Minimum Standards 2026
We know the deal. It’s the New Year. We set our resolutions and goals. We have momentum for a few weeks, at best. Then it gets harder. We give up.
What if there was a better way to do things? One that wasn’t about resolutions or goals. When we are outcome focused, we miss the internal.
When you think about it, outcomes aren’t actually up to us. No matter how hard we go at the gym, we can’t actually guarantee that we will be able to gain 5 kg of muscle within a set period of time. Instead, if we focus on the input of going to the gym and focusing on form, we will certainly be healthier and feel better. Likewise, we can go for a walk and the system can be doing it regularly and being present in the moment, rather than having a goal or an expectation that we will lose a set amount of weight. I can be a better husband by listening and being attentive, but I don’t want to make it a goal where I guarantee an outcome or have an expectation on how conversations are received.
Minimum Standards
We can think of this as our minimum standards. What we expect from ourselves, how we show up, how we care for others and ourselves. It’s how we progress towards a better version of ourselves as someone who interacts as part of the world.
In essence, we are talking about our character. The minimum standards we have is what builds it. If not for these, then how can we respond the way we want?
Some Pillars to Group By
It’s useful to look at broad pillars to group our standards by. There are a few ways we can think about this. As a guy, I’ve heard the saying time and time again that we should protect and provide. This can serve a useful start point when thinking about some pillars. Alternatively, as someone interested in ancient philosophy, I’m drawn to the tripartite model of learning. This would also be a way to set out pillars. Or, we can combine as we need to suit our own expectations.
For me, I think about my pillars as follows:
- Soul/Mind/Philosophy/Religion
- Community/Others/Cosmos/Connection
- Body/Fitness/Movement
- Personal Learning/Work Development
- Provide/Career/Wealth
- Family/Protect/Lead
When we build our minimum standards, we can group them into these pillars. If we can’t find a pillar to put our input, behaviour, standard, then we should question if it’s an important habit that we want to embed.
My Own List
All of these combined make our character. As such, it is important that we think about this often and come back to our own lists to make sure they still align.
Here’s a current draft of my own list of minimum standards for myself. Not that I have perfected these by any means. Rather, it’s a guiding star for where I want to be. Rather than being an exhaustive list, it’s some behaviours and actions that are front of mind for me:
- Remain calm, solve the problem
- Kiss my wife in the morning and in the afternoon when I get home
- Move each day
- Read daily, even if just a quick blog post
- Read, think or engage with ancient Stoicism
- See or talk to family and friends
- Produce good quality work
- Be attentive and present in conversations
- Enjoy and savour your coffee
- Participate in community
- Quality and quantity of time with daughter
Next Steps
Minimum standards help enact lasting habit change and ensure that it sets us up so we can continue to do these actions well into the future, even when life gets hard or unexpected things happen. So let’s take a moment to think about the person we want to be, some of the minimum standards we can set for ourselves, and what we can focus on this week to make some changes.
Let’s move forward, take action, and make progress towards the person we want to be and live a great life.