Setting Goals for 2026! & Launch of our Youtube channel!

If you are entering 2026 feeling equal parts hopeful, exhausted, and "please don't make me write another goals list," you are not alone. This space is especially for the sensitive, creative, anxious, quietly-over-it part of you that wants change but recoils at hustle culture.

Instead of forcing yourself into another rigid blueprint for the year, consider this your chaotic, compassionate brainstorm for 2026—plus a soft launch of a new way we can stay connected outside the therapy room.

Why Traditional Goal-Setting Feels So Wrong

Many highly sensitive, creative people have a complicated relationship with planning. You may swing between over-structuring everything or abandoning structure completely when life, symptoms, or burnout hit.

Some reasons typical "New Year, New Me" planning doesn't work for you:

• It ignores your nervous system and treats you like a machine, not a human.

• It centers productivity over meaning, connection, and safety.

If your body tightens when you hear the word "goals," that is information—not a failure. Your nervous system is telling the truth about your capacity, even when your inner critic wants you to override it.

A Different Way to Define Your Year

Instead of rigid resolutions, try treating 2026 as a living, breathing art piece you're in relationship with. Your job is not to control every detail, but to listen, respond, and adjust as you go.

Here are some gentler anchors to consider:

• How do I want to feel in my body this year? Grounded, spacious, less braced, more curious?

• Where do I want my energy to actually go? Fewer draining obligations, more aligned creative work, more rest that is truly restorative.

• What do I no longer want to abandon in myself? Your art, your culture, your softness, your spiritual practices, your need to move slowly.

You do not need a perfect plan. You need a compassionate orientation—a direction that honors your sensitivity and your lived reality.

A Chaotic Brainstorming Ritual for HSPs & Creatives

This is where the "chaotic brainstorm" comes in. Instead of making a tidy list of goals, let your 2026 vision be messy, sensory, and nonlinear.

Set aside 20–40 minutes and try this:

1. Create a small, cozy "studio" space.

Light a candle, wrap yourself in a blanket, or put on a playlist that makes your nervous system exhale. Give your body permission to fidget, rock, doodle, or move as needed.

2. Dump out the chaos.

On paper, in a sketchbook, or on your iPad, write or draw everything swirling in your brain about 2026: fears, hopes, tiny desires, wild fantasies, resentment, grief. Do not categorize or edit. Let it be messy, dramatic, contradictory.

3. Turn words into images.

Circle 5–10 phrases or feelings that stand out. For each, make a quick symbol: a color, shape, small drawing, or collage fragment that captures the energy of that word.

4. Notice what your body does.

While you create, pause and scan: Where do you feel tight? Where do you feel a little more space? Let this inform what actually feels possible, instead of pushing yourself into shutdown.

5. Name 1–3 gentle experiments, not goals.

Instead of "I will exercise 5x a week," try: "I will experiment with 10-minute nervous system walks three times a week and see how my body responds." Instead of "I will finish my big creative project," try: "I will give my project 30 minutes, twice a week—even if I only sit with it."

Your brainstorm is not a contract. It is a conversation between your mind, your body, and your creativity.

Why "Chaotic" Is Not a Problem

Many clients describe themselves as "too much," "too sensitive," "all over the place," or "never consistent." Underneath that language is often a story of trauma, cultural expectations, and survival strategies that once kept you safe.

Art therapy and somatic work help you:

• Make meaning out of your "chaos" instead of fighting it.

• Recognize patterns in your nervous system rather than blaming yourself for "lack of discipline."

• Build new internal narratives that are more nuanced, compassionate, and aligned with who you actually are.

Your sensitivity is not a flaw; it is information, artistry, and intuition that can be nurtured instead of suppressed.

A New Way to Be in This Work with Me: YouTube Channel Launch

One of the intentions for Enodia Therapies this year is to make support and education more accessible outside of the therapy room. That is where the "little surprise" comes in: the launch of the Enodia Therapies YouTube channel.

On the channel, you can expect:

• Gentle, nervous-system-informed conversations about anxiety, depression, and burnout for highly sensitive creatives.

• Art-based and somatic practices you can try at home to help you regulate, process, and reconnect to yourself.

• Reflections on living at the intersections of multiple identities, navigating cultural expectations, and creating a sense of home in your own body.

This is not therapy, and it cannot replace the depth of one-on-one work—but it can be a companion as you move through your week, your healing, and your creative process.

If 2026 Is the Year You Want More Support

If you are a sensitive, creative person in New York State who is craving both structure and softness in your healing, you do not have to figure it out alone.

Art therapy and somatic work at Enodia Therapies can support you if you are:

• Navigating anxiety, depression, burnout, or emotional overwhelm.

• Carrying immigration, cultural, or intergenerational trauma and feeling "between worlds."

• Longing to reconnect to your creativity, spirituality, or body in ways that feel safe and sustainable.

If working together feels like it might be part of your 2026, you can learn more or schedule a free consultation, and if you are not ready for therapy yet, you are still welcome to be part of this community through the newsletter, blog, and upcoming YouTube channel.

However you define your 2026—neatly or chaotically—may it be a year where you move a little closer to yourself.