03/19/2026
Can't wait to hear Clint Swindall speak to us at our 2026 Conference and Trade Show in the Woodlands, Texas. Here is a timely message from him....
March has a way of revealing the truth about our year.
It seems like yesterday that the energy of January was upon us. We were setting ambitious goals that included gym memberships and professional development plans. We had selected our theme for the year and were ready to make something big happen.
As we approach the end of the first quarter of the year, I see two types of people. There are those who are still energized, still leaning in, and still showing up the same way they did on January 1st. Maybe you're one of the energized people. If so, good for you. You’re awesome because you are the exception, not the rule.
For many others, they’ve experienced a shift in their energy. The initial momentum from the new year has faded. The routines have set in, and somewhere between the beginning of January and the end of March, they started going through the motions and became disengaged, likely without even realizing it.
Over the three decades I’ve been working to overcome disengagement, I’ve noticed that it never announces itself. You don't wake up and decide to stop caring. It's quieter than that. It creeps in behind the comfort of routine, and routine, left unchecked, slowly becomes mediocrity. That's where engagement goes to die.
This isn't just a workplace problem. It happens at home. It happens in retirement, where what once felt like freedom can quietly become a different kind of monotony. Although we show up, we're not really present. Although we’re busy, we're not really alive.
How We Get Here
January often starts with intentions. There's a clarity in the new year that we don’t experience later on. We have a sense that this time things will be different. New goals. Fresh energy. A genuine desire to change something.
And then, life does what it does. The “urgent” crowds out the “important.” The new habits get skipped. And gradually, almost without detection, we lose the passion that energized us in January.
While the work still gets done and the days still pass, the spark isn't there. We're functioning, but we're not flourishing. And the most dangerous part? We adjust. We start accepting mediocrity as normal. We tell ourselves this is just how it is now, but it doesn't have to be.
Finding Your Way Back
There are two ways to break free from the drift.
The first is to reconnect with your why. At the beginning of the year, something motivated you. A reason you wanted to grow, lead better, be more present, or make this season of life meaningful. That reason didn't disappear because life got hard. It just got buried.
Go back to it. Not to shame yourself for losing it, but simply to remember why it mattered. Because when you reconnect with why something matters, you find the energy to engage with it again.
The second is to create a new challenge. If your original why no longer moves you, find something that does. Give yourself something to pursue. Give yourself something that requires you to show up fully. A project that stretches you. A skill that genuinely interests you. A problem others are avoiding that you could actually solve.
You need something to reach for. Something that pulls you out of autopilot and reminds you that you're still capable of more than just getting through the day.
What's Still True
There are two things I want you to hear. One, if you've drifted, you haven't failed. You're human. Routine is comfortable. Coasting is easy. And sometimes life just takes over. And two, you still get to choose. You can stay comfortable, or you can wake up. Those are real options, and one of them is always available to you.
It doesn't require overhauling everything at once. It just requires waking up to the one thing that matters most right now and deciding to re-engage with it. One conversation. One decision. One intentional step.
The beauty of March is that three-quarters of the year still sits in front of you. There's plenty of runway to make 2026 matter.
So here's the question worth sitting with for the rest of March: Where have you disengaged? What used to matter that you've quietly let slip? And what challenge might await on the other side of getting back into the game?
It's not too late. The question is whether you'll decide it isn't.
Enthusiastically,
Clint Swindall
