If you’re going to borrow a framework to connect the dots in 2026.
I’d go with the #1 Coach in the world – Marshall Goldsmith
Aspiration – Ambition – Action
Aspiration – What you’re becoming (You’ll never get there but always be chasing (and earning it every day).
Ambition – The quantified time fenced outcome goals that tell you you’re on the right track.
Action – The controllable activities. That you can do your best at.
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Let me give you an example from my world.
Aspiration: To live a long and healthy life under my own power. I’m an older father and if I’m going to see some of the key moments, I need to strive to increase my healthspan.
Ambition: I want my VO2Max to rise above 60 by the end of this year. I want to break my 3:05 in a marathon by the end of this year (Signed up for The Trukish Marathon in November).
Action: I will run 4-5 days a week. I will run no less than 100 miles a month in the next three months. 80% of those runs will be Solid Zone 2 Runs. 1 run per week will be longer. One run per week will be speed related.
*I have a number of sleep and strength connections here as well that are brutally important to make sure I build up my body. but I’m using this as an example.
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Goldsmith’s triple A formula helped me find clarity.
At every reset, I take the four quadrants of life (Family/Friends – Community – Professional (Vocation) – Personal (Health & Wealth)) and I work to find alignment between Aspiration, Ambition, and Action.
Most times it is not a problem of comptence.
It is a problem of alignment and logistics.
Most organizations die of indigestion. Most personal changes fade as the demands of life get in the way.
And when you force this kind of clarity, you get to the action level.
It is in the action level that we live 99.9% of our days – Goldsmith emphasizes that happiness often lies in the action phase because it is where you have total agency.
But let me leave you with his words: “Ambition without Aspiration turns into obsession. Aspiration without Action becomes fantasy.”
