I was fortunate enough to enter 2026 in Tokyo, Japan, while returning from Roppongi to our rented house in Koto. One of the best things I’ve done since 2017 is to keep a short summary of goals for the year at the beginning of each one. You can reach the posts I’ve written since 2017 on my Annual Journals page.

Before I start writing: I am currently writing this at the airport in Changzhou, China, waiting for my transfer flight to Istanbul from Osaka, Japan. It is 23:10 local time in China, and there are 100 minutes until takeoff. While writing this, I’m listening to Papaoutai, a song I’ve been listening to a lot lately. You might want to listen to it while reading to get into a more effective reading mode.

Every year, before I start writing for the current year, I begin by reading what I wrote the previous year. In 2025, I seem to have moved forward with more grounded, simple goals. I suppose as we age, we become more grounded and make progress more geared toward the future.

Roughly, I wrote down these items:

• Set reminders on the phone. (Unfortunately, I didn’t do this at all.)

• Find a suitable planning app and try to use it. (I didn’t achieve this either.)

• Use AI more effectively. Research different AIs. (I don’t know why I crossed this out, but I believe I have reached very advanced levels in coding, visuals, video, and prompting regarding AI. In the next stages, I will start thinking about other things.)

• Write 1 blog post per week on a topic. (I left this blank.)

• Start one item from the “10 things before 40” list. (Actually, the foundations for some items here were laid. So, I will mark this orange. Meaning, halfway there.)

• Synchronize the Blog with English. (This turned out perfectly. The blog is currently 100% integrated with English.)

• Determine 1 major goal and move toward it. (The name of this became myRota. And let’s say Mashallah, thank Allah, even if it doesn’t flow like a river, it goes drop by drop. This is currently my driving force for moving forward.)

• Improve “60eksi” in 2025. Make a new addition. Maybe horizontal content. (Documentary) (I finished 60eksi. But we will return to this topic in a bit.)

• Continue the main Burak Bayram social media accounts. (The IG side for Burak Bayram made significant progress. That’s why this deserves the color green more than anything. 2-3 million monthly views deserve a green.)

When we look at it generally, it was a productive year for me. In fact, many things happened on top of it. There were certainly moments where I was sad this year, but since I believe there is hayr (good/blessing) in almost all of them, I have no regrets. May Allah grant us all more beautiful, auspicious, healthy, and happy days.

This year, I did an Asia tour that lasted 3 months and 2 days. And I named this a World Tour. Because I had a list prepared earlier called “27 before 27” and I had said that if I continued my journey for over 90 days without entering Türkiye, I would accept this as a World Tour. And thank Allah, thank Allah, thank Allah, this happened. It became one of those things in my life where I say, “I’m so glad I did it.”

I think I spent 5 or 6 months of this 12-month year outside the country. When I was in high school, I used to think how nice it would be to constantly be abroad, to constantly get on planes. Most of us have thought this. Allah  truly answers prayers. We need to be careful what we pray for. But thank Allah, all of these journeys were beautiful in their own distinct ways. Truly, thank Allah.

Of course, there were job changes, etc. But I have stopped sharing private information about myself like I used to. I used to share everything, but doing that is not a good thing. If you are doing it, refrain from sharing your personal information, your family, and other things as much as possible. It used to be a skill to be visible on social media; now, it is a skill not to be seen. You might say, “But you are on social media every moment.” Since this is my job, it is a necessity for me. But in terms of things that are not very important regarding work, I try not to post as much as possible anymore.

My grandfather used to say, “Don’t tell everyone what you have achieved.” I understood this after my grandfather passed away. Let your success stay with you. It is enough if your family and very, very close ones know. Only talk about these things where it is critical and of great importance to do so. You can think of it like this: Don’t hesitate to look like the quietest, calmest person in the room who knows the least about the subject. Sometimes it makes your job easier. I could fill the space beneath this sentence with 10 paragraphs, but as you age or gain experience, you will understand too. Being quiet, staying as far away from showing off as possible, is a very relaxing and beautiful thing.

To provide general inspiration for my friends reading this post, let me share my goals for this year. Roughly:

• I aim for a year where I share my private life as little as possible and do not talk about my own achievements.

• I will continue to develop the myRota application in terms of Android, iOS, and Web interfaces.

• I need to decide what to do regarding 60eksi. I will weigh the pros and cons and proceed accordingly.

• I will try to acquire a sports habit. Because when I devote myself to coding or video editing, I have the ability to spend 18 out of 24 hours without getting up from the computer. Working is nice, but this level of inactivity can affect a person’s health very badly. I must try to take measures to prevent this.

• Finally, I have experienced this a lot in the last 2 years. This is my advice to both myself and you this year: Do not be afraid of change, of changing, and of being open to differences. Know how to be kind according to the person, and know how to stay away.

Then, treat yourselves well until our post next year, and I entrust you to Allah.