Oiling the Engine: My 2026 Word, World, and Workflow
Reflecting on 2025 and sharing my Magic Growth system to help you start your year.
Happy New Year, my friends. I hope you had a wonderful holiday and enjoyed the shift into the new year with your friends and family.
The final weeks of the year are always the most turbulent for me. I often enter a stage of hibernation, feeling a deep urge to hide in my studio and spend my days reflecting and journaling without a specific goal. However, it has always been difficult for me to do anything without a goal. Last year, I developed a mood board to guide my intentions, and I’ve decided to continue this practice for 2026. I hope that sharing my reflections and goals inspires you to build your own reflection routine.
I used to be very organized—a trait from my time in the corporate world where deadlines and requests from co-workers required a strict handle on my schedule. But since starting my journey as a creative professional, something has changed. In terms of Insights Discovery color types, I have shifted from a “deep red” profile to a more “orange/yellow” persona: the motivator and the inspirer.
This shift brings a bit more chaos, a “go with the flow” attitude, and a reliance on intuition over rigid planning. I still strive to organize my weeks, but I now do so based on emotion rather than logic—which is the opposite of how I often communicate and use body language. I’ve shifted from a “forced extrovert” to a very comfortable “lone wolf” introvert, putting on my extrovert hat only when absolutely necessary. My brain remains my strongest organ, but my heart is learning to speak more often.
Despite this dance with organizational chaos, my “red” side still shouts for big goals. And because I want others to benefit, I’m giving you access to my brain. Rather than long, boring paragraphs, I’ve gathered my milestones and intentions into a list below. Also, I’m not only giving you access to my brain, but a couple of templates so you can start your year more comfortably, cause I know how hard it is to start.
What’s in it for you?
Find everything at the end of the article
My own mood board for 2026 for inspiration.
A mood board template to fill in and print for your wall.
A Notion template to help you plan your own creative and personal growth digitally with a Today’s Flow Task List
2025 Retrospective: Creative & Professional Milestones
The Big Scale: Created my first large-scale illustration for a museum exhibition.
New Ventures: Launched my newsletter on Substack; designed my first-ever puzzle and a kids’ wallet collection (relying on pure instinct).
Business Growth: Surpassed 10K in revenue (pre-tax) and took business acquisition in the Netherlands seriously, resulting in three consecutive Dutch clients.
The Learning Curve: Sampled for Bloomsbury for a secret project; though it didn’t move forward, the lessons remained.
Defining the Method: Embraced a “multi-hyphenate” identity, focusing on the bridge between analog pen and digital workflow.
Health & Physical Transformation
Peak Fitness: Reached my fittest point to date through a dedicated, everyday workout commitment.
Weightlifting & Discipline: Shifted to a serious weightlifting routine and a protein-heavy diet to support my strength.
The Supplement Edge: Integrated supplements like creatine into my daily habit to maximize performance.
Mental Health: Started antidepressants—a pivotal decision that brought a newfound cheerfulness to my life and home.
The Tools & Space
The Blackwing: Finally bought my first Blackwing pencil.
The Tower: Recognized the immense value of having a “tower studio” just a flight of stairs away.
The Dream Machine: Decided on an Olivetti Lettera 22 typewriter to add to my toolkit.
The Finished Page: Successfully filled an entire white Moleskine sketchbook.
Family & Community
The Balancing Act: Navigated the return to work after maternity leave while managing a household of three small children.
Support Systems: Deepened my appreciation for a husband who supports my dreams and the presence of my family and parents-in-law.
Community: Attended my first “blind date” with a group of fellow illustrators.
Looking Ahead: Booked our first international holiday as a family of five for 2026.
Lessons Learned in 2025
Structure is Freedom I learned that an “every day” commitment—whether to a protein-heavy diet, a workout, or a Substack newsletter—actually creates more mental space, not less. Discipline didn’t just change my body; it sharpened my focus in the studio.
Trust the Instinct, Then Back it with Data Designing a collection on “pure instinct” taught me that my creative gut is reliable. However, hitting the 11K revenue milestone showed me the power of taking acquisition and business strategy seriously.
The Power of Intervention Admitting I needed help—whether through antidepressants or the support of my family—wasn’t a sign of weakness. It was the “software update” that allowed me to feel cheerful and capable again.
