Photo by Ilia Bronskiy

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Philosophy at Work is a 30-minute Socratic Community of Inquiry, every third week, where we investigate concepts related to our work-life, such as Freedom, Authenticity, Courage, Logical Fallacies, Respect or Leadership.

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Last time, we talked about EQ and, before that, IQ. And today, we’re talking about… Something else, namely:

2026

What is it? (Just kidding. Haha. Just trying to be really, really philosophical.)
No, but, really – what will this year be about? What was last year about, for you? For us, as a company? As a world? What were some major things that happened last year – something that you remember, that affected you, or changed you. Maybe last year changed you so much that things will never be the same again. Maybe you leveled up, and now you might be bruised and out of breath, but you’re done with one level and here’s the next. Like in a computer game, you now have more powers, but also a new route.

Anyway.

On New Years’ Day, I got a text from an old friend. He said: Happy New Year! Two things that I want to do more of in 2026 are going to the theatre, and seeing you. Wasn’t that nice? And then, I remembered this little game, that goes like this …

Three questions:

What would you like to do less of in 2026?
What would you like to continue to do?
What would you like to do more of?

And then, of course, I sat with my journal over a few days and thought about it. I started with what I’d like to do less of. It took a while to get a hang of it, actually – that’s one thing that we’re talking about today: “Som man frågar får man svar”, as we say in Swedish, “Your response will be as your question”. Right? I mean, I can say (or, “ask”, in the metaphor) to go to the gym twice a week, and that will almost certainly give a response in the form of bad conscience. Exclusively.

Side note: I have started writing a silly little gratitude journal that I found in a book store. I’ve been writing small notes morning and night since August. It’s really great, but the point that I wanted to make was that I’ve used two different journals, and there’s one significant difference in how they formulate one of the morning prompts.

So, the first journal had a prompt that was something like, “What’s today’s affirmation?” I mostly wrote very different things, but I found that several times I’d write something like, “May every interaction I have today be filled with love, joy and wisdom”, or something like that. Nice. It often came true.

But then, in my new journal, it doesn’t ask about today’s affirmation. It says, “what’s today’s big question?”

“What’s today’s affirmation?” versus
“What’s today’s big question?”

So I found myself saying something like, “How can I ensure that every interaction today is filled with love, joy and wisdom?”
And that means that … well, where I’ve been engaged in magic and manifestation, which is awesome, sometimes, I now have to describe how to get there. See what a huge difference that is in what I’m telling my brain to do during the day?

Huh?

Big difference! I think both are good, but it’s something to be aware of.

“Your response will be as your question was”

So, one of the things I wrote for what I’d like to do less of was “walk past my small, indoor trampoline that I bought almost 2 years ago, not jump on it, and feel bad.” I can jump 2 minutes on it. 2 minutes. Even if it’s so fantastically boring I don’t know what to do, I can do 2 minutes. I can. I am strong.

😊

But it was, anyway, an interesting experience. We should talk to ourselves in a way that makes it easy to succeed, to make ourselves proud. “Treat yourself like someone you’re responsible for helping”, like Jordan Peterson said. We should help ourselves create the lives that we want to live.

Then … I wrote about what I want to continue to do, which was also really interesting, because it highlighted to me what I think I’m doing. Right? It was cool. I even found some things out that I wasn’t exactly aware of.

One of the things I wrote was, “I want to continue looking for the good in everything that happens, the lessons that I can learn, even when things are hard”. And then I thought, wow! I do that! I actually do that!

I think we could do this in our teams, or with our favorite colleagues, or here in this group – I think it’s probably a really nice way of feedbacking, really. Isn’t it?

I’ve just got one more thing, and then want to listen to you in a round …

So, the last one, what to do more of in 2026. So, I went to see a friend, and told her roughly what I’ve told you now, which is how far I had come by then. This friend has had a few fucking awful years, divorce, psychological abuse, cancer, and children needing extra care. And she said, “I decided to just have two very simple goals: Get strong (physically), and make money.” And I’m like, yeah. That’s cool. Yeah. That’s like, creating focus themes, and the task is to fill them with anything that I like.

Or? What do you think? I’ve just got one more sentence, and then we do a round.

So, I wrote: Exercise. (That includes trampoline for 2 minutes, but it could be many other things.) Write. Talk. (That’s about finding my voice, my authenticity.) Philosophical coaching and counseling. Sing. (I sing almost every week in a choir but I want to sing more, because it is so good for my mental health.) Learn.

Nice, huh?

And now, a round! What do you want to do less, or more of, or continue doing? What did you think when I was talking? What do you want to do with these ideas?

  • You can’t ask “what do you want to do more of” without at the same doing less of something else
  • For specific goals, this has to be defined … (If you want to do X, what will you NOT do instead?)
  • I have DREAMS for 2026 … but I’m accepting that they might not come true
  • Acceptance is also a good dream/goal <3
  • The brain can’t discern between fantasy and reality – the brain sees all as REAL
  • … Greetings from “The Worrying Kind”
  • Not worrying, not dwelling – being in the present. Check with yourself and say, “right now I’m OK”
  • Laugh, dance, impro theatre…
  • Continue: do things that make me feel good (and drink bubbly)
  • Robot vacuum cleaner
  • “I’m going to start smoking! It looks cool”
  • Less … procrastination … and more exercise :/
  • Continue to do: Hiking with family! WHICH IS SPORTS 😀
  • More: Recognize how much exercise I’m already doing
  • My continue list is the longest!
  • The continue list should not be considered the easiest …
  • Consistency … with GOOD HABITS

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More Philosophy at Work:

Philosophy at Work: The Cardinal Virtues: Temperance
Philosophy at Work: 2026 (and the importance of how you ask your questions)
Philosophy at Work: EQ
Philosophy at Work: IQ
Philosophy at Work: Self-Scrutiny
Philosophy at Work: Teamwork
Philosophy at Work: Transformative Leadership
Philosophy at Work: Negative Thinking

All texts and podcasts

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How does Philosophy at Work work?

The idea is to practice strategic reflection for improved communication, collaboration, leadership (personal and interpersonal), and Problem Management, by using logic and discernment, and thinking out loud together. This means that you don’t have to mean what you say, or stand for it – what we are doing is trying out ideas, and daring to go where the thought leads us.

Practicing our thinking skills helps us get better at determining which actions can benefit a problematic process, relationship, or mindset. Research from universities (data from 600k students) shows that those who practice philosophy “outscore every other major on reasoning, curiosity and open-mindedness*”. 

Participating in a Community of Inquiry creates a sense of belonging, and what Koestenbaum** calls ‘a culture of chosen accountability’. As we listen to everyone speak their mind, we allow ourselves the time and space to take ourselves seriously and find our strengths while building psychological safety – one of the most important components of successful teams. It can also be, like many claim, “lovely”, with an almost therapeutic effect.

*Article: Studying philosophy makes people better thinkers
**Book: Confronting our Freedom: Leading a Culture of Chosen Accountability and Belonging