SUMMARY // After burning three weeks writing the last Groundhog Day Resolutions report, there are a lot of new things to put in motion. I am taking time, though, to replenish my energy.


About Groundhog Day Resolutions
For those of you new to Groundhog Day Resolutions, it’s simply a system that helps you remember when to do regular review. You can technically start on any double-day, not just February 2nd; the important thing is that you review monthly.
02/02 Feb 2
Groundhog Day! Lay down the strategic plan!
02/14 Feb 14
Valentine’s Day - Optionally, use 02/02 as the start of planning, and finalize your goals on February 14 as a valentine to yourself!
03/03 Mar 3
Monthly Review #1
04/04 Apr 4
Monthly Review #2 - Adjust goals as necessary
05/05 May 5
Monthly Review #3
06/06 Jun 6
Monthly Review #4 - Adjust goals as necessary
07/07 Jul 7
Monthly Review #5 - Review strategic direction. Optionally take off a month to enjoy the summer.
08/08 Aug 8
Monthly Review #6 - Optionally take off a month to enjoy the summer, or adjust goals as necessary
09/09 Sep 9
Monthly Review #7
10/10 Oct 10
Monthly Review #8 - Adjust goals as necessary to gain closure on the year?
11/11 Nov 11
Monthly Review #9
12/12 Dec 12
Final Review #10 - Summarize achievements for the year, break for holidays.
13/13 Jan 13
Postmortem + Planning - One month after the last report of prior year
As I mentioned in the June 6 Groundhog Day Resolutions Report, I am taking a break from GHDR for July. It took me three weeks to research and write the June report, and it turns out that I’m really burned out. I need some time to reset and ramp up slowly.
To recap, though, these are the main things on my mind:
- To break the “execution gap” between theory and action, I have to find activities that meet my needs.
- There are a lot of old attitudes to unlearn.
- There is a lot of effort I need to make to mix and meet with new people.
- I have to balance my social uncertainty against the need to create social interaction.
Rather than overthink it, I am thinking of working on some very simple things. I have a tendency to imagine elaborate interconnected systems that require far too many resources to resolve quickly. Quick feedback is important, as is having fun in what I’m making. The wager I’m making is that by making small easy things that I might otherwise think are not that impressive…
It’s the making itself in small ways that is the seed for greater things.
So that’s the plan, such as it is, drawing on ideas from emergent produtivity and making a ton of small unrelated things.
I’ll see y’all in August!
INDEX of GHDR 2026 POSTS
Kickoff Pt 1: A brief overview of the “four acts” of 2025
Kickoff Pt 2: Identifying the big questions to explore in 2026
Kickoff Pt 3: The Plan
Blunting Fear and Anxiety
Shrinking The Execution Gap
Reframing Chores as Ship Operations
Setting Sail!
A New Story from Inverted Assumptions
Jul 7
…
Aug 8
…
Sep 9
…
Oct 10
…
Nov 11
…
Dec 12
…
GHDR Report 0606: A New Story from Inverted Assumptions
Chat about tools and aspirational projects on my DS|CAFE Discord server. Chat me up on Mastodon and Bluesky