The last few years of my life have been better than the years leading up. I work as a peer support worker in mental health and have been doing it for 3 and a half years.

The purpose of 2026 is to become addiction free and save as much money as possible.

Smoking and excessive coffee are both stimulants as is gambling. Gambling acts on the brain the same way a stimulant does. Ideally I can eliminate all these addictions at the same time. Manifesting multiple intentions can be done because of momentum. Each success feeds into the next success. As I write this I have about 100 smokes left. Starting tomorrow my goal is to only have one cup of coffee, the rest are rather redundant.

Coffee acts on the brain in such a way where it lowers creativity, it becomes easy to do repetitive tasks that would be C or D level tasks but the real A level tasks suffer because you don’t have the same creative capacity. Coffee is also bad for gut health, a few years ago I went off coffee for a week and in some ways I felt great. My brain was getting more clear and less foggy as the days went by.

Tomorrow it starts by only having the first one. Then I’ll notice that I won’t have brain fog in the morning. Upon waking up it will be easier to feel clear at that point.

Then on Jan 1 I will drink water the whole month. In 2012 in January I did 30 days in a row drinking nothing but water. I felt very clear minded at that point in time. My hydration was always good and I played good ball hockey back then.

The smoking is something I plan to minimize as the year comes to a close.

I was smoking an average of 30 per day for the last few years. With 100 left the goal is not to buy any more. I have a couple weeks worth of patches and gums. I’ll start by leaving the house with 3 smokes instead of a 20 pack. I’ll have the gum and the patches to fill the urges. That number will decrease by a factor of 10.

Last year I almost did it.

This year I plan to follow through completely.

The gambling addiction is one that will be harder to overcome.

My last casino trip was Dec 19. I haven’t been back since.

In the first half of 2026, I want to take a very heavy front loaded strategy of paying all my expenses for the year by the end of May. This means in June everything is paid for. The rest of the year I can save 100% of earnings. Having temptation to gamble will be easy to deal with because for the first 6 months of the year I’m paying all bills well in advance. After 6 months I will have time to remove the addiction just by not being able to afford to go.

At the end of the year, I’m smoke free, barely have coffee, and have no desire to gamble.

If I can do all of what I said 2026 will be a great year!

To your success,

Angus

I’m starting to take the grind seriously. I know I’m a good author, but the thing killing me is a lack of volume. I recently got a verified X account so I can tweet and get a following. If nobody knows what you have to offer, you won’t make any money.

Right now I’m just focused on creating content. At a volume higher than ever before. I work 6 hours a day Monday to Friday. I have so many hours that I could be putting into writing content. Also doing spaces on X. The real work is consistency. At the beginning it’s a real grind. You need to trust that good will come out of the chaos.

Getting work out there is key. I want to write books and make money online. First I need to decide who I’m serving with my products. But the clarity will only show up as you go along. Starting small is the first step. Success is a result of repeating what works. You still have to find out what does work.

Blogging is not a primary way to get eyeballs on your products anymore. Social media is how you get people to see your blog.

So building on X and YouTube is the key. Getting a genuine following is more important than getting a high count. Finding a niche where you are helping others is the secret. Use what you already know and go from there.

To your success,

Angus

I’m not happy at all, and I’m glad I’m honest enough with myself to admit it. My life is boring and I’m not doing anything exciting with my life. I’m in a state of stagnation. The truth is I’m not living to the fullest, just coping with distractions like gambling. To live the life I want I’m about to say fuck it and just live according to my truth. I’m sick of being average. Making an average amount of money gets you nothing these days. It’s either shoot for the stars or drown. Being a millionaire has been a goal of mine since 2015. I wanted to get there by age 35, but I’m almost 32 now and no closer to that goal.

The way to a million dollars is easy, I just have to stop wasting time. Working on more projects and pushing past the boredom of it all is the key. Right now I’m existentially bored, nothing exciting is going on. I don’t even care about reaching a million dollar net worth. I just want to have a journey that is fun. With all that’s going on in my life, I’m not having any fun. I’m just living a very average life, to the point where I barely feel alive. The 10X rule is something that I heard about a number of years ago. It would be a good way for me to increase my productivity. I’m actually pissed about the way my life looks right now. I want to enjoy what life has to offer, and also get rid of my addictions. The addictions were my way of running away from my wasted potential. I need to feel alive because I’m dead inside. The boredom is a sign that I need to start taking more shots. I need to get in the social game and start a dating life. Make more money so I can get my own place. Right now I’m just dead last.

