No, it’s not early in the morning. I’m sitting at my desk asking myself what’s on my mind about the next year. Here are my thoughts.

New Beginnings.

As the year draws to a close, I’m reminded of one of the greatest gifts life gives us.

The opportunity to begin again.

Real estate is a cyclical business, but we also live a cyclical life. Every twelve months, we’re handed a natural moment to pause, reflect, and choose our next path with intention. The year’s end invites us to slow down just long enough to “hear ourselves think” and to reconnect with the purpose and priorities that matter most to us.

When I look back over any year, I really only see two things.

Relationships and Lessons.

Just as relationships are the most important thing in our personal lives, they are also the most important thing in our business life too. I can put all of them into a simple thought around who I love and loves me. Who believes in me and supports me. Who refers business to me. Who opens doors for me. Who challenges me to be my best self and live my best life. Our best relationships are the first building block that allow us to live with purpose, hope, achievement, and joy.

Our lessons are the quiet teachers that set us up for opportunity, growth, and success. What worked. What didn’t. What I want to repeat and build on. What I want to release and leave behind. Our key lessons are the second building block for living our best lives. They, quite frankly, show us the way out and up, and give us the tools to get done what our hearts desire most.

As the new year dawns, the only two things you truly need to pull forward into the new year are the relationships that matter and the lessons you’ve learned. Everything else can simply be left in the past as footnotes in your history.

So, the new year is upon us.

The turning of the calendar is a clean page, but it’s not meant to be complicated. You don’t need a dozen resolutions or a color-coded master plan.

What you need is clarity. Clarity about who you are, who you want to be, what you want to accomplish, and how you want to live your life.

The path forward rarely requires reinvention. It usually simply requires recommitment.

As you consider the year ahead, I invite you to think in three simple categories:

Personal. Professional. Financial.

1. Personally. Ask yourself who you want to become in the next twelve months. Not the busier version. Not the exhausted version. The better version. The version that is more grounded, more intentional, more connected to the people and activities that energize you. Our business demands a lot from us, and if we don’t anchor ourselves in something meaningful, the business will take all the space it’s given. Start by choosing one habit that strengthens your health, spirit, or relationships. One is enough when it's the right one.
   
   
2. Professionally. Think about your focus – not your volume. Every high-performing agent I’ve ever met ultimately wins the same way. By doing the right things consistently. Lead generation. Lead follow-up. Appointments. Agreements. Nothing about this is new. But your commitment to these activities can be. Decide what your “non-negotiables” are for the coming year, and honor them with the same seriousness you expect your clients to honor their commitments with you. Simplicity outperforms ambition when it’s supported by action.
   
   
3. Financially. Clarity creates confidence. That’s it. What do you want your money to do for you? What do you want it to fund, protect, or build? Too often we set income goals but ignore the outcomes those dollars are meant to create. Start with the outcome. Work backward. Then choose the production targets that bring that vision to life. Financial peace comes from alignment – not accident.

Hope and promise aren’t abstract ideas. They become very concrete when built through small, consistent, daily choices that accumulate into a year you can be proud of. The holidays remind us that life is bigger than any monthly scoreboard, but they also remind us that we are responsible for the path we walk next.

So, as you celebrate with the people you love, take a moment to recognize what you’ve achieved, appreciate what you’ve learned, and acknowledge how far you’ve come. Then step into the new year with a renewed sense of purpose and a simple plan you’re committed to following.

A new beginning isn’t something you wait for. It’s something you choose.

Wishing you a season of peace and a new year filled with forward momentum.

Onward…
Gary, Jason, and Jay

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Edition 12 | December 2025