Happy 2026! I hope everyone enjoyed their respective holidays and had some downtime to spend with family. I know it can be tough for a lot of people, but I trust everyone found solace and calm in available family or friends.
Before we hop into what this year will look like, we need to put a bow on what 2025 was: success. Odd coming from the guy who had several knee surgeries, a handful of health scares, and no stable job, huh? All things considered, the fact that I didn’t crawl into December was a miracle. It went from a story of survival in January to “thrival” in December.
The biggest win? The long-awaited surgery I mentioned in the last entry took quite a turn. Just to recap, I went in think standard ACL reconstruction and I’d go about my business. “Don’t get greedy and try to fix everything” is what I told myself. I was ready to adjust to whatever life and movement would look like on the other side.
To my surprise, I woke up with nearly everything fixed. New ACL, LCL, and a once-thought-impossible-to-fix hamstring. I won’t get into the gory details, but let’s just say I owe my surgical team the world after what they were able to do in there. Sure, I’m locked in a leg brace for the next six weeks, but considering the fact that I’ll be able to jog and jump in 2026 is worth it.
With this surgery in mind, I wanted to point something out before we move on. The importance of organ donors. You know, the pink dot most usually have on their licenses. Well, I will be eternally grateful for the three donors that provided me with the grafts needed to restore my quality of life. While I’ll never get to meet them, I’m aware that they likely had dreams and I owe it to them to maximize what they’ve given me… opportunity.
Now that we’ve officially closed the darkest chapter of my life, it’s time to balance it with the brightest. I’ve got a lot of goals for this year. Goals in every aspect because I realize just how quickly life can be taken away from us. I’m not big on resolutions because they’ve just become oversaturated social media trends. Goals are trackable, attainable, and more rewarding than the empty self-promises resolutions end up being.
With respect to your time, I’m not going to sit here and write them out. What I will share is the one goal that impacts my immediate audience every week aka you.
The cadence of this newsletter will be moving to bi-weekly. Every other Sunday is when you’ll be hearing from me in 2026. Why? Because I’m going to use the extra time to write my book.
I have the title and outline already done, now it’s time to create. There is a vision that I want to communicate to the world after this last 18 month roller coaster. As some of you have heard me mention before, I didn’t go through hell just to say I did it. Wandering in the dark can be terrifying and this book will give you solace in knowing that you’re not alone.
“Drumroll please”… 🥁🥁🥁🥁🥁🥁🥁🥁🥁🥁🥁
Title - The Walking Anomaly: Defying the Math of Performance, Reinvention, and Recovery
Length - 100 pages or less. You should be able to read it on a flight or within two days.
Release - Self-publishing and dropping later in the year.
It’s happening. I’ve committed to a creative process, a monthly word minimum that I need to hit in order to stay on track, and now a social contract with some of my closest supporters who show up every entry.
If you’d like to receive updates, let me know by responding to this email.
One last thing I want to share with you all before I go are two things that signal my commitment to being better. I rebuilt my website to reflect my brand, story, and business opportunities. Check it out here: https://www.chriseversley.com/
Another dope thing I built and am extremely proud of is The Overtime Index™. It’s a free assessment to help you identify gaps in your performance style. Based on my experience as an athlete, CEO, and employee, it’s built with situations you’ve likely seen yourself. It should feel authentic and the results page is pretty cool, if I may say so myself. If you’d like to check it out, here’s the link: https://overtime-index.netlify.app/
If you get a chance to review either project, please let me know your thoughts. Continuous improvement breeds continuous performance.
I made a promise to myself when I woke up from surgery that I’d find no more excuses. 2026 will be a prime example of that. When you’ve had something so meaningful taken from you, you’ve got to get it back… with interest. That’s my mentality for this year… “I need mine’s back and then some.”
Whatever it is that you’re choosing to tackle in 2026, make sure you allot time for it. If there’s one thing I’ve learned in 2025, it’s that time will pass whether you’re standing still or making progress. Not every day will be an Olympic broad jump, but no day should be a cha-cha slide step back. We’ve all got places to be and there’s no shortcutting the route to get there.
It will take another 360 days and I’m just here to remind you to enjoy each and every one of them 🏁
-CE