2026 Look Ahead

A new year. A clean slate. Here's what I'm aiming for in 2026 and some reflections on the year that just closed.

The Big Ambitions

Two goals sit at the top of my list this year:

• Finish the house remodel — This has been consuming most of my free time, and I'm ready to cross the finish line.
• Push code every day — Shipping something to GitHub daily. It'll take discipline, but I don't think it'll be as hard as it sounds.

Projects on Deck

• masonearl.com — Continuing to build out this digital home
• Simple Takeoff — My construction estimating app
• Swift Stakes — Blue stakes automation for contractors
• Plasticity — A new iOS game. Deep learning puzzle game where you connect neural circuits through real learning mechanics. Should be in the App Store soon.

Reading

26 Books in 2026

In 2025, I finished 18 books. The shortest was The Caves of Steel by Isaac Asimov. The longest was Bill Bryson's A Short History of Nearly Everything. Read a lot of Asimov this year—his Foundation and Robot series pulled me in.

For 2026, I'm setting the goal at 26 books. You can follow along on my Goodreads.

Health & Habits

• 7,000+ steps daily — On average
• Something physical every day — Walk, house work, weights, or pull-ups
• Blog weekly — Writing has become a great opportunity to reflect and understand my own thoughts better

Starting Clean

I'm kicking off 2026 with Dry January. After completing a no-drinking year challenge that ended in August 2025, it's been fun to drink socially again—but resets are good. Here we go.

As for nicotine: I've leaned on it to push through this home renovation. Once the house is mostly done, I'll be stepping back from that.

Cursor Community & Career

One thing I'm genuinely excited about: the Cursor community. I've used Cursor every day for the past 8 months, and I was recently invited to join the Cursor Ambassadors program. I'll be hosting an event in March—hoping Cursor sends out a speaker and we create something memorable.

Career-wise, I'd love to land somewhere that lets me lean into a development role. I love building software, but it's been a side project for the past couple years. This year, I want to dedicate myself to it fully.

Fun Side Note

I'm posting an AI-generated Cybertruck in my driveway every day until it becomes reality. It's a fun social challenge that also lets me track progress on the house renovation. Would be absolutely insane if this actually happened—I have no money left after buying a house—but stranger things have occurred.

2026 Horizons

• July — Trip to San Clemente, California
• August 22 — My 30th birthday in Jackson Hole with the people I love

Looking Back at 2025

So much good happened:

• My best friend had his first kid
• I bought a house (doesn't quite feel like a highlight yet, but I know it will)
• Got my cat Nimbus—a definite highlight
• Sold around $1,000 in apps—something I didn't think was possible until it happened
• Expanded my horizons and figured out more about my interests and passions
• Fell in love with development again—and this second flame burns stronger than the first

Technology and creating software became one of my highlights of 2025. Being part of that, even in a small way, has given me a lot of pride and purpose. I truly feel like I'm on a pathway I'm excited about and anxious to work on.

No Hard Numbers

I don't really have hard number goals for where I want to get to in 2026. I just hope this ambition and curiosity continues—which I'm sure it will. The state of things is too exciting and interesting. I want to continue growing similar to the growth I've seen this year, and I'm excited to see more compounding happen, with a fair amount more reflection and action.

There was so much other good (and shit) that happened in 2025. Pumped for a new year. Here's hoping 2026 brings growth and joy—for me and for everyone in my life.

Let's go.

Thanks for reading.