If you’ve ever seen the movie About Schmidt, there’s a memorable scene near the beginning that perfectly captures the dark comedy of corporate life. Jack Nicholson plays Warren Schmidt, a man who has just retired after 40 years with the same insurance company. A few days after his retirement party, Schmidt returns to the office hoping to offer some “advice” to his successor, a younger man with an MBA. His replacement assures him that he has everything under control, making it clear he doesn’t need or want Schmidt’s help. As Schmidt leaves the office, he notices all of his old files sitting inside a dumpster, waiting to be picked up by a garbage truck. Forty years of accumulated knowledge and contacts, all of it deemed worthless the moment he walked out the door. It is both tragedy and comedy.
Most of what we accumulate in life doesn’t matter nearly as much as we think it does. If you’ve ever had to sell a house after a parent has died, you will know what I mean. Without the people in it who matter, it becomes just “stuff.” Marie Kondo made a career helping people de-clutter their physical spaces, but the real work for most of us isn’t just in the closet. It’s in the calendar, the inbox, the overcrowded mind. It takes courage, and not a little will, to look at what we’ve been carrying and ask: Does this still serve me? Do I need to do this right now?
One the reasons that people enjoy staying in hotels is because the rooms are intentionally kept neat and clutter free, which feels energizing. Nothing drains our physical energy quite like clutter. But organizational and mental clutter does the same thing, just more insidiously. The unfinished project from two years ago. The “strategic initiative” no one believes in anymore but no one has officially killed. The monthly meeting that exists only because it’s always existed. These aren’t just harmless remnants of the past. They can also be actively draining our energy and resources.
Rather than approaching the New Year as an onerous exercise in “must do” resolutions, I prefer to think of it as a season of letting go: a time for auditing and editing. Gardeners know that new growth requires pruning, the deliberate cutting back of what has outlived its usefulness. So where in our own lives might a bit of thoughtful pruning make room for something new?
It’s Okay to Say No
One of the ways we clutter up our lives is by saying yes too often. Yes to invitations we don’t want, requests we may resent, obligations that drain us. Over time, these commitments crowd out the things that actually matter, leaving us feeling busy but drained. If you’re wondering how to reclaim more of your time and energy this year, begin with the power of no. No, thank you. No, that doesn’t work for me right now. No, sorry. While it may feel awkward, or hurt some feelings, setting healthy boundaries is the cornerstone of mature, sustainable adult relationships. The more you say no to things that don’t matter, the more you can say yes to things that do.
What Stories Have I Outgrown?
In the past year, countless professionals have found themselves in Schmidt’s shoes, not because they’ve retired, but because they were replaced. Some by restructuring, others by AI tools that promised to do their jobs faster and cheaper. The sting of being deemed “redundant” is real. When your identity has been so deeply tied to your work, being replaced feels like being erased. But here’s what I want you to hear: you are not your walking papers. You are not the decision someone else made about headcount or technology. The narrative that says your prior work “didn’t count” – that story needs some serious culling too.
The New Year offers us a chance to interrogate some of the old programming, that while familiar, may not be serving us any more. Who says you can’t build that business you’ve been thinking about? Who says you can’t learn something new, or rewrite the story of what’s possible? Most of the boxes that we feel trapped in aren’t built by others; they’re built by the stories we repeatedly tell ourselves. Is there a way for that story to be revised?
What Things am I Putting Off Right Now?
Shed the idea that you’re “too busy” to watch after your health. We tell ourselves we’ll get to the physical, the eye exam, the colonoscopy, or that nagging check-up “once things slow down.” But life doesn’t slow down. You can’t lead, create, or show up fully if you’re running on fumes.
I’ve been reading some of Peter Attia’s work on healthy aging and his thesis is pretty simple: at a certain stage, we have to actively “train” our bodies – through sleep, nutrition, exercise, and mindful habits – so we can live the second half of our lives with strength, energy, and vitality. Call it “training for old age.” The beginning of a New Year is a good time to schedule the appointments, check in on medications, sleep, and routines, and treat your body and mind as priorities, not as an afterthought. Your health is your wealth. Investing wisely in it now gives you the energy and clarity to live the life you actually want.
Wishing you a very happy and healthy 2026!
Ann
