Did 2025 really move that fast, or were you tucked safely inside your comfort zone? Let me show you how to make yourself uncomfortable in 2026… in a good way. I’ll go first.
Hi, I’m Coach Tony. Welcome to the Bonus Mile, my little corner of the internet where we go a step further than usual.
These posts are the extra stuff that doesn’t always fit neatly into my usual routine, but still deserve the spotlight. The Bonus Mile is where the good stuff usually shows up.
Ready for a dad joke?
Before we dive in, here's a groan-worthy dad joke as a little palette cleanser.
Two fish are in a tank. One fish says to the other, "How do we drive this thing?"
Bonus Mile: So… what the hell happened to 2025?
I cannot believe we’ve got only one month left in 2025.
Seriously… where did this year go?
But because I’ve been following my Project Manage Your Life system, I actually do know where the time went. So in today’s Bonus Mile, here’s what I want to walk you through:
- My 2025 recap … it’s accountability time.
- I’ll give you a first peek at my 2026 goals.
- I will share an invitation to an upcoming Goal Crusher Coffee Chat event that will give you one easy step to make 2026 your best year ever.
2025: A Year Outside My Comfort Zone
A year ago, I wrote a special edition post called State of the Melt 2024 where I shared how I did on my goals for the year. At the end of that post, I shared my three big goals for 2025. They were definitely about my business, but they also shaped the rest of my year.
My three big personal goals I shared a year ago were:
- Plan, do, grow: Establish a business plan for Operation Melt and use it to guide daily activities that achieve a 2x growth of my impact in 2025.
- Walk my talk: continue my physical and mental health journey by establishing a routine that helps me get faster, stronger, and do epic shit (time to feed my enneagram 3!).
- Break my inertia: challenge the ruts throughout my life and try more new things on all fronts.
So here we are, one year later, and you’re officially my accountability partner. Let’s take a look at how each goal went.
Some things went better than I hoped, and some things… not so much.
Goal 1: Plan, Do, Grow
Let’s start with Plan, Do, Grow. I’ve got good news, even better news, and then a little not-so-good news.
First, the good news. I built a real business plan. And better yet, it wasn’t some bullshit exercise that I did and filed away never to be seen again.
- I created a working business plan that I use to guide my daily activities.
- I built a scorecard that helps me stay accountable to four key priorities: Impact and Client Success, Growth, Content, and Execution.
- I incorporated daily, weekly, monthly, and quarterly routines and rituals as habits to ensure that I never lose sight of the plan.
- Using AI, I established a virtual business leadership team to make being a solopreneur feel less solo.
This wasn’t just some administrative box-checking activity; it was a reboot of how I show up as a CEO, and I couldn’t be happier with my new and improved foundation.
The better news is that I replicated this same structure and created a life and personal growth plan, complete with scorecards and accountability rituals, and routines. My scorecard for my personal plan balances four key priorities in my life: Connection, Contribution, Constant Improvement and Capacity.
Now for the not-so-good news.
Even with the plan, my impact didn’t double in 2025 the way I hoped. I accomplished a lot, including launching my Project Manage Your Life system and starter kit, and I improved a ton (I would say my personal growth was more than 2X). But my business didn’t grow as I had hoped in 2025.
And that’s alright. I’ll do better in 2026. I’ve built the foundation, and I’m ready for the next level.
Goal 2: Walk My Talk
Project Manage Your Life isn’t just something I teach. It’s how I live. And in 2025, I leaned into it even more.
- I keep setting, chasing, adjusting, and crushing SMART goals every day.
- And like you saw in Goal 1, I follow a plan that fits my life and my wiring. I mean, how many other people are using AI-based leadership and coaching teams?
- I track progress every day… maybe a little too much. I won’t even admit how many things I track, because you’d absolutely think I’m crazy.
- And of course, shit happens. It’s not always smooth sailing. So I plan ahead where I can and stay ready for the moments when things go sideways.
- I don’t do any of this alone. My accountability partners, my team of experts, my inspirations, and even my clients keep me on track.
