By Ken Cates, Speaker | Consultant | Veteran
New Year’s resolutions are just wishes with a deadline. They usually fail by February. Veterans don’t make resolutions; we execute Operations. If you want to dominate 2026, stop wishing for a better year and start planning your mission. Here is how to attack January like a professional.
Walk into any gym on January 2nd. It’s packed. You can’t get a squat rack, the treadmills are full, and the energy is high.
Now, walk into that same gym on February 15th. It’s empty.
That is the difference between a “Resolution” and a “Mission.” That is the difference between an amateur and a professional.
A resolution is a wish. “I hope to get promoted.” “I hope to lose weight.” “I hope to hire better people.” Hope is not a strategy. It’s a comforting lie we tell ourselves to feel productive without doing the work.
In the military, we don’t “resolve” to take the hill. We write an Operation Order (OpOrder). We define the objective, we identify the threats, we secure the resources, and we execute with intentional action.
To the Corporate Leaders: Stop Wishing for Growth
If you are walking into the New Year hoping your team performs better, you’ve already lost Q1. The market doesn’t care about your hopes.
If you want a team that treats objectives like life-or-death commitments, you need to stop hiring people who make resolutions and start hiring veterans who execute orders. You need people who understand that the plan is nothing, but planning is everything. You need leaders who don’t quit on February 15th because the motivation wore off. Discipline eats motivation for breakfast.
To the Veterans: Kill the “Civilian Drift.”
Don’t fall into the trap of “New Year, New Me.” That is civilian marketing fluff. You don’t need a new you. You need the old you.
You need the version of you that woke up at 0400, shaved in cold water, and got the job done before the sun came up. You need the version of you that didn’t need “motivation” to do the right thing when no one else was looking.
Somewhere along the line in your transition, you might have gotten soft. You might have started relying on “resolutions” like everyone else. Stop it.
Bring the discipline back. Write your OpOrder for your career in 2026.
- Situation: Where are you actually at? Stop lying to yourself. Look at your finances, your career, and your health. Assess the terrain.
- Mission: What is the specific, measurable target? “Get a job” or “Get a better job” is not a mission. “Secure a Program Management role with a $120k base by March 1st” is a mission.
- Execution: How exactly are you going to hit it? Who do you need to call? What skills do you need to learn? What Certification/Credential do you need to complete? What distractions do you need to cut?
Stop wishing. Stop hoping. Start executing.
If your mission for 2026 involves finding a career that demands your best, or finding talent that doesn’t quit when the gym gets empty, Major Talent is ready to move for both the Veteran and the Employer.
