Today is January 2, 2026 and I am writing this post from my home in Bend, Oregon. Over the past few years, I have tried to pick a word to theme the year around so not overly rigid in terms of goals and objectives but a central theme to ground my thinking and activities. 

For 2025, that word was “agency” which did really define my headspace both personally and professionally a year ago as the notion of having a sense of control plus having the ability to influence my thoughts and behaviors was a guiding theme for the year.

As 2026 dawns, the word for this year is “journey.”  There are way too many cliches about it being all about the journey and not the destination but this is essentially the guiding theme for this year for me. There are many things in motion in my personal and professional life where I need to pause and enjoy the moment without having a pre-determined next step or end goal.

I am staring down my 55th birthday in June and have had the privilege and good luck to achieve most of what I had worked towards during my professional career. I am certainly not done but do feel a sense of a new chapter to be written for the next phase of work.  

Personally, my children are turning into young adults with one in college and one headed there in a year or so. My role as a parent has been evolving as my children leave childhood behind and embark upon young adulthood. I seek to continue to improve and provide them the love, support and resources for them to become the best versions of themselves. To me, that is the job of a parent – give them the tools and wisdom for them to achieve their own goals and be defined by their own success whatever that may be.

One additional thing I intend to practice is “practiced apathy” as described by Josh Brown in his Three New Year’s Resolutions post. I think this quote is spot on and very well written:

“We have far too many people marching through the streets day and night (do they even have jobs?), deliberately offending their neighbors and committing acts designed to produce video clips that spread on social media. Apathy, then, becomes a counterbalance, not a cop out. Performatively fighting back and matching outrage with outrage only fuels it.“

Not trying to be cynical but fueling the attention and outrage machine that originates in our online lives and creeps into our offline lives with my time, energy, and emotion is something I will endeavor to avoid.

Here’s to a great 2026!