Every January, they’ll sell you the same thing with a new label.

New strategies. New frameworks. New ways to scale faster, optimize harder, extract more efficiently. The world treats each calendar flip like collective amnesia — as if everything we knew last year is suddenly obsolete.

I fell for it for decades; I bet you did too. Some of us stopped. Because the truth is, the old, boring fundamentals never change.

• Know your people well enough to spot when they’re struggling.
• Build relationships that outlast transactions.
• Keep promises even when it’s inconvenient.
• Rest when tired.
• Connect with people you love.
• Do work that means something.
• Stop when the body says stop.

This year, you’ll be offered a thousand new things: new AI tools, new opportunities, new ways to reinvent yourself and your business.

Here’s my hope for you

 That you have the wisdom to ignore most of it.
 That you spend 2026 deepening what already works instead of chasing what glitters.
 That you practice being the kind of human you actually want to be, using the old wisdom you already possess.

The foundations don’t need disrupting. They need honouring.

From my house to yours — here’s to a year of doing the old work deeply.