Your 2026 Advantage

Happy New Year!

I’m excited about the new year, and that my new book Start With What If: Weekly Questions to Spark Change and Growth launches in just six days.

As that moment gets closer, I’ve been thinking a lot about why I wrote it in the first place. It’s what I’ve learned about the power of pause, questions, and taking action.

New Year’s Eve creates a similar moment.

There’s reflection in the air. A sense of closure. And often, an unspoken pressure to turn the page with answers already in hand.

What went well.
What didn’t.
What needs to change.

But the most useful takeaway from a year is rarely the loudest moment.

It’s often the pattern you didn’t notice while you were in it.

What if your biggest takeaway from 2025 becomes your biggest driver of personal and professional success in 2026?

Not a goal.
Not a resolution.
An advantage.

An advantage is something you already earned this year. A way of operating that worked. A strength, pattern, or alignment that showed up consistently, even if you didn’t name it at the time.

Here are three ways to start identifying it.

1. Notice what worked when things seemed effortless.
When you felt steady, clear, or effective without overthinking. Those moments often point to a strength or way of operating that already works. One you can intentionally build on in the year ahead.

2. Pay attention to what drained you faster than it should have.
The quickest energy leaks are usually misalignments. Conversations, commitments, or roles that consistently cost more energy than expected. Understanding why helps you choose differently next year.

3. Look at what brought you joy and momentum.
Not big wins. The moments that quietly energized you. Work you lost track of time doing. Conversations you replayed later. Joy often points to alignment and alignment compounds.

Your biggest takeaway from 2025 doesn’t need to be dramatic.

It just needs to be identified and leveraged for the year ahead.

If you want to go deeper, I put together a short reflection called Your 2026 Advantage.

It’s 15 thoughtful questions that help you turn these insights into something clear and usable for the year ahead.

You can complete it in about 10 minutes. Download here.

Wherever you are as this year closes, I hope this feels grounding, useful, and forward-looking.