Why I'm already starting my own Winter Arc
A few days ago I came across the term "Winter Arc," this TikTok and Instagram trend where people use the cold, dark months not to slow down but to do the opposite: maximum discipline, clear routines, hard training, while everyone else takes it easy. No fixed rulebook, more of a mindset. And that mindset fits surprisingly well with what I'm already planning to do with the 1000 days anyway.
So I'm making my own version of it, and just getting started without waiting for everything else to line up.
For now, it stands on its own
How the Winter Arc exactly fits together with my 120-Day-Finish-2026 series is something I still need to figure out, the blog post for that series doesn't come out until September 3rd. But that's exactly what I don't want to wait for. My Winter Arc 2026 starts on September 1st on its own, regardless of how I later tie it in with the blocks.
My rules for the Winter Arc 2026
No big program, just a list of points I want to stick to consistently from now on:
- No junk food
- 2-3 liters of water, per day
- 7-8 hours of sleep
- Up before 6 AM
- 3x gym, per week
- 2x running, per week
- 20 minutes of reading, daily
- Track progress
- Selfcare
- Consistency
What I'm hoping to get out of it
Honestly, I don't know yet if I'll pull this off completely. But that's really the whole point of the 1000 days: not being perfect, just sticking with it more often than giving up. I'm simply starting now, and at the end I'll at least know what I want to do differently for next year's Winter Arc.
We'll see who's still standing in December. I at least want to try.
