3 Action Items for 2026

If you feel paralyzed by the scale of what is happening, understand that movement is the only cure for dread. Taking a single step replaces abstract fear with concrete agency. Doing something real alleviates the depression that comes from watching a screen and waiting for the end.

As we move into 2026, I want to offer three specific goals to focus on throughout the coming year.

These are continuous efforts to build optionality as our systems lose their reliability. We are watching a slow-motion descent into who knows what. Survival in this context is about buying yourself the choice to pivot when a specific path closes off. These actions do not guarantee you make it through the decade, but they unlock the door to try.

3 suggestions:

First, you must store food. I am not talking about a bunker mentality, but about decoupling your daily existence from the immediate volatility of the grocery store. Throughout 2026, make it a habit to expand your baseline. When prices spike or logistics chains snap, a deep pantry acts as a buffer. It buys you weeks or months to think while others are panicking.

Start by identifying the dry goods you already eat (grains, beans, fats) and buying them in bulk until you have a six-month reserve. Rotate what you use so nothing rots. This stash is a physical insurance policy that pays out in calories. The act of filling your shelves provides an immediate, tangible sense of security that lowers your daily anxiety.

Second, you need to develop a useful skill. Most of us occupy roles in the service economy that vanish the moment discretionary spending dries up. You need a capability that remains relevant when the bullshit jobs disappear. Spend the months of this year practicing one skill that produces a tangible result.

This might be small engine repair, basic carpentry, or sewing. You learn this by doing the work now, while parts and tools are still available and you have the luxury of time.

Skills gives you the optionality of strategy. If you can fix a pump or mend a coat, you have something to trade for the things you cannot produce yourself. Focusing your mind on a physical task also interrupts the cycle of existential worry and gives you back a sense of competence.

Third, you must build a localized social mesh. Individualism is a luxury of high-functioning industrialism. As that fades, your ability to survive depends on the people living within walking distance of your front door.

You do this by intentionally meeting neighbors and identifying shared vulnerabilities over the course of the year. Not everyone has to be collapse-aware. That will come on its own. Rather, community network is about knowing who has a ladder, who knows medicine, and who will watch your back. Nobody needs to know why you have stepped up to become more outgoing.

When the time comes, this provides the optionality of collective defense and shared resources. You cannot pull a twenty-four-hour watch alone, and you cannot know every skill.

You may even meet some like minded people along the way. Breaking your isolation is the most effective way to combat the hopelessness of collapse. A network scales your chances and reminds you that you are not facing this alone.

None of these goals ensure long-term safety. A large enough hurdle will still break most people. However, these actions prevent you from being forced into a desperate move during the first wave of a crisis.

They provide the time necessary to assess the new reality and choose a different path.

Start today, because the simple act of preparing is the best you can do for today's mental health and tomorrow's longevity.

What are you doing in 2026?