Prepare for 2026 by pretending you are Artie

How was 2025 for you? For me it was a honestly a bit of a mixed year, but a very unusual highlight was that I got to publish two books. In September, with Andrew Frank and Richard Hunter, we published the Gartner book “World Without Truth” about how to battle disinformation. Earlier, in January, I published a novel called “The Aji of Dead Stones” (under the pseudonym Pear Makeru). The central conceit of the novel is that a middle aged, lost, aimless loser called Artie suddenly gets a terminal diagnosis, but has a few years to go. He makes some very dramatic and deliberate choices about how to use the time he has left. As we are all relaxing in this end of year period, contemplating the year ahead, how about running an Artie-like thought experiment? If you suddenly knew your time was limited to, say, five years, how would you spend it? What would be your goal for the five years, by the end of 2030? How much time would be preparation versus action? Why is this more interesting than just making your plans for the year ahead? The reason could be summed up by a sentiment attributed to Tony Robbins and others: “We all overestimate what we can achieve in a year, but underestimate what we can achieve in a decade.” If you were being really determined, deliberate and thoughtful, what would you strive to achieve in five years time, and what steps would you take along the way? Happy holidays. #unthink #unask #unlearn