The Last 90 Days of 2026

 

Tomorrow is October 1st, which means we are officially entering the last quarter of 2026. The last 90 days. Okay, technically 92 days, but you get the point. And I want you to think about something for a minute. Think back to July 1st. Where were you? What was going on in your life? What were you worried about? What were you working toward? What have you accomplished since then? What has changed that you didn't expect? Three months can feel like such a short amount of time when we're looking ahead, but when we look backward, we realize just how much life can happen in 90 days.

So instead of waiting for January to start thinking about what you want next, what if you used these last three months of 2026 intentionally? Because we all know what's coming. Halloween turns into Thanksgiving, Thanksgiving turns into Christmas, and suddenly our calendars are packed with parties, school events, shopping, family obligations, travel, traditions, and everything else that comes with the holidays. This is usually the point in the year when people start saying, “I'll worry about it after the holidays. I'll start again in January.” But why are we so willing to give away three whole months?

I'm not suggesting you turn the next 90 days into some extreme self-improvement challenge. Actually, I want the opposite. I want you to enjoy this season. Drink the pumpkin coffee. Go to the football games. Eat Thanksgiving dinner. Watch the cheesy Christmas movies, you know I will be watching every single one of them. Spend time with your family. Go look at Christmas lights. Eat the cookies. Life isn't something that starts after you reach your goals. Life is happening right now, too. But somewhere between enjoying the season and taking care of everyone else, don't forget about yourself.

Think about what you said you wanted for yourself this year. Is there something you haven't done yet? Something you've been putting off? Something that keeps getting pushed to “later”? What could you do over the next 90 days that would make you genuinely proud of yourself when December 31st arrives? Maybe it's finally becoming consistent with your workouts. Maybe it's updating your résumé and looking for a new opportunity. Maybe it's saving money, starting something you've been talking about forever, reading more, working on a relationship, setting better boundaries, or simply creating more peace in your life. It doesn't have to be huge. It just needs to matter to you.

My word for 2026 has been Focus, and heading into these final months of the year, I'm realizing how much that word really matters. We can't do everything, and trying to do everything usually means we don't give our best attention to anything. So rather than creating a giant list of everything you need to accomplish before December 31st, ask yourself one simple question: What deserves my focus for the next 90 days?

Maybe choose three things (or one thing). Three things that, if you made meaningful progress on them between now and the end of the year, would make you feel differently walking into 2027. Then think about what those three things require from you each week. Not what you have to do perfectly every single day, because life is going to happen. There will be busy weeks, missed workouts, unexpected expenses, holiday parties, sick kids, bad moods, and days when you simply don't feel like doing any of it. That's okay. Ninety days of progress doesn't require 90 perfect days.

And maybe that's the mindset shift we need going into this last quarter. One bad day doesn't have to become a bad week. One missed workout doesn't mean you quit until Monday. One holiday meal doesn't undo months of healthy choices. One unexpected setback doesn't mean the goal is no longer possible. You simply keep going. You make the next choice. You come back to what matters.

I also want you to think beyond what you want to accomplish and ask yourself how you want to feel when you wake up on January 1st. Do you want to feel stronger? More confident? Calmer? Healthier? More financially secure? More present? More comfortable with who you are? Sometimes the goal isn't really about the number on the scale, the money in the account, the title at work, or the thing you can check off a list. Sometimes it's about who you become while you're working toward it.

There is something exciting about January and the idea of a fresh start. I love it too. But January 1st doesn't have magical powers. You're going to wake up that morning as the person you were on December 31st. So what if instead of waiting until January to start becoming the person you want to be, you gave her the next 90 days?

And it doesn't have to happen through some massive life overhaul. It happens through ordinary Tuesdays. The workout you almost skipped. The application you finally submitted. The money you decided not to spend. The boundary you kept. The hour you spent working on something important to you. The walk you took when you didn't feel like it. The decision to try again after a week that didn't go according to plan. Those little choices don't feel life-changing in the moment, but stack enough of them together and suddenly you're standing somewhere completely different.

Ninety days from now, you'll be able to look back at October 1st the same way you're looking back at July 1st today. My hope is that when you do, you'll be able to say, “Wow. Look how much changed.”

So enjoy the last quarter of 2026. Enjoy Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas, your family, your traditions, the food, the cozy nights, and all the little moments that make this time of year special. But don't disappear from your own priority list for the next three months. Don't automatically hand the rest of the year over to the holidays and tell yourself you'll come back to your goals in January.

You still have 90 days.

Let's see what you can do with them.