The Anchor and the Horizon

We are drowning in goals but starved for direction. We have more data than ever, yet less clarity. In a world of endless notifications and competing priorities, the cure isn’t another spreadsheet. It’s a single word. Distilling your intentions for an entire year into one word is an act of profound focus, a commitment to what truly matters in a world of noise.

This very idea is the heart of a tradition for a global community called OnEBoard. For eleven years, we have hosted “Commitment,” an annual public declaration of intent. It began humbly, as a private journaling exercise by me, its host, Nina Trankova. But I soon realized that a private promise is too easily broken. I decided to make it public, “so I can self-control and discipline myself.” It has blossomed into a deeply moving personal development event where people share their one-word commitment for the year ahead.

The core concept is that this word becomes your personal “anchor.” As I explain it, the word serves as a constant touchstone throughout the year.

“During the year, this will be a focus. Grounding. Like an anchor when you take decisions.”

It is the principle you return to, the lens through which you evaluate opportunities, and the standard to which you hold yourself accountable. Today, I want to explore the powerful stories that emerged from this year’s commitments, stories that reveal three fundamental journeys of growth that every one of us is navigating right now.

The Journeys of Growth we can Undertake

The commitments shared by the OnEBoard members are more than just personal resolutions; they are windows into the universal challenges we all face. As we listen to their stories, from Hawaii to Munich, from Vienna to San Francisco, from Montana to a cruise ship in Fiji, we see three distinct but interconnected journeys emerge: the courage to embrace radical transformation, the wisdom to balance technology with mindfulness, and the discipline to turn intention into tangible outcomes.

Embracing Radical Transformation

The first journey is the necessity of navigating massive, life-altering change. It is about responding to profound shifts in our personal and professional landscapes not with fear, but with intention.

No story exemplifies this more than that of Chris Guld. In 2025, after 14 years of living in an RV, she made the monumental decision to move onto The Odyssey, a residential cruise ship. For 2026, her commitment is to “Adjust.” It’s a simple word for a profound undertaking. As she explains, she is now surrounded by “all new people… all new situations… all new everything.” Her word isn’t about resisting the change, but about consciously learning to thrive within it.

This mindset is perfectly complemented by Priya Chandra, a first-time participant who chose the word “Acceptance.” Her commitment speaks to the internal posture required to navigate change. For her, it is about:

“…accepting the opportunities that are coming my way in a spirit of openness, but also accepting that there are things that I, I don’t know.”

Priya’s wisdom is in her willingness to embrace the “shades of gray,” acknowledging that transformation is rarely a black-and-white process. It requires us to be open to ambiguity and comfortable with the unknown.

Finally, Monika Schmidt shows us what comes next. After a year of “fulfillment” driven by significant changes in her private life, she is turning the page. Her word for 2026 is “Inspiration.” This signals a deliberate choice not just to react to change, but to proactively seek it out, to “invite into my life and do something new with it” as part of a conscious future construction.

Adjusting to a new world demands new tools. And the most important new tools are the internal frameworks we use to process this new reality, putting the promise of technology against the necessity of human presence.

The Duality of Progress. Technology and Mindfulness

The second journey explores the essential paradox of modern life: We must become more technologically integrated to be effective, while simultaneously becoming more mindfully human to be fulfilled. This is the push and pull of progress, the dual engines of modern growth.

On one side, we have Bob Danley’s forward-looking commitment: “Symbiosis.” He uses the powerful metaphor of a lichen, “in which two different organisms combine to make something new and different.” For Bob, this isn’t about man versus machine; it’s about partnership. His goal is clear:

“It’ll be me, the human integrating AI Technology. So I’m going to work increasingly using a Gemini.”

Bob’s vision is one of co-creation, where human intellect and artificial intelligence merge to create something greater than the sum of their parts.

On the other side, Svetlana Stavreva offers a vital counterpoint with her commitment to “Mindfulness.” Coming off a “truly transformative” 2025, she warns against the chaos that unbridled change can create, warning us not to transform like “an elephant dancing in a glass shop.” Her focus is on the human element, on ensuring that progress is sustainable and meaningful. Svetlana seeks to ground transformation in:

“…deeper awareness, presence in common sense so that the change we have built can be lived with intention.”

Hers is an explicit choice for “steady present living, rather than the artificial intelligence everybody is so fascinated with.”

These two perspectives are not a conflict to be resolved, but a tension to be held. True progress isn’t just about choosing between AI and awareness; it’s about harnessing both. It is this integrated power that allows us to move from high-level strategy to the disciplined, on-the-ground execution that defines true success.

The Outcome of Intention from Execution to Flourishing

The final journey is about culmination, where embracing change and finding balance leads to deliberate, impactful action. It is about building upon past experiences to achieve a higher state of contribution and success.

Peggy Kolm’s journey offers a masterclass in this process. Her word for 2025 was “adapt,” a commitment that helped her navigate unpredictable events by building better processes and understanding her own limits. That foundational work has now set the stage for her 2026 commitment: “Focus.” She is moving from reacting to creating. Her goal is:

“…to really pick a couple projects to focus on… in such a way that I actually don’t try to overextend.”

This is the disciplined application of lessons learned, the essence of strategic growth.

The intentional process finds its expression in my story as the event’s host (Nina Trankova). In 2025, following my mother’s passing, my commitment was “realization.” I learned to “start and finish things from start to end,” internalizing a critical life lesson. Having built that foundation of discipline and completion, I’m now ready for my 2026 commitment: “Flourishing.” I reflect that in our later years, we reach a unique moment.

“…we finally get to accumulate knowledge and specialization and we can share with others… and start support things we choose and not things we previously compromised.”

This is the outcome of intention: moving beyond mere execution to a state of generous contribution and authentic fulfillment. And this movement is not limited to a few. In the live chat, others joined, declaring their own words and expanding the circle of intention:

• Jolyn Bowler: Healing
• MyMeriArt: Triumphant
• Brigitte Uras: Questioning

From embracing transformation to achieving a state of flourishing, these stories light a path for others. Now, the question is will more like-minded professionals claim their Commitment 2026?

Commitment 2026: Defining Your Anchor

We have heard how a single word can guide you through a radical life change, how it can help you balance the rush of technology with the calm of human presence, and how it can transform years of adaptation into focused, flourishing success. These are stories teaching a call to action for others to folow.

So I ask you to take a moment and reflect. Think about the year that has passed, its challenges, its triumphs, its lessons. Now, look ahead to the year to come. What do you want to build? What is the one change, the one principle, the one idea that, if you held to it, would make all the difference?

Claim your anchor when you make decisions by one word that will ground your goals for the coming year!

This is a practical tool for self-discipline and clarity. As I remind the participants, the process serves as a way to “self check” each time you “feel doubtful.” Your word becomes your compass, your true north when you feel lost.

The year 2026: A Future We Build with Intention

Today, we’ve seen how individual accountability, when shared, creates a powerful collective connection. These commitments, shared across thousands of miles, are a testament to our shared human desire for growth. In the words of Chris Guld, there is a deep “gratefulness for the technology that allows us to get together like this.”

That connection is a gift. It reminds us that while our journeys are our own, we are not alone. The path forward is something we build, choice by choice, action by action, with intention.

Your year of intention begins right now, with your Commitment 2026. Find your watchword! Claim it. Let it be the force that pulls you toward the horizon you seek, your first step you take toward crafting your most intentional and fulfilling year yet.

Join the OnEBoard community OnEBoard Commitment 2026

Get to know our historical project Commitment 2020 OnEBoard