The Critical 6 that will Explode your Success in 2026

We’re in that timeframe when it’s natural to reflect on the previous year and look ahead to the coming year, and try to figure out how to ensure that 2026 is better than 2025. 

I’m not talking about setting New Year’s resolutions.

I’m talking about being very strategic about what to do differently this year to maximize your productivity, your success, and your overall enjoyment of life. 

The Critical 6

As I’ve been going through that mental exercise myself, I want to share a tool with you that has been instrumental in helping me as an entrepreneur over the years. In fact, as I look back over my nearly 25 years as a business owner, my most successful years have come when I have used this tool religiously. There’s a direct correlation between its application and the results that I’ve seen in my businesses, and I'm confident that you'll benefit from it, too.

The tool is called The Critical 6. It’s a simple but powerful concept, and I explain it in detail — including how to use it — in this short video:

If you’re going to be starting a business this year, the Critical 6 is a tool that will really help you maximize your effectiveness and make great strides in your business — and quickly!

Life Is More Than Business

The Critical 6 is a tool that’s primarily useful for work applications. But life is about so much more than business. In fact, I would suggest that the most important aspects of life are not about business at all — they're things like family, relationships, adventure, health, and our walk with God. As we head into 2026, I’d like to share an additional thought with you to encourage you in these most important life elements.

My wife's birthday is in early January, and I have been putting together a photo slideshow for her, a walk down memory lane if you will. As I’ve been going back through decades of pictures, something striking has stood out to me. It has been eye-opening, and if I’m honest, it has made me a little bit regretful.

What I’ve noticed is that in my 20's and early 30's, I had a lot of adventures. There are tons of pictures of me competing in triathlons, traveling to other countries, participating in CrossFit competitions, climbing mountains, celebrating anniversaries in exotic ways, and overall being an active participant in my own life.

But then as I started to get to the photos from my late 30's and 40's, those types of pictures got fewer and farther between.

Maybe you can relate.

Of course, there is a perfectly logical explanation for it: For most of us, life starts to get really busy in our mid-30's. Kids. Business. Family. Work. Mortgage. It all sneaks up on you, and the next thing you know, you're living life on autopilot.

For me, as I have let life "happen," my intentionality to inject adventure into my life has decreased. While that is understandable to a certain extent, I refuse to allow it to become acceptable.

That is why, as I head into 2026, I am vowing to be more intentional about planning for adventure — and I encourage you to do the same.

One thing I’ve learned is that if it’s not on my calendar, it doesn’t happen. Meaningful experiences need to be planned. So in addition to the Critical 6, here’s another idea that I want to encourage you with: Four times in 2026 (quarterly), do something to grow yourself, push your limits, and break out of the day-to-day. Do something that you can look back on a year from now and say, Man, wasn’t that fun!

Put a half marathon on the calendar.

Sign up for a cooking class.

Take dance lessons with your spouse.

Plan a trip.

It doesn't have to be something huge or expensive, either. It can be a camping trip. Eating Ethiopian food for the first time. Staying up late to watch a Total Lunar Eclipse.

You get the idea.

Get creative, have fun with it, and above all, be intentional about scheduling adventure and making it happen this year.

Whether 2025 was good to you, or whether you’re ready to wash your hands of it and start fresh in 2026, there’s every reason to believe that 2026 can be your best year yet.

That’s not just cliché.

That's a fact.

But it may require you to do something different, to be intentional about newfound habits and practices. Hopefully the strategies that I've shared with you here will be part of what propels you to greatness this year.

I’m grateful to be on this journey with you and truly wish you all the best in happiness and health in 2026.