hopefully these suggestions will provide you new avenues to consider.

MY ACTIVITY LIST IS BIGGER THAN MY AVAILABLE TIME

DR. WALLACE: I'm a guy who loves playing high school sports and also loves to eat big portions of my favorite meals. I'm well known in my family, so everyone else makes sure to take their portions carefully early in the meal to be sure there's enough to go around! My father had a habit when I was younger of telling me, "Your eyes are bigger than your stomach," but that doesn't appear to be the case anymore. I can definitely finish everything that's on my plate.

However, my father's words are now echoing with me in a different way. I have so many obligations now in my life that I feel like I've got too many things on my plate to keep up with properly. My schoolwork, future career goals, social life and all the time, energy and dedication I pour into high school sports leaves me with barely enough time to sleep, get up and do it all over again.

The good news is, I haven't lost my appetite for food, but I feel like I'm constantly letting people down by not being as available as I would like to be. How can I best manage my schedule so that I don't feel like I've got "too much on my plate?" — Need 28-Hour Days, via email

NEED 28 HOUR DAYS: In my estimation, it is actually good news that you are experiencing this phenomenon while you are still in high school. The reason I say this is, things will only accelerate when you head into adult life and graduate from high school.

There are myriad ways to set one's schedule, but no matter how rigid you try to make things, unforeseen and unexpected events will constantly come up and cause disruptions to even your best-laid plans.

As crazy as it seems, tighten your schedule down even tighter than it is right now! By this, I mean do your absolute best to build in one to two hours each and every day that you aren't booked to do something specific, especially with another person.

Make a list of the things you must do, such as attending sports practice, completing homework and so forth. Then, as difficult as this seems to be, cut out a portion of your social life — at least initially. Don't make plans that you may have to break as you have done in the past. Do schedule social events with friends or a significant other carefully, but leave slack of an hour to two per day that you can use for "discretionary" time. This may seem counterintuitive at first but hopefully will allow you to have time each day for unforeseen things you must take care of, or impromptu and often quite enjoyable opportunities to spend an hour or so socially with someone when you weren't planning on it in the first place.

Dr. Robert Wallace welcomes questions from readers. Although he is unable to reply to all of them individually, he will answer as many as possible in this column. Email him at [email protected]. To find out more about Dr. Robert Wallace and read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate website at www.creators.com.

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