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“You don’t need a new plan. You need a first move.”
— James Clear
🃏 Action Card
Your Move This Week
Question
What are you telling yourself you’ll really start once conditions are better?
Test
Is the friction you’re feeling coming from not being in motion yet…or because the work is asking something real of you?
Shift
Momentum doesn’t come from ambition alone. It comes from reducing the cost of beginning—then respecting the cost of real value and growth.
Move (10 minutes)
Identify the smallest visible action that creates motion on your project.
Do it today.
Not to finish.
Just to move.
The Red Thread This Week
Cold Start
It’s the first Friday of 2026.
If your inbox and social feeds look anything like mine, you’ve spent the last 72 hours being bombarded by "The 10x Plan for 2026" and "How to Crush Your Q1."
The air is thick with ambition.
But for many of us there’s a quiet, sort of uncomfortable feeling sitting right next to that ambition.
The up-front friction of getting started.
What Steven Pressfield calls The Resistance.
The Cold Start.
The feeling of standing in front of a blank page, a silent studio, or a new project that felt like a "great idea for next year" back in November, but now feels like a heavy lift.
Last week, I wrote to you about Building a Practice and playing the long game.
But the long game is composed of a thousand very short, often unglamorous starts.
And the biggest mistake we make in the first week of January is thinking that our "New Year Energy" is enough to overcome a bad system.
We try to start the engine in 5th gear.
We set goals that require us to be "optimized versions" of ourselves instead of the human beings we actually are—tired from the holidays, a bit distracted, and wary of hype.
That's not a motivation problem, that's a Cold Start problem.
On mornings I don't want to go to the gym (which is many of them) I don't think about the workout. I don't think about the “promise” I made to myself, or how long it's been since I last went.
I tell myself one thing: Just put on your gym shorts.
That's the goal. Not "work out." Not "be disciplined." Not "become a new person."
Just shorts.
Once they're on, the next step is obvious. Sneakers. Door. Car.
I'm not lowering the standard of the work.
I'm lowering the resistance to starting it.
But there’s a twist: Once I'm at the gym, I need resistance. If the weights had no load, nothing would change. No effort. No progress. No strength.
So the Red Thread this week is about separating two things we blur together—especially at the start of a new year:
The friction that keeps you from starting
The friction that shows up because the work is worth doing
This week isn't about shrinking your ambition.
It's about starting smaller than feels impressive, so you can build momentum.
Then embracing the right type of friction, so you can apply effort where it actually counts, and build something meaningful.
~ Jaime
🔑 The Unlock
Two Kinds of Friction
A common mistake many leaders and creators make is they think all flavors of “friction” are the same.
They either work to remove ALL friction (and become generic), or keep ALL friction (and never ship their work).
Let's get specific about the difference:
1️⃣ Start Friction: Before You’re in Motion
This is the Cold Start; the resistance that works very hard to stop you from beginning.
It shows up as overthinking, perfectionism, tool shopping, waiting for more clarity, rewriting the plan instead of taking the step.
Ask yourself: Is this thing actually hard, or does it just feel difficult because I haven't started yet?
Start friction feeds on scale.
The bigger the commitment feels, the more your brain looks for reasons to delay.
The move here is simple, but not always comfortable: make the first step almost impossible to fail.
What's the smallest version of this I could do today without negotiating with myself?
Not "finish." Not "do it right." Just begin.
Just shorts.
Five minutes. One paragraph. One email. One conversation.
Start resistance doesn't deserve your respect, it deserves to be engineered around.
2️⃣ Productive Friction: After You’re in Motion
This is the resistance that shows up once you're working.
It shows up as slower thinking, uncomfortable tradeoffs, work that doesn't immediately look impressive, the tension of forming a real point of view.
This is the resistance people misread.
They assume: "If this feels difficult, something must be wrong."
But ask yourself: What if this heaviness is a signal that I'm doing the work that matters?
This is the weight on the bar. The grip on the road. The friction that turns effort into progress.
Oars in the water can’t move a boat forward, unless the water pushes back.
In a world where content is easy to generate and shortcuts are everywhere, this resistance is often the only thing separating meaningful work from forgettable work.
Here's the mistake: People remove start resistance and productive resistance in the name of efficiency.
They move faster—but flatter.
They ship more—but say less.
They stay busy—but blend in.
Try this question: Which part of my work am I trying to make easier, that actually shouldn't be?
The goal isn't constant comfort.
It's traction.
📌 Remember: Small motions create momentum. Resistance and friction create strength and progress. You need both.
🎲 Prompt Playground
The Cold Start Audit
Use this when you're staring at a big goal and feeling stuck before you've begun.
Prompt:
I want to move past a cold start and build momentum without lowering the quality of my work.
Context:
The project or goal I'm trying to start: [describe it]
The first step I keep avoiding: [be specific]
Why that step feels heavier than it should: [be honest]
Help me with four things:
Reduce start resistance: Reframe my first step into a 10-minute action I can take today.
Name where productive resistance will likely show up once I begin—and why that effort is worth protecting.
Identify one way I might be trying to make this too easy, and what I'd gain by leaning into the hard part instead.
Write a one-sentence reminder I can keep visible this week that reinforces where effort belongs.
✅ Bonus Prompt: What would progress look like if I optimized for momentum instead of perfection?
A Gift for You
My personal library of 12 high-impact AI prompts designed to help leaders, builders, and creators use AI as a strategic thinking partner (not just a productivity tool.)
If you’re planning for 2026, this will help you clarify direction, surface opportunities, and make better decisions faster.
No strings attached. Just a thank-you for being here, and a resource to help you do your best work.
📔 Field Notes
Signals & Rabbit Holes
Scott Galloway’s 2026 Predictions across AI, business, media and some wildcards – No Mercy No Malice
14 Marketers predict what’s next for streaming, measurement, AI, and retail in 2026 – The Current
What happens when Ragebait Marketing runs its course? – Marketing Brew
Is Instagram’s TV app ready to compete with YouTube? – Tubefilter
Why video podcast ads convert worse than audio [free whitepaper] – Podscribe & OxfordRoad
The full tech stack used by Tom Alder to power his Strategy Breakdowns business and newsletter (which I love!) – Strategy Breakdowns Tech Stack
Instagram leader Adam Mosseri’s year-end essay argues AI-generated content has killed “authenticity” and pushes for more “raw, unpolished posts” – Threads article
⚡ Before You Go
Here’s a few ways I can help today:
🗓️ Get 1:1 Support from Me: Need a thought partner to help shape what's next for your project or team? Let’s talk.
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🚀 Speaking Engagements & Workshops: Looking for a speaker for your next live (or virtual) event? Or someone to lead your next strategic workshop? Drop me a note.
📓 Grab The 7-Day Podcast Playbook, a daily workbook with episode templates, equipment lists, and best practices to help you go from zero-to-podcast in one week.
And I could really use your help:
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Prefer Audio?
Thanks for spending time with Red Threads this week, I’m glad you’re here :)
~ Jaime