I heard someone say, “January isn’t about motivation — it’s about traction.”
That hit me.
Motivation is like a car that hits the gas too hard at the starting line and spins out…you stay still until the traction hits. You need traction first then use the motivation to get going!
If the holidays and new year turned your world into a blur of family, travel, and ‘we’ll get to it next week’… you’re not alone.
Here’s your quick reset: a few sharp ideas to help you lead well, market smarter, and sell with more confidence.

Let’s build Traction and keep it rolling.
-Cory

Here are your Quick Hits:

Change fatigue is real (HBR) — and leaders are getting side-eyed for it
• The change velocity is outpacing people’s trust in leadership.
• Teams don’t resist change — they resist random change.
• Consistency is a competitive advantage right now.
Action: Run a “stop doing” list in your org weekly. Kill 1 thing. Celebrate it.

Culture hack: one high-impact behavior beats a 47-slide values deck
• Culture shifts when you operationalize a behavior that everyone can observe.
• Pick something measurable (response times, meeting starts, follow-up standards).
• Make leaders model it loudly.
Action: Choose one “non-negotiable” behavior for Q1 and tie it to scorecards.

Marketing Statistics Every Team Needs to Grow in 2026
• ROI channel callouts (email + paid social + content) help justify spend beyond “vibes.”
• The point isn’t the stat — it’s the discipline: track, test, iterate.
• Great for internal alignment: “we’re doing less… better.”

Fidelity Article on Annuities: Fixed indexed and buffer annuities explained

• Interesting take from Fidelity to do an article on insurance products, but I’m sure a lot of fidelity clients got this article sent to them already 😊
• What retirees love: FIAs tie credited interest to an index without directly investing in it, and typically protect against negative index returns (principal/contract value protection depends on the contract structure).
• What gets missed: Returns are usually governed by caps / participation rates / spreads, and those levers can change at renewal—so “S&P 500-linked” does not mean “S&P 500 returns.”