2025 Wrapped, 2026 Goals

Last year, I wrote about a few goals that I want to reach. Amongst them, the ones that stood out were: taking on more bespoke design projects, being open to new experiences, and dressing better.

Since I’ve resigned and started my new remote design studio, that decision has led me to many new experiences and meeting new people, which required me to re-examine my wardrobe. The parallel is… unreal.

One of the main reasons I resigned was due to an existential crisis in the age of AI. When there are better tools coming out every day that seem to “replace” certain jobs, is what I’m doing still relevant, and how do I reinvent myself to stay relevant?

That’s where I realized there’s a recurring theme in my life where there’s a wave of “readaptation” every 3-4 years.

Reflecting on a decade on readaptation

Back when I was studying design between 2014-2018, social media became more and more mature, and there was a rise of the post-blogging era influencers. I saw how advertising had penetrated social media platforms, and thus the importance of branding, advertising, and the skill sets that come with it.

Between 2019-2022, Covid happened. Advertising agencies weren’t hiring and job placements vanished, except for tech-related jobs. That was the time I picked up web development because it was my only gateway from unemployment, and doing so trained me to think in structure, order, and restraints.

Starting 2023, that was the time when ChatGPT first came out and shook the world. What follows is the fall of tech-related job placements as everything that has structure and order can be automated, and creativity and innovation take the front seat again. Initially, I was one of the skeptics that thought AI wouldn’t take over my job, until better tools and models came out and I found myself using AI to replace a portion of my workflow—then to a point where I started to wonder what my role is again with these set of new tools.

And this is a reminder for myself too: The start of my company From Mars is to approach every project like a human mission: What are we solving and what impact do we want to create?

Opening new design studio = opening my eyes to new thoughts

Since starting this company, I’ve picked up so much new knowledge like:

How we set company vision?
Where we stand as a small design studio?
What kind of clients we should serve?
How to manage accounting?
What’s the best tool combination so I can lower my subscriptions?

These questions about goal-setting and operational stuffs, I learned by talking to friends and other studio bosses.

Then comes the sales part:

How do we build connection?
How do we craft proposals?
How do we position ourselves amongst other options?
What opportunities should we turn down (because they don’t serve our goal)?

Those, I figure out by conversing with friends and family.

Then it comes with more existential questions:

How do we know we’re doing design correctly?
What trends or thoughts should we catch up on?
How do we know we’re pushing our design boundaries?

Those, I found my answers at AGI Vietnam and Singapore Design Week.

Then it comes the spiritual part:

How do I know I’ll be doing fine for the next few months when clients aren’t knocking on our door all the time?
How do I overcome imposter syndrome when seeing other people’s work, some even much younger than me?
How do I know I’m not being complacent when the boat is sailing smooth?
How do I tell myself I’m not alone when existential crisis and burnout happen?

Those, I found answers by journaling and making sure whatever I do aligns with my goals

My 2026 goals

As usual, I’ll end the article by writing down my goals, in no particular order:

A hypothetical question

Closing this article with a big question: What if I measure my company’s success through cumulative impact instead of revenue, how differently would I be doing things?