🌐 Don't Do This On January 1st!

It's January 1st, and your inbox is about to get flooded with the same tired advice: "10 Goals for 2026," "My New Year Strategy," "How I'm Going to 10x This Year."

Everyone's adding. New tools, new hires, new systems, new everything...

But here's what nobody's talking about:

What if the fastest path to growth in 2026 is subtraction -- not addition?

I know that sounds backwards. We're entrepreneurs. We're wired to build, expand, add. Hell, I'm guilty of it too. Every December I used to make these massive lists of what I was going to add in the new year.

Then I'd hit February completely overwhelmed, wondering why nothing was working.

The problem wasn't execution. It was addition without subtraction.

This year I'm doing something different. And in this week's Main Event, I'm challenging you to do the same.

Not because I have it all figured out. But because I finally realized that the businesses winning right now aren't the ones adding more, they're the ones getting ruthlessly honest about what they can remove...

And as always, this week's hand-selected Top Reads from The Growth Stack team: Entrepreneur on why renewal sales are the most overlooked growth strategy (CAC increased 222% in 8 years), Fidelity on the three core wealth-building strategies that actually compound, and Men's Health on the performance supplements that are actually worth taking.

Welcome to 2026. Let's make it count!

P.S. - This is the final issue of 2025. It's been an honor showing up in your inbox every week. In 2026, we'll continue bringing you the cutting-edge AI tools, strategic frameworks, and tactical resources you need to build a massive competitive edge. Same relentless focus on what actually works, same no-BS approach. Here's to a year of subtraction that adds up to a hell of a lot more!

Every week, we break down the big-picture strategy behind the shifts happening in business—so you can see around corners while others are still catching up.

Everyone wakes up on January 1st with the same instinct: add more.

More goals. More hires. More tools. More revenue targets. More capacity.

But here's what nobody talks about…

You can't build momentum while dragging dead weight.

Most business owners enter 2026 carrying the same inefficiencies, the same bloated processes, the same overstaffed roles that drained them in 2025. They pile new goals on top of old problems and wonder why growth feels so hard.

The highest-ROI move you can make on January 1st isn't addition. It's subtraction.

And if you're running a service-based business in 2026, there are only two questions that matter:

1. WHO can AI replace this year?

2. WHAT can AI replace this year?

Answer these honestly, and you'll free up more margin, capacity, and mental bandwidth than any goal-setting framework ever could.

Let's break it down…

Why This Matters Now

AI capabilities doubled in 2025. They'll double again in 2026.

That means roles and processes that seemed "too complex" for AI last year are now fully automatable. And most business owners are still paying human rates for AI-solvable work.

The gap between what AI can do and what you're actually using it for is costing you six figures.

Here's the math: If you can subtract $100K in labor costs or reclaim 20 hours per week in process time, that's pure margin and capacity. No new sales required. No new hires needed. Just subtraction.

But most people won't do this audit because it's uncomfortable. It forces you to confront reality: you're probably overpaying for work that AI could handle for pennies on the dollar.

So let's get uncomfortable now, shall we?

Question 1: WHO Can AI Replace In 2026?

This isn't about firing everyone and running a one-person AI empire. It's about honest assessment.

Where are you paying a human $3,000-$5,000 per month to do work that AI can handle for $100?

The roles most vulnerable to replacement in 2026:

Research assistants. If someone's job is gathering information, summarizing reports, or pulling data, AI does this faster and more accurately. Claude, Perplexity, and ChatGPT can process documents, search the web, and synthesize findings in minutes.

First-draft writers. Content writers who produce blog posts, social media copy, or email campaigns are competing with AI that writes at scale. The human value isn't in the first draft anymore—it's in the editing, the strategy, the voice refinement.

Customer support reps handling FAQs. If 80% of support tickets are repetitive questions, AI can handle those conversations. Your humans should focus on complex issues and relationship-building, not "How do I reset my password?" for the thousandth time.

Data entry and admin VAs. Meeting notes, CRM updates, calendar management, expense tracking—these are AI tasks now. If someone's primary job is moving information from one system to another, that's automation territory.

Junior-level analysts. Pulling reports, building dashboards, analyzing trends—AI can do this work at a fraction of the cost. The human analyst's value is in interpretation and strategic recommendations, not data wrangling.

Here's the audit: Look at each role on your team and ask:

"What percentage of their work could AI handle right now?"

If the answer is above 60%, you have a replacement decision to make.

You can keep the person and massively upgrade their output by pairing them with AI (I love this dual approach). Or you can replace the role entirely and redeploy that budget into higher-value work.

Either way, ignoring this question in 2026 is expensive.

Question 2: WHAT Can AI Replace In 2026?

Processes are easier to replace than people because there's no emotional complexity. It's just ROI math.

Here are the processes eating your time that AI can handle:

Meeting notes and follow-ups. Record the meeting, let AI transcribe it, summarize action items, and draft follow-up emails. You've just saved 30 minutes per meeting. If you're in 10 meetings a week, that's 5 hours back.

Content repurposing. You record a podcast or write a newsletter. AI turns it into LinkedIn posts, Twitter threads, blog summaries, and email sequences. What used to take a content team 10 hours now takes 30 minutes of review and editing.

Proposal and contract generation. If you're still writing proposals from scratch, you're wasting hours. AI can pull from past templates, customize for the client, and generate a polished draft in minutes.

CRM hygiene. Lead scoring, contact updates, pipeline categorization—all automatable. AI can scan your CRM, identify dead leads, update statuses, and flag high-priority opportunities without human intervention.

