Five Wishes For Your New Year!

In the spirit of “pentelemental” systems thinking – that is, any successful system has to have at least five elements – may you and yours be blessed with a

Safe
Happy
Inspirational
Prosperous and
Peace-filled

2026!

You may think that’s a short list, and a short article, but if you look deeply at all those elements, you’ll realize there’s a LOT going on in each of them.

They don’t just happen.

In fact, it takes a significant amount of work to make those things happen!

They all require not simply action, but preparation for action, which is one of the reasons why the DREAM acronym was changed to ARMED a few years ago.

And, in the spirit of change, one change usually means more changes. In 2023, I discovered a couple of equations that might resonate with you if you have a mathematical mind, and became even more clear in 2024.

If we let delta (Δ) represent change as it does in mathematics, then Δ = Δ². That is, “a” change will lead to more changes.

Also, knowing that anything times 0 is 0, then 0Δ = 0. If you don’t change anything, nothing will change. People “hope” something happens, and even though it springs eternal (as it is one of the three things that last), hope is not a strategy for change.

Refusal to change, or sticking to “That’s the way we’ve always done it,” especially with the introduction of AI into every facet of our lives today, is equivalent to stagnation. Stagnation means nothing will grow – except for some mold and bacteria.

These five wishes are indeed challenges, so take note – if you remove the letters “lle” from “challenge,” you’re left with “change,” which proves that there’s change required for the challenges you and I will face in the coming year.