Fresh Start Effect - Beginning the year with High Hopes
“The ‘Fresh Start Effect’ is not an effect you wait for, but a skill you train.”
—Dr. Kevin Majeres, OptimalWork
Most men drift through new seasons hoping motivation will magically appear. But the truth is this: a fresh start isn’t a feeling. It’s a discipline. A trained skill that reshapes how you approach your life, your mission, and the people you’re responsible for.
And as we stand on the edge of a new year, that discipline matters more than ever.
The Power of a Fresh Start
A “fresh start” is simply a moment of psychological elevation—a checkpoint that gives us momentum. It can be small: the next hour, a new morning, the start of a work session. Or it can be huge: a new year, a birthday milestone, a new house, a career transition.
2026 is peeking over the horizon.
And with it comes one of the biggest built-in fresh starts we get all year.
Last year many of us were caught in cultural noise—elections, news cycles, distractions everywhere. For many of us, that noise delayed real goal-setting until May. The year was half over before clarity arrived.
That will not happen again.
This year we train the skill.
This year we enter the new year awake.
The 21-Minute Fresh Start Reflection
Here’s a simple, powerful exercise to help you enter 2026 with clarity, gratitude, and intention. It takes 21 minutes. Set a timer. Write without overthinking. Let clarity rise to the surface.
1. Five things I am deeply grateful for from this past year. (Not three. Five. Stretch your awareness.)
2. Three ways I got lucky / things that unexpectedly went my way. (Providence often reveals direction.)
3. The top three regrets I have from this past year. (Regrets are the secret superpower - where you have the most clear regret is where progress is most readily available because regret is not “vague”. It is always an area of clarity)
“Regret is insight. It shows you exactly where your next breakthrough can happen.” - Michael Hyatt
4. The top three opportunities in front of me for 2026.
5. Who would I need to become for 2026 to be my best year ever? Identity > goals.
6. Three ideals I want guiding my behavior in 2026. (Think “rules of life”—simple, memorable, actionable.)
Why This Matters
When you take even 21 minutes to reflect deeply and honestly, you train the exact skill Dr. Majeres is talking about: the ability to create your own fresh start instead of waiting for one.
As we get ready to enter into 2026, the opportunity to make it your best year ever is in front of you! Be the King you know God created you to be and wants to help you become.
The “Fresh Start Effect” is not an effect you wait for, but a skill you train. HIGH HOPES for the new year is where it begins. HIGH HOPES takes deep personal thought and clear resolutions. Make the effort to reflect on the above questions and see how 2026 becomes the best year of your life!
***BONUS: Here are my answers to the above questions to prime your reflection. The more specific, the more resolution/clarity.
Use these as examples to prime your own reflection. The more specific, the greater the clarity.
Gratitude
Moving to Shawnee, KS into a safer home with room for the kids to run.
Receiving a new opportunity in roofing.
Being able to share the LifePlan and its impact through KingMakers.
Healing in marriage through friendships and wise counsel.
My son learning to speak full sentences by 2.5 after being born deaf.
Luck / Providence
Being offered an excellent sales job through an old coffee connection.
My wife signing us up for Dave Ramsey, which forced clarity in our finances and gave us hope for building a future home.
(Still reflecting on the third.)
Personal Regrets
Not carving out time to set clear goals early, which scattered energy for the first four months of 2025.
Disorder in my schedule that led to neglecting my wife and missing presence with my kids.
Dropping my routine of working out 4x/week and going to Mass 4x/week—keystone habits that anchored me.
Top Opportunities for 2026
Creating an integrated goal set—and having the margin to actually pursue it.
The chance to earn significantly through roofing and eliminate past debt while still protecting family time.
Rebuilding my workout and spiritual routines in a natural, sustainable way.
Ideals for 2026
Prepared
Present
Optimistic
Final Word
2026 is an open door.
But walking through it intentionally requires courage, clarity, and reflection.
The fresh start you want isn’t coming to rescue you.
You train it. You build it. You practice it.
Be the man God designed you to become.
Step into the new year with high hopes—and higher commitment.