Tomorrow’s change requires action today

Mindset

Happy new year! 

The general consensus I’ve received from family and friends is that 2025 was a tough year. 

If you’re reading this then congratulations, you survived.

And my thought is, if we can survive then we can thrive. We just have to put consistent effort in that results in small positive change that can compound on itself over time toward a better outcome.

There were lots of unexpected setbacks and/or transitions – things we’ve dealt with before and those that forced us to venture into uncharted territory without a map.

In 2025 we found ourselves in a rapidly changing society, both locally and globally. The pace of life has been accelerated by technology, media, and business. The speed of information can be overwhelming. 

Yet, most of the human-related challenges and issues in life remain largely the same things we’ve been dealing with forever – having, or not having health, wealth, and happiness (though I would probably change the word, “happiness,” to something more like a “sense of stability”).

So where do we go from here?

That’s a great question, and the answer, like most things, will unfold in time. However, life is not a passive game – if you wait for things to turn around and suddenly start panning out the way you want you will be waiting your whole life. 

When you want change tomorrow you have to take action today. Simply start where you are.

You’re here. Now. 

You made it through this year, and that survival and perseverance is an opportunity to build upon in 2026. 

Think about what went well and what didn’t. This exercise is crucial, so take the time to write it down on paper. It’s hard to manage what you don’t measure. 

My advice? Identify one major thing that went well in each quarter of 2025, and one major thing that did not go well over that same time period.

Examine why you think those things that went well, went well. Then contrast that with why the things that didn’t go well were not so great.

Now, for each thing you wrote down to examine 2025 – both the good and bad things – make a note about what might have been in your control to make the good things even better, and the bad things less bad.

Take your time. This seems like a simple exercise, but it takes a bit, so give yourself the space to truly think it through.

Now, think about what you want for yourself in 2026. 

What do you want to achieve or get better at, and identify why you want that – does it benefit you, your family, both, your community, the world in general?

Once you have identified something and why you want to achieve that, think about the timing required to achieve that goal.

Is it something that can realistically be achieved in one year? If not, what aspect of the goal could be achieved in one year, and by your loose estimation, how many years might it take to achieve the end result you’re truly after?

Then, think about what’s in your control to be able to start taking small actions everyday toward your goal. Use your document about 2025 to reflect on what you could have controlled differently then to improve how 2025 ended up, and keep that in mind as you think about the actions you can control and need to take in 2026 to achieve your goal.

In other words, you’re forcing yourself to be more conscious of how your approach in 2026 needs to be different than in 2025 in order to achieve what you want.

There’s a saying related to the concept of abundance in life: Whatever you focus on, expands. Focus on positive things and what you can actually control and the abundance you’re seeking will start to flow your way.

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Marketing

Navigating the B2B Customer Marketing & Advocacy realm in 2026

• Here’s a blog post I wrote about where we’re at and we’re things are headed in customer marketing.
  

• Here are the sources I used to write the blog post:

  • https://www.dmcockpit.com/articles/marketing-predictions-2025-and-2026

  • https://fractionalcmo.gr/customer-loyalty/customer-advocacy-plan-in-2026/

  • https://magnet.co/articles/2026-ai-marketing-predictions

  • https://www.boostcx.com/blog/top-5-customer-engagement-trends-for-2026

  • https://blog.accessdevelopment.com/five-customer-engagement-resolutions-for-2026?hs_amp=true

  • https://retentioncx.com/2026-cx-predictions
    

• If you prefer video as a form to consume this information, check out the video I created using Notebook LM’s AI capabilities to create a summary overview based on the sources above and my blog post.
  

• Finally, I used Notebook LM to create a visual infographic of this information for yet another way to consume this data. Check it out:

Music/Creative

Songwriters Round Town is back at Imaginary Tea in Waunakee, WI. Check it out on Thursday January 15, 2026 beginning at 7pm.

Songwriters Round Town is a BlueBird-Cafe-Nashville-style songwriter circle where artists share songs and the stories behind them.

Here’s the latest upcycled guitar design in my nickVguitars Etsy shop.

The How to Train Your Dragon guitar called, The Strike Class guitar.

Looking for music-related product reviews and recommendations? Check out my blog.

Latest music and concept album:

Check out my latest 7-song EP called “Our Own Devices.”

There’s a whole concept and theme to the album that is certainly relevant to our modern human condition. Read about the album, listen for free, and read the song lyrics on Bandcamp.

If you have interest in financially supporting this album/message feel free to purchase the music at nickventurella.bandcamp.com.

The album is currently available on all major streaming platforms.

Outro

Stay positive, stay healthy, be kind.

Help others sign up for this Investors Club newsletter by sharing this link: https://nickv.beehiiv.com/

Be well,
-Nick

Nick Venturella Endeavors LLC
NickVenturella.com

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