Josh's Weekly Insights - Dec. 31, 2025

“Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.”

-Rita Mae Brown

As we count down to the new year, it is important to remember that a day rolling over or a new year starting is not going to immediately change our outcomes. I often hear people saying that the new year will be different, meaning that they expect this year to be a better year than the last. However, the problem with this philosophy is that the dates on the calendar have minimal impact on our outcomes. There is really only one thing that will make the new year a great year for us and that is changing our decision maker (by which I mean your brain).

You see, each of us has arrived where we are in life by virtue of our decisions and habits. We have both positive and negative habits as well as making positive and negative decisions. This means that if we reflect on the year and don’t like where we arrived, we need to make changes to our processor (again I mean your brain) in the new year. To make changes there are two things we need to do:

1) We have to do a deep dive on what habits aren’t contributing to our success. Then use that knowledge to determine how we are going to build better habits in 2026.

2) We need to take a longer-term approach when making decisions. Don’t make decisions based on what you want now, look at your long-term goals and ask the question, “What decision in this moment moves me closer to the long-term

vision I have for myself and my life?”

If you can do those two things more consistently, you will at least be moving toward the future you want. You may not get there this year, but it can still be a successful year because of your growth.

So what is it you want to accomplish this year? 

If you aren’t sure, I would encourage you to try the “One Word Challenge”. (If you don’t know what that is, look up the book “One Word That Will Change Your Life” by Jon Gordon. This is a way to take a more focused approach to goal setting for the year.

Determine what you want to accomplish this year and then put all of your energy and effort into making sound decisions backed by strong habits.

Now get out there and crush your year!