3 Mindset Shifts for 2026
Ah the end of the year, where we think about everything we did (and didn’t) accomplish. I sometimes find goals overwhelming and disappointing. I also find that when I accomplish a goal, I completely abandon that project or aspiration because now that I’ve accomplished it, it’s not as exciting anymore. So this year I’m trying to adopt some subtle (but honestly life changing) mindset shifts for 2026.
Rome wasn’t built in a day. Of course. We know this. But do we really know this? We see someone else’s business explode online while we trudge along thinking maybe we’ve missed the mark. Let me tell you what I’ve observed over the past few years. Those who keep trudging, keep putting in the time, keep ignoring the naysayers, they eventually get to where they are trying to go.
When we develop business plans or life goals for ourselves we often think of them as linear. I will get X many clients this year and make X amount of dollars. The next year I will make XX many clients and make XX amount of dollars. This is how it should go, but it rarely does and that is no reason to quit. Life is not linear, our dreams and goals are not linear either. Remember Rome? It wasn’t built in a day. Keep on trudging.
2. What is the most generous explanation for this person? I heard this on writer Bob Goff’s podcast and I can’t stop thinking about it. The context being someone cuts you off in traffic, someone is snitty with you at the store, someone doesn’t text you back. I find my first reaction is, “what’s wrong with you??” Which usually leads to unpleasant feelings which actually contribute nothing to that moment, for myself or the other person. I am trying (and I say trying because it’s really hard to do) to think about what the most generous explanation for that persons behaviour could be. Maybe that person who cut you off didn’t see you, that person whose impatient at the store has had a really long day, the person who didn’t text you back is just so overwhelmed with life that they’ve put their phone away for the day. And yes, sometime people are just inconsiderate and careless, but what if we just assumed otherwise?
I think in the end it’s just called grace. Grace for other people and their humanness. I sure hope that when I am not acting like my best self, people would be generous and graceful in what they think of me. This one is really hard, but I think it’s really needed as we head into 2026.
3. The work ethic of Taylor Swift. Do we think the Eras tour success was just by chance? Do we think Taylor Swift just got lucky and was able to perform 149 shows, at 3.5 hours a show, because she went for a jog once a week? No.
I’m fresh off the heels of watching her Disney documentary about the Eras tour so I’m highly inspired. I wouldn’t call myself a Swiftie, but I know work ethic when I see it. Taylor spent years crafting the Eras tour, ran on a treadmill for 3 hours a day while singing each song, and absolutely demolished the female musician “diva” stereotype. How has Taylor Swift, teenage country singer out of Nashville, become one of the biggest pop stars of all time? She works. She does not quit. She surrounds herself with good, competent people. She is not the best singer or dancer in the world, but she puts her head down and works.
So while I don’t have the team or the funds or the lack of children that Taylor has, I do have the ability to learn a thing or 2 from how she works. The narrative that success comes by chance is mostly a lie, it comes from hard work, consistency, having good people in your court, and not giving up.
Phew! All that to say, we CAN change our neurological pathways, we can always adapt and shift our mindsets, we just need to be aware enough to see it.
And with that I will be signing off, see you in 2026! It’s going to be a good one.
-Natalie
