Lingering.
My job is to think three moves ahead. My natural inclination is to plan far into the future whenever possible. I’ve never been one that can just take it slow.
My word for 2026 is the active choice to stay when my instinct would tell me to move on. Not because of avoidance or laziness. But because true presence has value even if there isn’t a direct output.
Becoming a parent over the last year has irreversibly altered my perception of time. The exact moment I’m in deserves more than I initially planned to give it. I feel this every day with my daughter. The most meaningful episodes are not the ones I’ve pre-concepted in my head. They are the ones where I’m in them fully. Not looking towards the next one.
It’s that precious extra few minutes of holding my child in the rocking chair after she’s fallen asleep. It’s the second glass of wine with Shannon on the porch because the conversation is lively. It’s spending more time critically thinking about my work instead of immediately pivoting to the next deadline.
So here’s to recalibrating. Here’s to lingering.