If you want 2026 to be the best year of your life, please watch this video…

In Vistage we often talk about “success models”. We ask people “what is your success model?”. Effective, successful leaders have one.

A success model for a new year

This is an extremely practical and complete guide to really making positive progress in 2026. I was all set for making a video of my own, but Dan Pink nailed it with this one – so I’d rather share his, than a lesser version by myself.

You can download Dan’s workbook for this process here: http://danpink.com/workbook/

Quick Summary of Dan Pink’s 2026 Success Model

1. Regret Review: 1. What is your biggest regret for 2025
   • 2. Write it down
   • 3. Lesson you learned from it
   • 4. How you are not going to repeat it
   • 5. Throw out the regret, keep the lessons
2. B. Premortem
   • 1. You are at the end of 2026, and what you said you’d do never happened… Why? Write down what might have caused the failure
   • 2. Design 2026 to block those failures
3. C. One word theme
   • 1. Choose a single word to guide 2026
4. D. 90 day seasons
   • 1. Treat the year as 4 chapters (long enough to see progress, short enough to see the end line)
5. E. Protect your first hour
   • 1. Don’t hand over your first hour to your phone!
   • 2. Use it for deep work, moves your priorities forward
6. F. 2 minute rule
   • 1. If a task takes 2 mins or less, do it right away (put those dirty dishes away)
7. G. Create a weekly shut down ritual
   • 1. Take 5 mins to plan Monday, the tasks that still need to be finished up
8. H. Weekly reset
   • 1. 15 mins with your calendar and to do list
9. I. Mise en place
   • 1. Implantation intention – layout your environment to ensure your first hour is strategically setup
10. J. 15 min walk break
11. K. 85% Rule 1. Pick one goal and make it hard enough to not suceed all the time, but not too hard so you succeed 85%
12. L. Refine discomfort as learning
    • 1. This isn’t failure. This is what learning feels like.
13. M. Design friction wisely
    • 1. Delete 1 app, set up auto pay
    • 2. Pick 1 behavior you want to make harder (add friction – charge phone outside of room)
    • 3. Pick 1 behavior you want to make easier (remove friction)
14. N. Public promises
    • 1. Pick 1 goal, share it to someone
    • 2. Have them ask weekly: did you do what you promised?
15. O. Track small wins daily
    • 1. Create a progress ritual
16. P. Challenge network
    • 1. Feedback Fridays
    • 2. What’s one thing you’d change to make it better?
17. Q. Curate your circle
    • 1. Get a cheerleader
    • 2. Get a coach
    • 3. Get a challenger
18. R. To Don’t List
    • 1. Subtract – what’s not worth my time?
19. S. Micro sabbath
    • 1. Short pause, no stimulation, 15 mins of nothingness
20. T. 26 thank you notes
    • 1. Send out thank you notes