It’s the new year, and we know what that means. The gyms are about to get swamped.

For at least the next six weeks anyway.

Research shows that most resolutions don’t stick because the required actions never become routines, those routines never become habits, and those habits never become identities.

The problem with our quest to form better resolutions is that we never break it down into simple every day actions.

In 2025, I got serious about a few specific goals and the daily actions that moved me closer to reaching them. Prior to 2025, I’d make well-intentioned goals. I’d hit on one or two, usually the fitness ones. I’ve always had strong exercise habits. In my late 20s to early 30s, for a few years, I committed to an intense morning writing routine. In my mid-to-late 30s, I got intentional with clean eating and saying no to people. My 40s has mostly been about creating better alignment (both mental and physical) and avoiding burnout.

When I started my real estate career, one book changed the way I think about goal setting and measuring deliberate actions. The One Thing, written by Gary Keller and Jay Papasan, asks the reader to simplify the process by focusing on The One Thing, the priority, not priorities, that you can accomplish every day to make a difference. He asks, “What’s the One Thing I can do such that by doing it, everything else will be easier or unnecessary?”

Instead of One Thing, I like to focus on One Action. A verb, not a noun.

We may begin the new year with the same unrefined goals. Get in better shape. Lose a couple pounds. Be kinder. Maintain relationships. Quit this bad habit. But consider taking those goals to a simpler level. With action. Instead of workout 3 days a week, make it put my workout clothes out on the dresser before bed. Instead of lose a couple pounds, make it buy one vegetable instead of a boxed food. Instead of be kinder, make it write one message to a friend or loved one a day. Instead of quit this habit, make it tape a piece of charcoal on top of the cigarettes.

Starting the day with a small win sets the tone for the rest of the day.

My One Action in 2026 goes deeper because it involves a morning routine, a combination of multiple actions. At the end of 2025, I successfully combined my exercise routine with reading, meditation, and free writing. (My evening routine, that’s an entirely different story and will be my One Action soon enough.)

This is what James Clear, author of Atomic Habits, would call habit stacking. So instead of doing what I did for many years, watching SportsCenter, the news, phone scrolling, and rushing through workouts, making my daughter late for school in the process, I’m ready, refreshed, and under control to start my day. Then I hit that first period with 6th graders and an entirely different storm transpires. But at least I know I can get it back.

Keller also says, “Anything that isn’t my priority is a distraction.”

Make the time for that One Action, and for now, forget about the rest until that One Action becomes a habit.

For a great listen, check out Jay Shetty’s On Purpose interview with Mindset Mentor’s Rob Dial, a sure way to get you going in 2026. Dial and Shetty, the author of my Book of the Year, Think Like a Monk, break down turning simple actions into routines to help overcome that resolution speed bump that turns into a brick wall.

Here's to a healthy and fulfilled 2026 implementing that One Action.