Physical Strength Fuels Creative Endurance Being at my fittest isn’t about the mirror; it’s about the stamina required to walk up the stairs to the tower studio and create on a museum scale after a full day of parenting.
The Final Thought: Oiling the Engine
2025 was the year I rebuilt the machine; 2026 is the year I learn how to maintain it. I am entering the new year with a clear objective to double my income, but I recognize that a high-output engine requires careful oiling. To reach that goal, I must allow for the friction of reinvention—testing new materials, adjusting my stylistic gears, and feeding the engine with fresh ideas. I am not just looking for more work; I am looking for the right adjustments to make the work more powerful.
The New Year 2026
As I look toward 2026, I am finding myself drawn to the rhythms that exist outside of my studio walls. I’ve realized that my energy isn't a flat line; it waxes and wanes just like the moon. This year, I’m making it a priority to study lunar phases and their impact on human energy, nature, and the seasons. I want to move away from fighting against my natural 'low-tide' moments and instead learn how to align my creative output and business sprints with these celestial cycles. It’s about finding a harmony between the 'Red' drive for results and the 'Yellow' pull of natural intuition.
These are the specific intentions guiding my 2026:
1. Creative Reinvention & The Human Mark
The Sri Lankan Influence: Our summer trip is a dedicated creative intake. I will use the sights, textures, and atmosphere of Sri Lanka as the primary catalyst for my stylistic shift.
Material Testing: I am moving beyond my “safe” tools to experiment with mixed media on larger formats, allowing the “analog pen + digital workflow” to become more nuanced and textured.
Analog Mastery: With my new vintage typewriter and inspiration from Estee Zales and Allie Sullberg, I am making the “analog feel” my signature, daring to ask for more time in client work to allow space for the human mark.
Creative Resilience: I have singed up for the 31 Days of Creative Resilience by Carolyn Yoo to keep my heart speaking as loudly as my brain.
2. Spiritual & Natural Alignment
Lunar Cycles & Energy: I am studying how moon phases impact human energy and the seasons. My goal is to stop fighting “low-tide” moments and instead align my business sprints and creative rest with these natural rhythms.
Spiritual Inquiry: I will dive into the Buddhist traditions of Sri Lanka to see how the philosophy of presence and detachment can be integrated into my daily life as a mother, creator, and wife.
The Journaling Practice: I am committing to more time in my journal—not as a goal-oriented task, but as a space for the heart to speak without filters.
3. Strategic Focus & Revenue
Rethinking Pigment & Pixel: I am putting an end to “solving a million problems.” This year, I am refining the mission of this space and my online shop to solve one specific problem for my readers.
The 20K Objective: I am directing my power toward doubling my revenue. This isn’t about working harder; it’s about a well-oiled strategy, clearer acquisition, and more intentional creative output.
How to use your New Year Templates
To help you start your own year with clarity, I’ve included a few tools that mirror my own process:
The 2026 Moodboard Template (Procreate template or jpg): Use this for professional & personal dreams to visualize your intentions. If you need a starting point, try my 3 Journaling Prompts below or read the 3 Articles below.
The Magic Growth List (Notion): This is a digital version of my brain. It includes a Today’s Flow Task List to help you organize your day based on emotion and energy rather than just a rigid to-do list.
Journaling Prompts as inspiration for the new year
1. The Engine Audit If your creative practice was a mechanical engine, which parts are currently overheating (too much work for too little reward) and which parts need oil (more inspiration, new materials, or rest)? What is one small adjustment you could make this month to help the whole system run with less friction?
2. The Color & Energy Shift Reflecting on the Insight Discovery colors: did you spend 2025 living mostly in Deep Red (logic, results, corporate drive)? As you look at 2026, how can you make more space for Yellow and Orange (intuition, inspiration, heart)? Describe what your studio or daily routine looks like when your heart is allowed to speak as loudly as your brain.
3. The “One-Problem” Filter We often try to solve a million problems at once. If your creative work or your home life could only solve one specific problem this year, what would it be? Write this “one problem” down and look at your current to-do list—which tasks actually support this, and which are just noise?
Articles as inspiration for the new year
Thanks a lot for your energy in 2025. Let’s make 2026 a year full of creativity, inspiration and learning.
Thank you so much for all the things you do.
Cheers
Karin