Making 2026 Your Year - an exercise in cutting the noise (Ep 161)
Mon Dec 15 2025
Jim’s Take – Episode 161
Setting Up 2026 for Success: Five Categories That Actually Matter
As the year winds down, everyone becomes reflective. Journals come out. Goals get rewritten. Plans feel serious ... until February.
In this final episode of the year, Jim cuts through the seasonal noise and lays out a practical framework for entering 2026 with intention instead of hope. Rather than resolutions or vague goals, this episode introduces a five-category executive checklist designed to surface blind spots, force trade-offs, and create clarity in an increasingly chaotic world.
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In This EpisodeJim walks through five areas that determine whether 2026 becomes a year you control — or one that simply happens to you:
1. Accomplishment - Why pride is the only KPI that actually matters, how avoidance disguises itself as busyness, and why asking “What would my replacement do?” exposes what you’ve been dodging.
2. Fears & Motivations - Why fear is data, how logistics often mask deeper resistance, and how naming the fear you won’t say out loud gives you leverage over it.
3. Priorities - Why you don’t have priorities — you have one priority — and how trade-offs, not ambition, determine execution.
4. Social - Why social capital isn’t optional anymore, how relationships act as relevance insurance, and why opportunities live inside other people’s calendars.
5. Wellness - Why energy is operational readiness, not self-care fluff — and how non-negotiables, recovery plans, and boundaries make execution sustainable.
Throughout the episode, Jim emphasizes intentionality as the filter that cuts through distraction, noise, and overwhelm — especially in a world designed to constantly steal your attention.
Resources• Download the 2026 Executive Checklist (free): jimfrawley.com
• Learn more about The Bellwether Method
• Subscribe for weekly conversations on leadership, clarity, and adaptation
Key Takeaway:
You don’t need a new year. You need better questions.
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Jim’s Take – Episode 161 Setting Up 2026 for Success: Five Categories That Actually Matter As the year winds down, everyone becomes reflective. Journals come out. Goals get rewritten. Plans feel serious ... until February. In this final episode of the year, Jim cuts through the seasonal noise and lays out a practical framework for entering 2026 with intention instead of hope. Rather than resolutions or vague goals, this episode introduces a five-category executive checklist designed to surface blind spots, force trade-offs, and create clarity in an increasingly chaotic world. . In This EpisodeJim walks through five areas that determine whether 2026 becomes a year you control — or one that simply happens to you: 1. Accomplishment - Why pride is the only KPI that actually matters, how avoidance disguises itself as busyness, and why asking “What would my replacement do?” exposes what you’ve been dodging. 2. Fears & Motivations - Why fear is data, how logistics often mask deeper resistance, and how naming the fear you won’t say out loud gives you leverage over it. 3. Priorities - Why you don’t have priorities — you have one priority — and how trade-offs, not ambition, determine execution. 4. Social - Why social capital isn’t optional anymore, how relationships act as relevance insurance, and why opportunities live inside other people’s calendars. 5. Wellness - Why energy is operational readiness, not self-care fluff — and how non-negotiables, recovery plans, and boundaries make execution sustainable. Throughout the episode, Jim emphasizes intentionality as the filter that cuts through distraction, noise, and overwhelm — especially in a world designed to constantly steal your attention. Resources• Download the 2026 Executive Checklist (free): jimfrawley.com • Learn more about The Bellwether Method • Subscribe for weekly conversations on leadership, clarity, and adaptation Key Takeaway: You don’t need a new year. You need better questions.