- Most of all, I enjoy the journey. Even on the days when I hate the work, like those runs that feel awful, I still love the process.
If you follow me on social or read this blog regularly, you see the journey in real time.
I’m walking my talk, and I can’t imagine doing it any other way.
Goal 3: Break My Inertia
One of the best parts of following the routines I built for Goal 1 is that I’m constantly reevaluating what’s working in my life and what isn’t. That helped me break out of most of my old ruts this year.
For example, I did a full review and replatforming of all my business and personal online tools, from domains to email to websites. And that one project alone saved me over 150 dollars a year. We also made some long-overdue tweaks to our personal finances.
Sure, we still hit the same six restaurants more than we should, but in most of the areas that matter, I’ve broken the inertia and built a system that keeps the momentum going.
My 2026 Goals
With a successful 2025 wrapping up, it’s time to commit to my goals for 2026.
Since the big three goal approach worked well last year, I’m sticking with it for 2026. Here they are (slide 22 in my Life & Growth Plan if you’re interested):
- Walk My Talk Out Loud: Live my intentional, goal-driven life openly. Show the real me in my routines, my work, my training, and my content. Model the process I teach and show what happens when I follow my own systems with consistency and pride.
- Perpetual Motion: Push my comfort zone and level up my core areas. Try new approaches, upgrade the systems that already work, and stretch my habits, routines, business, and fitness into their next version. Keep elevating through small, intentional innovations.
- Be Authentic, Be Connected: Unapologetically show up as my unfiltered, joyful, curious, weird self and cultivate a tribe that matches my energy and helps me grow.
There you have them. Not a huge departure from 2025, especially the first two goals. That consistency is intentional. I put a lot of thought into refining them.
The third goal is a little different. A lot of my old circle has drifted away, and in 2026, I want to rebuild my tribe. But they have to be people who appreciate my weird, warped sense of humor.
P.S., you’ll also see me loosen my filters even more. Less corporate polish and more of that “I can’t believe he said that” energy. Just like we’re having a drink together.
You’ve been warned! 😂
Your Turn. Say It Out Loud
So here is the real question. Why am I sharing my 2026 goals so early?
In my experience, and my clients back me up on this, writing your goals down and saying them out loud makes them real.
This approach was a huge part of my weight loss success and many other wins. It is so important that I built it directly into Project Manage Your Life. One of the core ideas is simple. Do not go it alone.
Now that I have shown you mine, it’s time to show me yours.
I am hosting my first Goal Crusher Coffee Chat the week after Christmas. The gifts are open, the family has gone home, work is quiet, and your mind finally has space to think about the new year.
It is a free, one-hour, informal video chat. Bring coffee or a cocktail. I will not judge.
The theme of this first coffee chat is “Say It Out Loud.”
We will do a simple roundtable where everyone shares their goals for 2026.
Why share your goals with a group?
Not for judgment or feedback, that’s not what we are doing.
You are sharing because speaking your goals out loud makes them real and makes them more likely to stick.
Don’t worry. Your goals do not have to be perfect before you share them. No answer is ever final!
The first Goal Crusher Coffee Chat happens at one in the afternoon on Monday, December 29th.
As a bonus, everyone who joins this Coffee Chat will get my Project Manage Your Life Starter Kit for free.
The Starter Kit will help you build solid goals, a plan that fits your life, and the kind of momentum that lasts longer than a New Year resolution. Most of those are abandoned within the first two weeks!
Goals are not some bullshit task for performance reviews. They are tools that help you grow, evolve, and become the version of yourself you are proud to meet in the mirror.
✨ I believe in you; let me help YOU believe in you! ✨
Meet Coach Tony
Tony Weaver is a master life coach, technologist, consultant, writer, and founder of Operation Melt.
He helps project managers and other left-brained high-achievers pursue their biggest goals.
Through free resources, personalized coaching, and his proven Project Manage Your Life system, Tony empowers clients to move their dreams from “someday” to success… one step at a time.
Learn more about Project Manage Your Life, the system my clients and I use to crush our goals, at OperationMelt.com/PMYL/
Meet Coach Tony