The anger I feel today is a step above apathy. Feeling hopeless and depressed is not going to get me anywhere. I need to say fuck it and start writing and sharing self-help that’s above myself. I can’t let imposter syndrome stop me from deciding to be great. The time to share my best work is now. Being productive is a great escape from boredom. And once you get into the business game, keep levelling up and don’t stop. I have many books I haven’t written yet, and if I didn’t waste any of my days I’d have those books up by now. In Army Cadets I was great, I want to get back to that insane level of drive that I had back then. I was sidelined in my 20’s by mental illness, but back then I was at least insane enough to believe in myself beyond reason. I want to get back to the insane person I used to be because then I was actually overachieving. Insanity is a gift, and being normal has given me nothing in return. I don’t want to get rich for the sake of the purchases I could make, it’s so I can actually be happy with myself.

The way there is to not waste another second doing something that is useless. I’m still going to do the work I do Monday to Friday, but I also plan on being very productive away from work as well. The wasted days are going to come to an end. If they don’t I’ll remain mediocre and miserable. I know I can reach my full potential, and instead of seeing that as a burden, I’m going to make the most of that opportunity. Fuck gambling, it’s a cope that’s causing me to waste my potential.

I expect to be more productive. Being bored is something I’m going to feel no matter what, but I’d rather do something that’s going to reward me. I can write many books, and I can start my Youtube channel.

To your success,

Angus

I want to improve my life, and develop into a public speaker. The things that are holding me back are addictions. Becoming addiction free is the goal I’m focusing on because it will pay the largest dividend. As a smoker, I can expect to gain another decade of lifespan if I quit now. I’ve smoked for 5 years since the beginning of the pandemic. I’ve also consumed coffee like a drug addict. The secret to overcoming both of those addictions is to be able to endure pain. Short term pain is going to be the reality for people who want to overcome addictions. The gambling addiction is also a very hard thing to stop. Being able to be patient with savings goals and just save and invest is boring, but pain is rewarded. If I’m just willing to endure a bit of boredom and withdrawal, I can become addiction free.

The payoffs for not smoking, gambling and having coffee are a better state of mind. My anxiety will be far better without use of uppers. Going to the gym is an activity that will pay dividends. The emotionally difficult stuff is what has the biggest payoff. The pain is a sign you are making progress. Today I only have a few ciggs left. So when I run out I can avoid buying more. There’s a gap between the urge and the ability to act on it. I want to be in a good financial situation as well. The money saved on smokes and coffees along with no gambling losses will give me more peace of mind. From April until September, I didn’t gamble. It was easy a month into recovery to stay in that space. The pains that I’m trying to escape from are boredom and feeling alone. I also have a lot of stress in my life right now. Currently I have about 2 grand to my name. The high point a month ago was having a ten thousand dollar gambling win. The recovering addict needs to prepare for pain and not giving in to the desire to escape that pain.

Being with your pain is what allows you to understand it. Embrace pain, it’s a great teacher. All the withdrawal pains of not having that morning coffee or a smoke is the ticket to a life of greater joy and peace. The hundreds a month I will save will be worth it. I also think that you are far more powerful than you think. Creating a new identity and using visualizations and affirmations to reprogram your brain can help with ridding the old patterns. Identity is the driving force behind everything. For years I have admitted I’m an addict. But in that honest admission, I inadvertently created an identity that would result in more of the same. So I need to assume higher consciousness and decide what my dream character is going to do. Life is a dream. This is no different from the dreams you have at night. You can control your character from the perspective that your conscious mind has the final say as to what your character does. I can re-define myself and decide that things are now different. I’m the creator operating the body, I can command the ego and the body to do or not do anything I want. When manifesting, you must command, you don’t ask, you simply command. With the command mindset, your manifestations will have far more power. You can define yourself anew by the power of your word. Re-programming your mind is possible. The subconscious will try to keep the status quo, but you can tell it to do whatever you want.

