Sheila D. Boynton, LSW, MDiv, CTCP, CAMS-I
2026: The Year of Maximizing

Hey Soul Family,

Listen… if we’re being real, many of us have been surviving for a long time. We’ve been doing what we have to do. Showing up, pushing through, holding it down, keeping the peace, keeping it together, keeping everybody else okay. And somewhere in the middle of all that, we’ve been trying to “stay strong”, but barely making it.

But, Iet’s declare – 2026 is not the year for barely making it. 2026 is the Year of Maximizing.

When you hear the word “maximize” you might think it means bigger, more, faster, or harder. But maximizing doesn’t mean you have to do more, produce more, prove more, or grind harder. If anything, maximizing might mean doing less of what drains you. Not maximizing your stress. Not maximizing your schedule. Not maximizing what people can get out of you. But maximizing your life – unapologetically living in who you already are, without fears, doubts, or restraints.

In other words, maximizing is about alignment. It’s about living in a way that matches who you truly are, not who people expect you to be, not who trauma trained you to be, not who the survival mode demanded you to become and certainly not who social media and 60 second reels say you should be.

Maximizing is living the version of you that:

• Makes decisions rooted in truth instead of fear
• Honors limits without guilt
• Trusts your voice, intuition, and wisdom
• Shows up fully without shrinking or performing

Let me call out the three chains no one talks about that keep people from maximizing:

• People-pleasing – a trauma response for many. Sometimes it’s the fear that says: “if I say no, they’ll leave me or be mad at me” or “if I’m not useful, I’m not valuable and don’t matter.” But 2026 is the year we stop shrinking so other people can be okay. 2026 is the year to stop setting ourselves on fire so others can be warm!
• Doubt – creates a pattern where we keep revisiting choices over and over again without any movement forward. Doubt makes us second guess ourselves. When doubt tells you: “you can’t” Truth Says: “I’m learning.” When doubt says: “I don’t have what it takes.”
  Truth says: “I’ve already overcome too much to stop now.” The reality is, you won’t know until you step out on faith. Take a risk on YOU!
• Fear – Alot of us don’t realize we’re living in fear because we’re so used to calling it something else (“being realistic;” “being careful;” or my favorite “waiting for the right time”) You cannot maximize your life while fear is making decisions. But you can break the cycle of fear by exposing the fear and choosing courage.

Soul Family, let me end with this soul truth: If nothing changes, nothing changes. And I don’t say that to shame you, I say it to empower you. Because you can pray and still procrastinate. You can want better and still tolerate what drains you. You can love people and still be addicted to their approval.

But 2026 is your year to stop shrinking.

• This is the year you practice choosing peace.
• This is the year you stop auditioning for acceptance.
• This is the year you stop letting fear be the loudest voice in the room.

And listen… you don’t have to do it all at once. Just start with the next right step. Small steps are still steps. Boundaries are still breakthroughs.  And choosing yourself is still healing (in my therapist voice).

Journal Prompts for Reflection:
(don’t overthink these. Just be honest. Write what comes up, even if it’s messy.)

1. What parts of me have I been shrinking to fit into certain relationships or environments?
2. What does a “maximized life” actually look like for me day-to-day (not on social media)?
3. What am I afraid will happen if I start saying “no” more often?
4. What hard conversation have I been postponing and why?
5. What fear has been running my decisions lately?

THE SOUL’S CORNER…

1. The RIP. You can watch this movie on Netflix. It was not disappointing!!
2. Why We Get in Our Own Way and What to Do About It, by Robyne Hanley-Dafoe Ed.D., in Psychology Today.
3. The Quiet Work Behind High Performance and Living Aligned, by Robyne Hanley-Dafoe Ed.D., in Psychology Today.

 Thanks for reading The Soul’s Newsletter!