Reporting and analytics. Weekly reports, performance dashboards, trend analysis—these are AI tasks. Set up the framework once, and AI generates the updates automatically.

Email triage and responses. AI can categorize emails, draft responses to common inquiries, and flag urgent messages. You review and approve, but the heavy lifting is done.

Onboarding and training materials. New client onboarding, employee training docs, SOPs—AI can draft these based on your existing processes and update them as things change.

The pattern: If a process is repetitive, rule-based, or information-heavy, it's an AI candidate.

Run the audit: What processes are you still doing manually that eat 2+ hours per week?

Those are your subtraction targets.

The Uncomfortable Truth

Here's what makes this hard…

You've built your business around these roles and processes. You've hired people. You've established workflows. You've created dependencies.

And now AI is telling you that half of it is obsolete.

That's uncomfortable. But comfort is expensive.

Every month you delay this audit, you're choosing to pay more for less efficiency. You're choosing to drag 2025's cost structure into 2026.

You're choosing addition over subtraction.

The business owners who win in 2026 won't be the ones who add the most. They'll be the ones who subtract the fastest.

They'll replace a $4,000/month VA with a $50/month AI workflow and redeploy that savings into revenue-generating activities. They'll cut 15 hours of manual processes per week and use that time to close deals, build relationships, and think strategically.

They'll enter Q2 leaner, faster, and more profitable than their competitors – not because they worked harder, but because they subtracted smarter.

What To Do Next

You don't need to overhaul your entire business on January 1st. You just need to answer two questions honestly. Here they are again:

1. WHO can AI replace in 2026?

2. WHAT can AI replace in 2026?

In the Implementation Blueprint below, I'll give you a quick exercise to identify your top replacement opportunity and what to do about it.

Because the cost of delay isn't just money. It's momentum.

And in 2026, momentum belongs to the subtracters…

They all have newsletters.

If you’re building a personal brand, social can only take you so far. Algorithms glitch. Reach tanks. But a newsletter gives you real ownership and revenue.

That’s why we built a free 5-day email course that shows you how to grow and monetize with sponsorships, digital products, and B2B services.

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Here's where strategy meets action. Each week, we give you the tactical steps to implement what you just learned—so you can capitalize on the insight immediately.

The Two-Column Exercise: Find Your First Replacement In 20 Minutes

Here's the exercise:

Grab a piece of paper or open a note. Draw two columns.

Column 1: WHO

List every role on your team (or tasks you're doing yourself) where AI could handle 60%+ of the work.

Be specific. Don't write "my VA"—write "my VA who does research, summarizes articles, and updates the CRM."

Column 2: WHAT

List every process that eats 2+ hours per week and doesn't require strategic thinking.

Again, be specific. Don't write "content"—write "repurposing podcast episodes into LinkedIn posts and email sequences."

Give yourself 10 minutes. Write fast. Don't filter.

Now Pick One

Look at both columns and ask: Which one would free up the most time or money with the least friction?

That's your answer.

Circle it.

Not the biggest opportunity. Not the most impressive one. The easiest win.

Because momentum matters more than perfection on January 1st.

What to Do This Week

You have your replacement target. Now take one action:

If it's a WHO: Research the AI tool that can handle their tasks. ChatGPT, Claude, Perplexity—pick one and test it for 3 days doing the same work. Compare outputs.

If it's a WHAT: Build the ugliest version of the automated process. Record one meeting and let AI transcribe it. Feed one piece of content into AI and see what it spits out. Don't optimize. Just prove it works.

That's it.

You're not replacing everything this week. You're proving to yourself that subtraction is possible.

By the end of this week, you'll have one data point: AI can do this work.

And that's how 2026 starts…

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Every week, we deliver 3 high-leverage insights on Business Growth, Wealth Building, and Peak Performance — with direct links to the smartest ideas, tools, and strategies we’ve uncovered. Backed by what our team is studying, analyzing, and testing behind the scenes — so you don’t have to. These are the 3 core disciplines every modern entrepreneur must master to win. Curated. Actionable. No BS.

🔹 Business Growth
"The Growth Strategy Most Entrepreneurs Overlook — and How to Leverage It Today" — Entrepreneur
Reseach shows customer acquisition costs increased 222% from 2013-2022, making retention far more cost-effective than new customer acquisition. 73% of CSOs are prioritizing growth from existing customers for 2025. Renewal sales create predictable revenue and stabilize cash flow—but most entrepreneurs treat them as an afterthought instead of a strategic growth lever.
🔗 Read it here »

🔹 Wealth Building
"3 Effective Strategies for Building Wealth" — Fidelity Investments
Only 11% of Americans consider themselves wealthy, yet 78% of those with a financial plan say they're confident they've taken the right steps to build and protect their wealth—compared to just 26% without a plan. This article explores three core strategies: maximizing investment returns through smart asset allocation, minimizing tax drag via strategic use of retirement accounts and tax-efficient investing, and working with financial professionals who can identify opportunities that aren't immediately obvious when managing everything yourself.
🔗 Read it here »

🔹 Peak Performance
"11 Editor-Tested Supplements That Can Help Men Hit Their Nutrition Goals" — Men's Health
Men's Health editors tested supplements that actually move the needle on performance—from whey protein isolate for muscle synthesis to synbiotics for gut health and magnesium for sleep quality. Covers recovery gummies, fiber for digestion, and vitamin D for immune function. Real-world tested by athletes and trainers, not just theory from a lab. Great for women too!
🔗 Read it here »

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