5 Mindset Shifts for 2026, Ya Filthy Animals 😉
The following is an excerpt from our December 2025 issue of Hey Leader.
Hey Leader, crafted with thought & care by The Perk, is a monthly email series all with the intention to help you lead better. You belong here!
Hey, Hi! —
Every December, it feels like there’s this collective shift. Even in the middle of all the glittery chaos of the holidays (anyone else on their seventeenth kids’ holiday concert this week?), there’s also an invitation to slow down & think:
What do I want to let go of?
What do I want to make space for?
What do I want to double down on in the year ahead?
It’s the classic “stop, start & continue,” but…not so business jargon-y.
This year, these questions are hitting even harder, mostly because if you’ve seen my recent post on LinkedIn, you know that this year has been a LOT. For me, & for The Perk, too. If you missed that, it’s all right here.
(Like “Kevin McCallister in Home Alone walking home with his groceries and the bags breaking” a LOT.)
So, in the spirit of reflection season, I’m offering a few mindset shifts that have really helped both me & our team this year. Maybe they might support you as you close out 2025 & step into 2026 with intention:
Mindset Shift #1: What if the “new thing” already exists?
We’re human, so of course when a new year rolls around, we’re thinking about all the things we’re going to start (this can’t be just me, right?).
New ways of communicating.
New platforms to do that communication.
New ways of idea generation & brainstorming.
New ways of celebrating one another.
And honestly? I get it. New ideas are fun. They give us a hit of energy & possibility. Our brains love novelty—it feels exciting, creative, expansive. New ideas pull us out of the weeds & remind us why we started doing this work in the first place.
But…what if the new is already here & and there’s just a different way of combining the ingredients?
It reminds me of my favorite restaurants in our neighborhood. On one visit, I noticed they had something new on the menu: fish tacos.
I love fish tacos & excitedly (probably too excitedly) told the owner how happy I was. His response: “Yeah, we realized we already had all the ingredients to make them, so we figured, why not?”
Same ingredients. A totally new thing.
(Or, if we’re keeping with the Home Alone theme, it’s like when Kevin reused that gangster movie to freak out Harry & Marv)
As you’re thinking about what you want to start doing next year, ask yourself:
What ingredients are already in my “fridge”?
What structures could stay the same if I reimagined the story?
How could this be more fun, simpler, or more us?
Why reinvent the wheel when you can see the old one in a whole new way?
Mindset Shift #2: Rest isn’t optional—it’s strategy
We use a race car metaphor a lot at The Perk when we talk about rest:
A race car cannot win if it doesn’t come to a complete stop & literally have its wheels taken off & new tires put on.
Humans aren’t any different. Our brains are like sponges. They can only soak up so much information, so much stress, & so many different situations coming at us before they need to dry out a little bit.
So, here’s where I’ll tell you that you need to take a break. When you rest, your decision-making improves. Innovation & creativity comes easier. And, your emotions are better regulated, so when stress does come up, you’re able to manage it SO much better. This isn’t an opinion - it’s neuroscience.
At The Perk, we’ve implemented what we call the “Week of Rest” between Christmas & New Year’s. All of us take the week off, so everyone gets a chance to really relax (because nothing is worse than having the week “off” & still coming back to a zillion Slack messages, 300 emails, & several meetings booked on your calendar).
Can’t take a whole week off? Totally get it. Rest looks different for everyone—yours might look like going for a walk, working on a puzzle, or listening to music. No matter what it looks like, make sure you get some this season. It’s what makes ALL the other stuff possible.
Rest might also be eating a “lovely cheese pizza”:
Mindset Shift #3: Trade big goals for “tiny experiments”
One of the books I’m reading right now is Tiny Experiments by Anne-Laure Le Cunff, & one of the things she talks about is how curiosity & ambition come together to illustrate four ways we navigate our work & lives:
Cynicism: When we have low curiosity & low ambition, nothing feels worth trying
Perfectionism: When we have high ambition & low curiosity, everything has to be right
Escapism: When we have high curiosity, low ambition, there are ideas everywhere, but zero follow-through
Experimental Mindset: When we have high curiosity & high ambition, that’s the sweet spot
Instead of creating big, rigid goals (which Le Cunff says often leads to pressure, burnout, or avoidance), she suggests you design tiny experiments: small, specific actions that help you learn what actually works for you.
That sounds great in theory, but how do you actually put it into practice? She has suggestions for that, too:
Observe: Pay attention to what’s pulling your curiosity & how your body responds. What energizes you? What drains you? What do you keep thinking about but never act on? Your curiosity “breadcrumbs” can serve as data.
Design a Pact: Literally create a pact with yourself for a tiny yet concrete action you can repeat. Examples might be, “I’ll ask one coaching question in each of my 1:1’s this week,” or “I’ll journal for 10 minutes every morning.” The key is clear, small & specific.
Run the Experiment: Treat this as data collection, not a test of your work or your discipline around the task. Your goal isn’t to “succeed” at the action, it’s to notice what happens.
React & Adapt: When you’re done running the experiment, ask yourself some reflection questions. What did the experiment teach you? Did you feel more energized? More connected? More aligned? Do you want to keep going, tweak it, or abandon it entirely?
As cool as it is to have a completely designed “Battle Plan,” small is sometimes the best way to go.
Mindset Shift #4: You can’t activate without celebration
Every December, everyone at The Perk gathers for a 2-day “Celebrate & Activate” session. The offsite is exactly what it sounds like—a chance to look back & really revel in all of our achievements & hard work while also looking forward to the year ahead & determining all the things you want to accomplish.
Celebrating is important because it’s essentially a psychological reset. It closes the loop on what you’ve completed, it helps your brain recognize progress (we’re not very good at recognizing our wins, right?) & it also reinforces the behaviors you want to carry forward into the year ahead.
We also have a rule for these sessions that might seem counterintuitive: The day is all about idea generation, NOT decision making. The “what” & the “why”...NOT the “how.”
When you take the pressure of decision-making off the table, you create space for so much more possibility.
Mindset Shift #5: We’re meant to evolve, constantly. There is no finish line.
One of my favorite quotes from Walt Disney is, “Disneyland will never be completed. It will continue to grow as long as there’s imagination left in the world.” I think that’s true for us, too. We’re not meant to arrive at some final & perfect version of ourselves.
We’re meant to keep growing, experimenting, celebrating & evolving. And while we can’t control most of what shifts around us, we can absolutely control our mindset. If there’s anything I want you to take into the year ahead, it’s that.
I know, I know. It’s a little terrifying. But it’s pretty awesome, too.
You’re amazing,
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