Designing Deeper Presence in 2026: The 3 Circles of Impact
- Starleetah Gaddis
- Jan 7
- 5 min read
Moving beyond performance metrics to design a year of intentional presence
As I sit here this week attempting to close my Apple Watch rings and deciding how I want to start 2026, whether that’s chasing a seven-workout week award or simply getting outside for a walk or hike, I realized something: I'm going to spend 2026 chasing circles. But not the ones you think.
Cue Adele, Chasing Pavements. Do we even still like her? I digress.
Move.
Exercise.
Stand.
Close the rings. Do the work. Keep going.
At one point this week my watch buzzed my shared contacts were probably wondering what marathon I was training for.
But while my watch was tracking my movement, nothing was tracking my passion or my attention. So, I did what we all do. I started scrolling. First my phone, then social media. And there it was. My highlight of 2025. Panama.
I went to Panama in November for my birthday and did not realize how much I needed that pause. Not because it was beautiful, but because it slowed me down enough to hear myself again. I came home lighter, not because life was easier, but because I finally remembered how to be present inside it.
That trip showed me something my Apple Watch could never: presence matters more than performance.
As the first week of January settles in, I have decided to create three new rings for 2026. Not for performance. For presence.
Cue Solange’s I’ve Decided. Chef’s kiss.
Circle ONE- Designing Deeper Presence Through People & Relationships
It feels important to start with the people and relationships that held me back and those that held me up when I felt like I was falling.
Who did I protect my energy from?
Where did I show up fully, even when I was tired?
What relationships sustained me and which ones drained me?
My Truth
For me, 2025 was about survival with grace. Family. My spouse. Friends who needed nothing except my presence.
2026 Intention
I want to nurture relationships that do not require performance.
Circle TWO - Designing Deeper Presence in New Places & Environments
We all say it every year. “I want to be more intentional.” And I mean it this time.
Last year I was not as intentional about the places I showed up unless they directly benefited my career.
I think that it quietly added to my burnout. It forced me to ask myself:
What spaces did I avoid even though I needed connection?
Where did I keep telling myself I was too busy to go?
The plain TRUTH
Last year I moved through the same rooms on repeat. Work. Home. Obligations. I convinced myself that anything outside of work productivity was optional, and slowly my world got smaller. Honestly, this is where I started to feel sadder, especially as a remote worker when the walls at home sometimes felt suffocating.
2026 Intention
This year, I’m choosing to show up beyond my circle and normal places.
Not for work, but in environments that invite movement, curiosity, and care.
Some ways I am inviting myself, and you, to begin:
Take a class just for joy. Yoga. Photography. Writing. Something with no outcome required.
Volunteer once a month with an organization that centers women, housing, or wellness.
Show up for a neighborhood cleanup, community garden, or food pantry.
Because sometimes healing does not happen in isolation. It happens when you step into a new room. It does not require performance, only authenticity.
I spent a lot of time in professional spaces like PCMA, ASAE, and work events, and while they serve a purpose, for me they are transactional. They do not give me the same dopamine hit as showing up somewhere simply because I want to be there, not because I need something from it or vice versa.
Circle THREE- Designing Deeper Presence by Letting Go and Trying New Things
Have you ever stopped long enough to ask yourself, and actually answer:
What am I holding onto because it feels familiar, even if it no longer fits?
What have I talked myself out of doing or trying because I was afraid to be bad at it, or because someone convinced me not to?
This circle is personal for me.
I remember someone close to me once telling me that writing a book was a bad idea. So I started this personal blog with maybe all of five readers, LOL. I started The Waiting Room anyway, and it is damn good if I must say so.
I love music, so in the height of the pandemic I took lessons and taught myself how to DJ. Then I got scared to play for anyone other than myself and a few friends. I even turned down invitations for gigs.
That is what this circle is really about. The things we silence before the world ever gets the chance to.
Truth
So many of us spend years editing ourselves.
Waiting to feel ready. Waiting to feel polished. Waiting to feel brave.
When we hold the “thing,” readiness never comes and we just learn how to hide better.
2026 Intention
This year I will write my story anyway. Doing all the things and letting go of what no longer serves me.
Scared. Uncertain. Still showing up.
I will write before I overthink it, share my ideas before they feel perfect, and speak my truth before fear rewrites it.
Even when I am not 100 percent. Even when my voice cracks. Even if I delete it twice first. Even when my inner voice says, “Don't embarrass me.”
Because something waiting for me may never find the version of me that stays quiet.
Why this matters: Every time we silence ourselves, we teach the world we don't matter. 2026 is the year I unlearn that lie.
Designing Deeper Presence in 2026 with the 3 Circles of Impact
What I'm carrying forward. 2025 taught me how to keep going even in the midst of burnout.
In 2026, I am choosing to close the gap between who I am and how I show up.
I am no longer chasing acceptance.
I am intentionally designing what deeper presence looks like for me.
If you take anything with you into this year, let it be this.
Before the vision board parties begin and you revise your New Year’s resolutions, carve out a few quiet minutes to think about your own circles and reflect on these questions:
Your Turn: Three Questions for 2026
Who held you in 2025?
Where can you show up in your community this year?
What are you ready to do even if it scares you?
You do not have to post it.
You do not have to perfect it.
You just have to begin.
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