Share your thoughts on the Wednesday Weblog

This is one of the most popular repeatable Weblogs published. I think one of the reasons is that when the new year comes around, most of us have had enough of the old year and have high hopes for the future.

Even though 'hope' is not a good management tool, it is still important to us because of its association with 'aspiring.' This weblog looks at the year as 365 gift cards, one for every day. They are 'use it or lose it' cards so the more we do with them the better.

Now is a good time to set your sights on something great for 2026. If not you, then who, and if not now, when?

Every year at this time we get a brand spanking new gift: a 365-day year stretching out in front of us. Every year, most of us are hoping for a brighter upcoming year.

But in the true spirit of cliches that I embrace: "Hope is not a management tool." So, step 1 may be to have hope, but step 2 is to rely on more than hope to make it a good year.

The year can slip away fast and, just like last year at this time, we are mere months away from saying “Can you believe it is May already?” Or “Can you believe it is the 4th of July already?”

Right now, we can’t say any of those things, although we can say “Do you believe it is the new year already?”

But our main attention should probably be on unwrapping that 365-days of gifts staring us in the face on January 1st.

We all know, almost intuitively, that the 'new' year brings something 'new' to our life: it could be a new baby, a new car, a new friend, a new running event, a new role, a new boss, a new pair of shoes, a new shirt, a new book, a new trip, a new guitar, a new hobby, a new favorite TV show.

But how exactly do you 'unwrap' the gifts of a new year?

If you think of the new year as a stack of 365 Gift Cards each with one day loaded on it in a 'use it or lose it' format, you'd be right on track.

If you don't use the gift of one day that is on a card, you can't get a refund: once the day is gone, it is spent, and you can't get it back.

If we could get refunds on days spent or days wasted or days unused, the line for refunds would be pretty damn long.

A good question to ask today is what will you be saying about your 2026 gift card usage one year from now? It depends on how you spend the gift cards each day, more than your ability or skill or willingness. It doesn’t matter how good you are, if you spend your gift cards and days on the wrong things, you won’t be happy, or successful.

Sometimes it is hard to remember, you have more say and more impact on how YOUR year goes than anyone else. You can overcome poor leadership, adverse weather, strong competition and poor support and yes, even a recession, by spending your time on the right things.

Here's a recipe to make one right thing for you to spend time on in 2026 that only requires four ingredients: you, a plan, a little determination, and 365 days. For those of you who are right brained the formula looks like this:

You + A Plan + A Little Determination + 365 Days = A Right Thing

This simple formula for unwrapping the gift of time can ensure that a year from now, you will be happier with your year in at least one way.

Here’s what some call ‘irrefutable evidence’ of the validity of the formula.

Think back to your personal skill set or habits a year ago. Remember you then? Are you better at anything than you were then? Better at watching Netflix doesn't count.

I am certain you ARE better in at least one attribute today than you were then. It could be your fitness or weight, or it could be you have a puppy to be housetrained, or maybe you even learned something in school. (Learning in school? Rare, I know, but still possible).

What I can also guess about that one thing you are better at today is that you didn’t plan on being better at that specific thing today, it…just…happened.

Imagine how good you would be if that improvement was planned, instead of accidental or organic?

Your one right thing in 2026 could be learning more about social media, or scrambling eggs, or doing the dishes, or being on time (you know who you are) or public speaking or returning the shopping cart to the corral instead of leaving it in the parking lot (you also know who you are). It could be mentoring someone or being mentored. It could be using your communication skills to...communicate in more or better ways.

My one right thing from 2025 included recording and releasing the audibook version of Observations at the Speed of Life and a Spanish language version in paperback.

My 'one thing' for 2026 is under the umbrella of reconnecting. I've had a lot of business travel in the past three years, and have less projected this year, so I am connecting with people for coffee, lunch, and drinks.

Stepping out of the box, becoming a Tik Tok dancer made my final four in 2021. In 2022 I worked on being a weightlifter to get ready for the Paris Olympics in 2024. My 'one thing' for 2023 was to learn more about publishing a book. In 2024 my one thing was to be (get ready for it): managing my time better. In 2025 I wanted to step up the 'purging' process of my home and my files. I'm part way there.

I have also considered taking guitar lessons so I can play at some of the country bars I visit on a regular basis. Only kidding.

You don’t need an army or an expert or a coach or a mentor to get better, although they all are helpful. You just need you, a plan, a sprinkling of determination and a stack of 365 days of gift cards.

Since you already have you, and the 365 days of gift cards ready to go, it looks like a little plan and a little determination are all that’s needed, and you are on your way to being significantly better at that one thing a year from now.

Gotta go, I think I left a shopping cart in a parking lot, and I have to get ready to unwrap the first gift card of 2026, because if I don't, there's no refund.