Simplicity.
Think about the organizations you support – the ones for which you are a raving fan.
You support them because they are clear in their value proposition. They make it easy for you to buy from them, and their policies are customer friendly.
They don’t burden you with confusing rules. They don’t make it difficult to understand what they do or how they do it. You don’t feel exasperated after talking to someone in their organization.
We love simplicity, but we loathe complexity.
Now think about health insurance companies, internet service providers, or many large financial institutions.
I bet you have had complaints about how difficult it is to understand their services, their terms of doing business, their billing, or the regulations that govern them. They often don’t make it easy.
So how about taking a break – a pause – to ask your team how to make 2026 easier?
I did that last week.
Every January, I go to Florida for a couple of days. I’m fortunate to have a planning space with a view of the Atlantic Ocean and the beautiful Halifax River. While there, I spend a day or two creating my yearly plan.
Each year, I choose one word to serve as a mantra – to guide my thinking and my goals for the upcoming 12 months.
This year’s guiding word is simplify.
I want to make things easier in both my business and my personal life.
I started my planning with a short exercise created by my good friend and speaking colleague, Victoria Labalme. On three index cards, I wrote:
- Great
- Challenging
- 2026
I quickly wrote down everything that was great and challenging about 2025. Then, on the third card, I wrote what I wanted for both my business and personal life in 2026. The entire exercise took less than 15 minutes.
Next, I spent a few hours thinking deeply about how to simplify my business and my life. This word has become critically important to me after several months of not getting enough sleep (which I’ll write about in a future post).
To keep it simple, I focused on just three areas – systems, speech, and stickiness – each on a different-colored index card. I brainstormed what needed to be simplified in each area:
- The systems I use to run my business and communicate with clients
- The speeches I deliver to audiences
- The stickiness of my message – how it’s remembered, acted upon, and ultimately delivers ROI
After identifying the needs in each category, I developed three specific ideas under each heading. From there, I created action steps to make those ideas a reality.
While we’re already into 2026, there’s still time for you to choose your word for the year.
Thoughtfully select just one word and use it as your guide to make 2026 your clearest, most focused, and most successful year yet.
Questions to consider:
👉 What’s one thing you could simplify in your business this year? Start there and see what changes.
👉 Ask your team one powerful question this week: “What can we make easier for our customers – and for each other?”
👉 If you had to choose one word for 2026, what would it be and why?
