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In this New Year episode, I'm sharing something I'm living in real time - a different way of approaching 2026. I'm off to a slow start this year, and I'm completely okay with it. Actually, I'm more than okay - I'm intentional about it. Going slow is allowing me to ground for the year in ways that rushing never could.

Drawing from Deborah's story in Judges 4, we return to one of my favorite examples of seasonal leadership. Deborah wasn't always on the battlefield - most of the time, she was under her palm tree. This was her primary posture of leadership, and it's exactly where we need to be in January.

This episode is an invitation to plan differently this year - planning backwards from your values and vision instead of forward from obligation and hustle. Instead of setting goals you'll abandon by February, I'm teaching you how to think in quarters, how to create rhythms that honor different seasons, and how to be strategic about the support you need before you start building.

I'm sharing three mindsets that are shaping how I'm approaching 2026, and a grounded planning practice to help you think and discern with intentionality and strategy.

Exercise: The Grounded Planning Practice - A five-step process to start 2026 from groundedness instead of franticness:

(1) Name your gains from 2024

(2) Clarify your 3-5 core values for this year

(3) Plan your Q1 vision (just January-March, not the whole year),

(4) Identify your support needs to make that vision sustainable,

(5) Create your winter ritual - one grounding practice you'll commit to this quarter.

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