Reflect. Dream. Plan.
How you finish this year is how you’ll start the next one.
That’s not a motivational poster. It’s physics. Momentum doesn’t care about your intentions, it follows direction and energy.
And, if you limp across December half-conscious, you’ll start 2026 the same way, distracted, depleted, and wondering why everything feels familiar.
So we tip over into the twenty-sixth year of this new Millenia, here’s a challenge: Stop and take a real good look at your life. Not the highlight reel. Not the story you tell at dinner. But, the quiet truth you live with when no one’s watching.
For the past few years, I’ve followed a simple rhythm: October to reflect. November to dream. And, December to plan.
It’s not a system. It’s a sanity ritual.
Something that pulls me back to center when life gets too loud. For those of you following along for a minute, have this memorized by now. For anyone new, you can steal it.
Here’s how it works.
October: Reflect
The word reflect literally means “to bend back.” You can’t move forward until you’ve faced backward long enough to learn something.
Wisdom is lived experience.
Go through the year month by month. Write down your highlights, lowlights, and lessons. No filters, no edits. What made you proud? What drained you? What surprised you?
Seneca wrote, “It is not that we have a short time to live, but that we waste a lot of it.” Reflection is how you stop wasting time. It’s where the learning hides.
Nine months. Nine mornings. Nine minutes a day. Sit down with a cup of coffee, a pen, and brutal honesty. Clarity doesn’t come from thinking, it comes from writing.
November: Dream
Dreaming isn’t wishful thinking. It’s a creative act. It’s how you pre-load meaning into the future.
When you stop dreaming, you start coasting. And coasting only happens downhill.
Picture yourself one year from now. It’s the end of 2026. You’re sitting somewhere peaceful, reflecting on a year that mattered. What happened? What did you build? Who did you become? Who did you help?
Set a 25-minute timer and free-write the whole scene. What you see. Don’t censor it. Don’t make it sound pretty. Just write.
As poet David Whyte said, “The antidote to exhaustion isn’t rest, it’s wholeheartedness.” Dreaming brings you back to what you care about most.
Let the dream pull you forward.
December: Plan
Now we bring it down to earth.
A dream without a plan is just a dopamine hit. It feels good in the moment, but nothing changes.
Choose three or four meaningful outcomes for 2026, the ones that, if you made them real, would alter your trajectory. Write them down. Then break them into clear steps. Add dates. Define what success looks like.
Be specific. Vagueness is the enemy of momentum.
And, remember: planning isn’t about control, it’s about alignment. The best plans don’t predict the future, they clarify your next move.
As Antoine de Saint-Exupéry said, “A goal without a plan is just a wish.”
Your Word for the Year
There’s one more piece that’s kept me grounded for more than a decade: choosing a Word for the Year.
Each December, I sit quietly and listen for a single word that captures how I want to live. It’s not about achievement, it’s about posture.
In 2023, it was Honor. In 2024, Kindness. In 2025, Explore.
That one word becomes my internal compass. It seeps into everything, my writing, my coaching, my conversations, even how I treat strangers.
Philosopher José Ortega y Gasset wrote, “Tell me to what you pay attention and I will tell you who you are.”
Your word for the year is what you choose to pay attention to.
If you haven’t found yours yet, go for a long walk. Leave your phone behind. Ask yourself, What quality do I need to embody to live my next chapter well?
Don’t force it. It’ll rise up on its own.
The Bigger Picture
This isn’t self-help. This is self-honesty.
You can’t drift your way into a meaningful life. You have to decide what matters, over and over again.
That’s why this rhythm works. It’s not about doing more, it’s about living on purpose.
Every year gives us a clean slate disguised as another month on the calendar. The magic isn’t in January; it’s in how you arrive there.
When you write things down, something happens. You shift from reacting to creating. You stop being a passenger in your own story.
As the mystic Thomas Merton said, “People may spend their whole lives climbing the ladder of success only to find that it’s leaning against the wrong wall.” Reflection, dreaming, and planning make sure your ladder’s against the right wall before you start climbing again.
So here’s my advice:
Reflect on the year behind you.
Dream about the one ahead.
Plan like your life depends on it, because it does.
Write it all down.
Make it real.
And let that clarity carry you into 2026 like a torch in the dark.
The point isn’t perfection. It’s alignment. The point isn’t doing more. It’s becoming more intentional.
Do that, and you’ll start the new year with something far better than resolutions: momentum.
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Steve Knox | Carmel, CA
\\\ Just a little friendly reminder to choose yourself. To live with intention. To pay attention. Pass it along. Forward and share it with your tribe. Until next time. Be honest. Be you. And, much love.