My word for 2026 (and why it matters)

…and Happy New Year. Over the last few weeks, I spent lovely time with family. I built some things. I figured out what actually matters for this year.

And I landed on something unexpected.

Most people pick inspiring words for January. Growth. Abundance. Impact.

I picked one that helps me redirect what I avoid.

Keep reading…

My Word for 2026. INITIATE.

Every year people pick a word. Focus. Growth. Momentum.

I don't do that. I was honest.

I pick the word that points at the thing I avoid.

For 2026, that word is INITIATE.

Not because it's inspiring. Because it's an indictment.

I over-plan. I over-research. I build systems when I should be making calls. I refine messaging when I should be sending emails. I wait for clarity when I should be testing. I've built so many frameworks I could teach a masterclass in procrastination disguised as productivity.

The reality is. I'm great at everything except the first thing. That moment before you hit send. Before you make the call. Before you ask for the meeting.

That's where I get stuck.

And I'm not alone. I see this in every ambitious builder I work with. We are builders. We build. But we build the safety net before we jump.

So INITIATE isn't motivational. It's corrective. Every time I catch myself mapping another process, I'm going to stop and ask. "Or could I just initiate?"

Could I just send the email.

Could I just make the call.

Could I just ask.

The answer is almost always yes.

And when it's yes, the next question becomes. "So why aren't you."

That's the word. Not inspiration. Accountability.

Two Things I'm Promising Myself in 2026

I could set a dozen goals. Revenue targets. Subscriber numbers. All the things ambitious builders are "supposed" to track.

I'm not.

I'm setting two non-negotiables instead.

What I will always do. Show up.

What I will never do. Complain.

That's it.

Not "become the best." Not "10x my business." Those depend on a hundred variables I don't control. Show up and don't complain. Those are mine.

Show up means. especially when I don't feel like it. When the plan isn't perfect. When I'm not sure it'll work. When I'm tired or the market is weird or I made a mistake. Show up anyway.

Don't complain means. I can acknowledge reality. I can ask for help. I can change direction. But I won't waste energy blaming circumstances or other people or timing. That's just planning without action. And I've done enough of that.

In 2025, I spent months talking about what wasn't working. All of it true. None of it helpful. It felt like processing. It was actually procrastinating.

In 2026, I'm replacing that with two promises.

I'll show up.

I won't complain.

Everything I want is on the other side of those two things.

You probably have the same realization sitting in your head right now. The one about what's actually blocking you. What you know you need to do but haven't committed to yet.

Hit reply and tell me yours. I read every response.

I built four apps. Used them immediately. Built three before I thought they were "ready."

MomentumOS. Daily Big 3 tracker with a parking lot for distractions. Been using it daily and finding some bugs. Having my agents analyze.

EdgeIQ. Sports betting edge detection. (I know how it sounds.) Tested it on Thursday. And evaluating the performance before I put real dollars in it. But cool to build a working prototype.

MailMind. Email yourself thoughts. Claude and Perplexity extracts clarity automatically. Shipped rough. Polished it live.

The pattern here isn't "I'm a fast builder." It's "I stopped waiting."

I had a weird moment this week. Built something. Had the instinct to refine it for two weeks. Stopped myself. Sent it instead. The feedback from that 48-hour difference was worth more than I would have added alone.

//

Boris Cherny (creator of Claude Code) said something that stuck. "We intentionally build it in a way that you can use it, customize it, hack it however you like."

Translation. Stop waiting for the perfect setup. Use it your way. Now.

Worth your time this week.

Speaking of Boris Cherny, he shared his Claude Code setup on a Twitter/X thread. It’s a short thread. But shifts how you think about "right way" to use tools — if you’re interested in that kind of thing.

And because you're reading this. I built something for you.

The 30-Minute Rule System.

A free Notion playbook + custom GPT that helps you decide what matters and eliminate the overthinking.

Four-question filter to clarify priorities. Weekly tracking that doesn't feel like homework. One rule. If it takes more than 30 minutes to plan, initiate instead.

It's the system I built to stop myself from building more systems.

Access it here.

Now I want to help you nail down your Word for the year.

Your word is probably already in your head. The thing you keep avoiding. The direction you know you need to move.

Don't wait for January 23rd. Don't wait for the perfect setup.

Initiate.

Make the call. Send the email. Ask for the thing. Ship the rough version. Let them tell you what's wrong.

You've got this.

See you next week.

Brian

P.S. - What are you initiating this week, month or year? Hit reply and tell me. I read and respond to every single one."