Popular spirit animal choices often include buffalo, lion, and hawks.
You know, the don’t-F-with-me type of animals. But never piglets.
As you begin to execute your 2026 plan, I encourage you to consider calling on the piglet when things don’t go as well as you’d like.
Here’s why.
In David Toomey’s book, Kingdom of Play, he tells about researchers studying piglets. Yes, little baby pigs.
The researchers observed that the piglets would run at full speed down a straightaway, then suddenly belly-flop, get up, and do it again.
They made this observation in a controlled laboratory setting. There were no holes in the floor, no other obstacles to trip on, and no sharp corners to navigate. Nothing in the environment explained the piglets’ behavior.
The researchers ultimately determined that the only thing that made sense was that the piglets were anticipating what would happen out in the real world.
See, there are no white-shirt-wearing researchers with clipboards out in the wild, but there are plenty of non-kosher-eating critters that would be happy to prey upon them.
So what was happening? These crafty little pigs were anticipating falling when chased by predators. They were actually planning on failing. But more importantly, they were planning to get up and keep running. They weren’t going to lie there like dopes and be an easy meal.
As you review your 2026 plan, ask yourself, “Where do you see the most obvious soft spots?”
Where is your plan likely to go off the rails? Do you account for disruptions or not?
When your plan meets uncooperative reality, are you going to be like the piglet and ask, “What’s the next action that actually moves this forward?”
Or are you going to freeze like a deer in the headlights?
What are you planning for? Cause you are planning one way or another.