Tuesday Email: New Year Post

Happy Tuesday!

Every Tuesday I'd like to offer strategies for the week ahead and a thought to fuel your action.

As we turn the calendar again, I'm reflecting on what has been while looking toward what's possible.

No moment is the same.

Marcus Aurelius said it: "No man ever steps in the same river twice, for it is not the same river and he is not the same man."

I feel that more than ever.

This year brought growth, challenge, and firsts.

My view on our industry and the opportunity within our reach has evolved.

More importantly, the way I can personally have an impact has changed.

I've grown by staying curious, by creating clarity in my vision, by giving myself space to connect stars of knowledge into constellations of wisdom.

I don't know everything. There's still so much to learn. But this year, I grew.

With that growth came challenge.

Challenged to stay "in my lane." Challenged with time, with connection, with staying true to my purpose despite the noise.

It's not unique to me. Many of us face this year after year. But this year, the challenge looked the same yet felt different. I was different. And the challenges allowed me to grow.

It was also a year of firsts.

After losing my dad last year, I experienced holidays without him for the first time. I navigated difficult conversations without him a phone call away. I experienced joy without a hug from him on the other side.

But those firsts allowed me to grow too. They showed me I can excel even without him here. I can live happily while never forgetting his memory. I can love deeply, even without the presence of his love in the flesh.

And 2025 energized me more than ever.

We witnessed the acceleration of a paradigm shift that will forever change how we live and work.

Artificial intelligence isn't the internet, the iPhone, the lightbulb, or electricity.

It's bigger.

Because it's built on the foundation those technologies laid and allows this paradigm to be more innovative, more immersive, more impactful than any of them alone.

The speed is overwhelming. But I see it as opportunistic, exciting, energizing.

We in wealth management get to do the best job in the world. We change lives.

We meet with people, develop relationships, and shepherd them toward a future they may never have imagined possible.

We create comfort, opportunity, and a life of happiness and purpose for families who couldn't see it for themselves.

So it's no wonder we stand here at the end of 2025 a little uneasy. Maybe worried or anxious. But also intrigued and excited about what's ahead.

It will certainly be different.

But it was never going to be the same.

As you take these days to be with those you love, be present. Recharge.

Because the year ahead will bring much of the same—growth, challenge, firsts. But they'll be different.

With an open mind, a curious mind, and a willingness to accept what is and evolve with it, anything is possible.

The clients we serve, the families who look to us for hope and security—they expect us to be open-minded and willing to evolve.

2026 will bring much out of our control.

But we can control our mentality and perspective on what lies ahead.

Here's to a mentality open to change, open to the challenge, open to getting better.

Happy New Year.

The best is ahead!

-Matt