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  • Reset Challenge Week 1, Day 1: What worked better than you expected

Reset Challenge Week 1, Day 1: What worked better than you expected

This is about reflection, not perfection.

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Jan 5, 2026

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3 min read

Welcome to the 2026 Reset Challenge! If you’re here, you’re taking a few minutes each day to be more intentional about how you lead in the year ahead.

❝

Note: This is the longest email you’ll receive throughout the challenge, just to set the stage. The rest are much shorter!

As a reminder, here’s what to expect:

  • Over the next 15 weekdays, you’ll receive one short email with an idea and a prompt. Each day includes an example from me.

  • If replying to the email helps with accountability, you can respond directly. If you’d rather keep this private, that’s fine too.

  • Each week builds on the last: Week 1 looks back, Week 2 resets one key pattern, and Week 3 looks forward.

  • By the end of the challenge, you’ll have a clear principle and a concrete reset you can carry into the new year.

  • On Day 15, you’ll receive a short completion survey. Completing it grants you one free month of All Access and enters you to win a free year of All Access.

You don’t need to do every day for this to be useful. Consistency helps, but reflection matters more than completion.

Sound good? Let’s dive into Week 1!

Week 1: Looking back

This first week is about looking back before we try to move forward.

Not in a “let’s relive every mistake” way, but in a practical one. The goal is to notice what genuinely helped, so you’re not carrying the wrong lessons into the new year.

This week is about identifying patterns:

  • What actually moved the needle

  • What drained energy without paying off

  • Where leadership felt easier or harder than expected

By the end of the week, you should have one clear pattern you want to change or repeat less going into the new year.

Week 1, Day 1: What worked better than you expected

Looking back at the past year, what are 1-2 things you did that ended up being more helpful than you realized at the time?

This could be:

  • a habit you stuck with,

  • a decision you made,

  • or a small shift in how you showed up as a leader.

Try not to focus on what took the most effort. Focus on what actually helped.

My example

I started a new job in April 2025, which meant I was joining a company as a leader with no context of what was actually happening behind the scenes. Reflecting back, one thing that worked better than I expected was asking the “stupid” questions with an audience to not just build my understanding but ensure we were all operating with the same knowledge.

It’s easy to assume we’re all up to speed on all goings-on in the workplace and within your team, but work naturally becomes siloed. By not being afraid to ask more questions—even if they felt very basic—I was able to confirm on multiple occasions that we were in fact not all working from the same information. Asking these questions enabled us to minimize backtracks and surprise disruptions.

It felt a little awkward at times to ask these basic questions, but the downstream effects were real.

I’m looking forward to continuing the challenge with you!

See you tomorrow,
Kelly


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