What If This Was The Last One?
I have such a hard time just following trends or the norm, but I would be remiss if we didn't delve into what you you've changed this year and what that means for next year.
The new year always triggers this dramatic introspection and perspective that often motivates some to a permanent shift and most to a temporary change. Don't get me wrong, it helps to have a catalyst to move you towards a greater self but the future is what matters most.
So let's start with this year by wrapping up where we've been and ask ourselves "What's changed?" Here are some over arching themes that have been presented:
Change was never the issue. Process was.
One of the strongest themes this year was simple, almost annoying in how simple it is: most people already know what needs to change. The gap is execution, and execution needs a process that survives when motivation dies.
That is why “new year, new me” fails so often. People try to overhaul a life. They should be trying to install one behavior, then letting identity catch up.
If you changed this year, it probably wasn’t from some epic surge of inspiration. It was from reps. It was from designing your environment. It was from getting honest after a miss and resuming instead of restarting.
Question: If someone you met at the beginning of 2025 ran into you today... would they be meeting the same person?
Control vs Drift
Another theme that kept resurfacing was drift, not as failure, but as neglect. Drift isn’t loud. It doesn’t feel dangerous. It feels fine.
Drift happens when defaults run your life. Schedules you didn’t design. Commitments you didn’t intentionally choose. Standards you slowly lower without ever deciding to.
Most people don’t wake up one day off course. They arrive there quietly, by letting comfort replace intention.
If something slipped this year, it likely wasn’t from chaos. It was from letting things run unchecked for just a little too long.
Question: If you asked your spouse or closest friend what you’re intentionally avoiding in your life, what would they call out immediately? Chances are.. you yourself already know.
Peace, Boundaries, and the Cost of Yes
Peace came up repeatedly, not as a feeling to chase, but as a responsibility to manage. Peace isn’t free. You either protect it early or pay for its absence later.
A lot of stress this year didn’t come from hard situations. It came from situations you tolerated. Conversations avoided. Boundaries blurred. Yeses given to avoid discomfort.
Saying no was never about being difficult. It was about leadership. About deciding that not everything deserves access to your time, energy, or attention.
Where peace was gained this year, it usually came with an uncomfortable decision attached to it.
Question: What complaint keeps coming out of your mouth (or in your mind), even though you’ve done nothing to change it?
Ownership of the Inner World
One of the quieter but most influential themes this year was the way people talk to themselves. Not publicly. Internally.
Conviction moved people forward. Condemnation kept them stuck pretending to be self-aware.
Growth showed up when people learned to observe their thoughts without obeying them. When they corrected course instead of punishing themselves. When responsibility replaced self-attack.
Your outcomes weren’t just shaped by what you did this year, but by what you allowed to live unchecked in your head.
Question: What do you think of yourself?
This last question reminded me of an excerpt I just read from last year out of my journal. I use a 5 year journal. If you're not familiar, it's 5 lines per year, 25 lines per page. So you can see each day stacked up against it's previous year for the last 5 years.
Last year... I was pissed. I was disappointed with where things were, all the work I had done and what I felt were a lack of results. I'm smiling right now because this year has been incredible... and I was apparently trying to rush God's timing.
I'm so excited for where things are today... and I think that is a great segue from 2025 to 2026.
You maybe looking at this last year and wondering what happened. Maybe you rocked it, maybe you barely survived, maybe you're not even sure how you got here....but you're still here.
So what's next? Let me pose a thought. What if 2026 was it? What if you got a call from the doctor finding out this was it... your last year. I personally would give it everything I had?
I would work hard, love hard, play hard. I would build something that would be worth remembering. I would fight for the people that mattered to me. I would infuse as much joy into every moment, every conversation, every interaction. I would want to be the best version of me that I could possibly be. All this takes? Is a choice. I'll be it an intentional choice.
It will take a lot of intentionality, a shift in our current mindset, and an objectivity that reminds us that a new year is not what it takes.... just a new day.
Today’s Forced Challenge: I want you to FORCE yourself to attack at least one of these challenges:
1. Time: Live as if your time is no longer renewable. Make decisions this year as if you already know the clock is ticking. Stop deferring what matters most to a version of you that may never arrive.
2. Legacy: Build something that outlives your comfort. Create, lead, or contribute to something that would still matter if no one applauded you for it.
3. Love: Love people with urgency, not assumption. Stop acting like you get unlimited conversations, holidays, and chances to say what should be said.
4. Truth: Eliminate the lie that you still have time to fix it later. Later is the story people tell themselves right before regret shows up.
5. Meaning: Choose meaning over mood. Do what matters even when you don’t feel like it. Especially when you don’t feel like it.
Time doesn’t ask for permission, and it doesn’t wait for clarity. It keeps moving while we hesitate, while we plan, while we tell ourselves we’ll start tomorrow. One day quietly becomes the line that separates intention from legacy.
You don’t need a new year to live differently. You need a decision. A willingness to show up fully, love deeply, choose meaning over comfort, and stop postponing the life you already know you want. If this year were the one that counted most, let it be said you were present, you were brave, and you didn’t waste it.
“Every man dies. Not every man really lives.” - William Wallace
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