Freedom from doubt will allow your intention to have far more power. Every word in your mind is a command, use the power of your word to command how things are going to be. Requesting is giving your power away. Be fully decisive about your plan. You can become free of addiction by no longer identifying with those patters. That’s taking care of the bigger things. Fundamentally you can choose your identity and live according to the script that you so desire.

To your success,

Angus

Right now I’m 31 years old about to turn 32. I have been reading and watching content on personal growth for the last 15 or so years. In 2010, I had a spiritual crisis where I wanted to know the greater context of life. Knowing what came after death was very important to me. I also wanted to learn from people who have had great levels of success.

In 2012, I retired from Army Cadets about to turn 19 years old. I had a few years of learning about personal development at this point. My life path has been different than most people. From 2013 up until 2023 I was working through the mental health system in Ottawa. Originally diagnosed with bipolar disorder. The catalyst for my manic episodes was a desire to be very successful. I had sky high confidence because I was young and didn’t know how hard success actually was. Success is more about the basics than anything advanced. Wanting to be a billionaire was part of what I was thinking about back then. Also very interested in spiritual enlightenment. Those two paths are a contradiction. And neither of those two goals are important to me right now.

At age 31, my focus is about maximizing my habits and health. If I don’t do that my life will be cut short. I made many mistakes in my 20’s. Smoking, gambling, and getting hooked to coffee are all things I need to change to enjoy a better life in my late 30’s and beyond. The opposite of addiction is connection, and I feel more bored and disconnected than I ever have in my life. The gambling and stimulant addictions are a result of not feeling connected to humanity. Part of getting my health back must involve creating better relationships and actually connecting with others at a deeper level. In my mid 20’s I enjoyed a lot of deep conversations with other people. I also enjoyed reading deep stuff on life philosophy. My motivation for becoming a life coach years ago was about getting to have deep conversations. As a peer support worker I enjoy when people want to have deep conversations. I work in a field where I’m there to have conversations with others. I find it rewarding to see other people succeed. I write these articles as a way to inspire myself to focus on more important aspects of life. If you enjoy my work that’s great. Blogging in this day and age is not the primary way to get a large following. But I’m not looking for a large following. I’m looking for human connection. So eventually people may stumble upon the blog and enjoy it. Ironically in all the situations as a life coach and peer support worker I have had to learn the very lessons I end up teaching. This caused me to have some imposter syndrome at one point. But now I see this as a natural part of being in a helping profession. You will help others work on the same issues that you need to work on. This is part of the beauty of the process. So I’m not blogging as a guru, I’m blogging as one person who’s struggling helping another person with maybe similar challenges.

In my 30’s I want to get to 40, this means I need to work on my health. So all the bad habits I have that are holding me back need to get reversed. I envision that I will one day be a very powerful public speaker. The funny thing is, I have less fear and more excitement about being on a stage. I have the knowledge and delivery to be a very effective speaker. As a coach I did well in 2018 and onwards, but my actual calling is to speak. I enjoy reaching a larger audience as a speaker than doing 1-1 life coaching. In the last year, I haven’t taken on a client for coaching. So as I move through my 30’s, I want to make sure I’m looking for the opportunities to speak. Having a foundation of personal development knowledge will help me, and mostly a payoff for all the reading and watching videos I did in my 20’s.

It will take courage to face my demons and rise above them. But I can focus on what matters and drop what doesn’t. I already said I want to be free of addiction by March of next year. Walking the walk and having those successes in my pocket will help with my credibility and imposter syndrome that sometimes gets me to doubt myself. It’s also true in life that I have to make my own opportunities, I can’t expect people to just hand me speaking engagements. I can take my passion for gambling and transmute it into public speaking. The truth is now that I’m 31, I don’t have more time to waste, I’ve got to start making the most out of each day that’s in front of me. I want to ace the game of life, and in order to do that I must seek out opportunity. Telling my story and sharing an inspiring message will help me with that connection I’m missing and I will feel like I’m playing the game of life to the fullest.

To your success,

Angus