06 Jan What Holistic Growth Looks Like in 2026
Happy New Year!
Please read this newsletter till the end. There are lots of exciting announcements.
The beginning of a new year always tempts us to rush toward outcomes. We want results quickly, clarity immediately, and momentum without the discomfort of reorientation. However, lasting change rarely starts with activity; it starts with vision. Not the vague, motivational kind, but the slower, weightier work of asking what kind of person you are actually becoming.
In this month of rest activity, you must go the other way. Take your time to consider some of the things I will mention in this newsletter.
God shaped growth
If growth is to be holistic, it has to be God-shaped. That is the first and most important premise. Before habits, plans, or goals, there has to be a clear sense of what change looks like when viewed through the lens of eternity. Not simply what you want to improve, but who God is forming you to be, and why. Without that anchoring vision, growth fragments. You may improve in one area while quietly deteriorating in another, and still feel unsettled without quite knowing why.
This is why the work of vision is not abstract or indulgent. It is practical. It gives direction to energy and prevents you from pouring your life into things that impress others but hollow you out. A God-shaped vision gives coherence to ambition and restraint to restlessness. It does not answer every question, but it orients the ones that matter most.
Introducing the purpose wheel
Seeing your life clearly often starts by slowing down enough to notice where attention has been uneven. I developed this wheel that helps you live deliberately in 2026.
The purpose wheel is not a scorecard or a productivity hack. It’s meant to be a mirror. It helps you name where growth is already happening and where neglect has quietly settled in.
Below are prompts for each domain. They aren’t simply problems for you to rush through; instead, they are invitations to linger, to notice patterns, and to discern where God may be nudging you toward greater care and responsibility.
Once you have a sense of purpose, the question naturally shifts from direction to responsibility. Purpose tells you where you are headed. Stewardship asks how you are carrying what has already been entrusted to you.
I find it helpful to think of life not as a single project but as a collection of domains, each one requiring attention in different ways and at different times. Growth rarely collapses all at once. It usually frays at the edges first, quietly, in places we assume will take care of themselves.
The wheel gives us language for those places.
Your spiritual life, for example, is not something you visit when everything else is finished. It is the soil everything else grows out of. When prayer becomes rushed, when reflection is postponed indefinitely, when faith is reduced to function, the effects ripple outward. Attending to the soul means noticing what has been shaping you beneath the surface and whether it is forming resilience, humility, and trust, or simply keeping you busy.
The physical domain is often treated as secondary until it demands attention. Yet the body is involved in every act of obedience and service. Fatigue, neglect, and chronic depletion eventually narrow our capacity to give ourselves fully. Stewardship here looks like asking whether your current rhythms allow you to endure, not just perform, and whether the way you treat your body reflects care rather than convenience.
The mind, too, requires cultivation. What you read, listen to, return to, and avoid all play a role in how you interpret the world. Intellectual stewardship shows up in curiosity, in patience with complexity, and in the willingness to think slowly in a culture that rewards speed. It is worth asking whether your mental diet is helping you grow wiser or simply more reactive.
Relationships often reveal the truest state of our inner life. They expose impatience, fear, generosity, and grace in ways no private discipline can. Stewarding this domain means paying attention to who you are becoming in the presence of others. It involves noticing which relationships are being nurtured, which are being neglected, and where repair or intentional presence may be needed.
Work, or vocation, sits at the intersection of responsibility and calling. For many of us, it occupies a significant portion of our waking life, shaping habits, identity, and self-worth. Stewardship here asks whether your work is being approached with faithfulness and excellence, even when it feels ordinary or unfinished. It also invites reflection on whether your efforts are aligned with the corridor you have chosen to walk down, rather than every corridor that happens to be open.
Finally, there is the economic domain. Money has a way of revealing what we value long before we articulate it. How we spend, save, give, and plan reflects our sense of security and trust. Stewardship here is not about perfection, but about awareness. It begins with understanding where your resources are going and whether they are serving the life you believe you are called to live.
Taken together, these domains offer a way of seeing life whole. Not flattened into a checklist, but held together with intention. The aim is not balance in the abstract, but faithfulness in context, season by season.
As you move into this year, you may notice one or two areas calling for particular attention. That is normal. Growth often begins where awareness sharpens. The work is simply to respond with honesty, patience, and a willingness to steward what has been given, trusting that clarity and momentum tend to follow those who do.
Announcements
Whoop 5.0 vs Apple Watch Ultra 2 | Which Fitness Tracker Is Actually Worth It in 2026?
In this video, I put the Whoop 5.0 head-to-head with the Apple Watch Ultra 2 and break down what really matters if you care about fitness, recovery, sleep, and long-term health. I cover the strengths, the weaknesses, and the trade-offs nobody tells you about when you are deciding between a subscription-based tracker and a full-blown smartwatch.
Building Skills that Opens Doors w/ Mike Omoniyi | Beyond the Grind
I was recently in Dallas where I sat as a guest on the Beyond The Grind podcast. We discussed polymathy and my journey in business so far.
New dates for the men’s conference
Last year, we announced a men’s conference and due to a range of factors outside of control, we’ve had to postpone it. The new date is now the 21st of March 2026. I’m excited to invite you to come along. You can use the discount code to get 25% off right now and also share it with friends
Code: 250FFNOW
Have an amazing week,
M.T. Omoniyi