Fresh Eyes

You should hold a midterm for your own life.

I'm not talking about politics. This week the country did what it does every two years. People showed up, the balance of power in Washington shifted, and new faces are getting ready to walk into rooms they've never been in. Some of you in the USA are thrilled. Some of you aren't. I'm leaving that part alone.

What I can't stop thinking about is the design.

Built into the system is a scheduled moment, right in the middle of things, when everyone pauses and asks: how's this going? What do we want more of? Who deserves a fresh shot? Nobody has to wait for a crisis. The calendar just says it's time.

Most of us never get that. We run our careers, our companies and our families on one long term with no review. We keep the same routines, the same roles, the same opinions of ourselves, mostly because nobody ever called a vote.

So call one.

The best part is in the word. A midterm arrives with the story half told. Plenty of time remains. All that's being decided is the direction of the next chapter.

And watch the people arriving in a new seat, whatever their views. The best of them show up curious. They ask basic questions. They walk the halls. They believe things can move. That's the energy of a first day, and you can have it without running a campaign.

Some of the best work I've seen started when someone new walked in and asked why we do it this way. That's what fresh eyes do. You can give them to yourself. See your own life like a newcomer.

Imagine you were elected to your own job this morning. Same desk. Same team. Same family at dinner. What would you be excited to try? Who would you go meet? What would you be grateful to inherit?

That last question matters most. Good change keeps what works. Every new arrival inherits something built by the people who came before. Honor that, thank them, then add your part.

Change has a bad reputation because we picture it happening to us. This week was a reminder that it can be something we do together, on a schedule, in the open, and then we all get up the next morning and go to work. I find that hopeful.

You don't need a ballot. You need an hour.

This week, spend that hour as the newly elected you. Write down one thing to keep, one thing to change and one person to call. Then make the call.

What would you do first if you were newly elected to your own life?