I'm writing this from the other side of a pause.

The dead days. That's what I've started calling them. The stretch between Christmas and New Year's where the calendar goes quiet. No meetings. No urgency. No one expecting anything from anyone.

Some people dread them. I've come to protect them.

Last year, our dead days were in Maui. Palm trees. Warm sand. Kihei sunrises.

This year? Alabama and a snow-covered golf course in Chicago.

Different conditions. Same purpose: reset and recalibrate.

Arlene and I spent those days near Auburn. Living out of a golf cart. Playing courses with dormant fairways, pine trees lining every hole, and water features that made you forget it was December.

The grass was brown. The mornings were cold. The afternoons were warm. But the sky was clear and the trip was relaxed. The golf, though? Quick. Just how we like it. No waiting. No five-hour rounds. Just play.

Then we came home. And on January 4th, we did something ridiculous.

The Eskimo Open.

Yes, that's a golf course covered in snow. Yes, that's Arlene hitting a pink ball so we could actually find it. Yes, we walked 18 holes in 25-degree weather with smiles on our faces.

Why? Because the game isn't about perfect conditions. It's about showing up anyway.

And somewhere between the dormant fairways of Alabama and the frozen tundra of the Eskimo Open, something crystallized.

The Christmas Eve Download

It started on Christmas Eve, of all times.

We were busy. Prepping the meal. Setting the table. Visiting with our amazing adult daughters who came home for a few days. The house was full in the best possible way.

And yet, in the middle of all of it, a single sentence kept surfacing:

Clarity isn't enough.

I've spent the better part of 2025 helping people get clear. Clear on their purpose. Clear on what fulfills them. Clear on why certain things feel right and others don't.

And clarity is real. It matters. It changes how you see yourself.

But here's what I finally realized:

I've been mislabeling the result.

My clients don't just leave with clarity. They leave and they act. They make the call. They set the boundary. They launch the thing. They walk away from what's been draining them.

I kept thinking I was in the clarity business.

But clarity is just table stakes. What my clients actually walk away with is something deeper:

Conviction.

What I Finally Named

Over the break, I started mapping out what actually happens when someone transforms. Not just when they understand themselves. When they move.

Here's what I found:

It's not just clarity. It's the connection of four things:

Purpose. Knowing what you're here to contribute.
Fulfillment. Understanding what lights you up and what drains you.
Ambition. Having something you actually want to build, create, or become.
Conviction. The willingness to act on what you know, even when it's uncomfortable.

Clarity gives you the first two. But my clients weren't just getting clarity. They were connecting all four. Purpose, fulfillment, ambition, and conviction. Thought and action. The full circuit.

That's why they moved.

And that's what I'm actually offering. Not just insight. Integration. Not just understanding. Conviction to act on it.

Who I Actually Serve

This realization forced me to get honest about who I'm really here for.

I don't serve people who are just curious about themselves.

I serve ambitious people whose signal got disrupted.

The athlete whose playing career ended and is asking "What's next?"
The founder who built the thing, sold the thing, and now feels empty.
The executive staring at a transition they didn't plan for.
The professional who's been performing someone else's definition of success for so long they've lost touch with their own.

These are people with plenty of ambition. That's never been the problem.

The problem is that something knocked them off course. A transition. An ending. A decision that won't resolve itself. And now their ambition has nowhere to aim.

They don't need more clarity. They need to recalibrate their compass and GPS so they can move with conviction again.

Your Compass. Your GPS.

That's what I've started calling the Purpose Factor® work.

Your compass tells you which direction to face. Your purpose, your fulfillment, your natural wiring.

Your GPS tells you the next turn. The specific action. The decision that's been sitting in your lap for months.

Most people have a broken compass and a silent GPS. No wonder they feel stuck.

The Purpose Factor® Assessment recalibrates both.

In 80 minutes, you get language for who you actually are, insight into what's been blocking you, and conviction to finally move on what you've been sitting on.

Not someday.

Not when conditions are perfect.

Now.

What Are You Sitting On?

Here's my question for you as we step into 2026:

What decision have you had clarity on for months, but still haven't moved on?

Maybe it's a conversation you need to have. A role you need to leave. A business you need to start. A boundary you need to set.

You know what to do. You've probably known for a while.

What's missing isn't information. It's conviction.

If you're ready to stop circling and start moving, this is your invitation.

Discover Your Purpose + Reclaim Your Conviction →

Into 2026

The dead days gave me exactly what I needed. Space to think. Room to recalibrate. And a clearer sense of who I'm here to serve.

2026 is going to be a year of movement. I can feel it.

Not movement for movement's sake. Movement with purpose. Movement with conviction. Movement that comes from finally trusting what you already know.

Let's go.

Until next week,

-Coach Reg

P.S. If you've already done the Purpose Factor® Assessment and you're ready to take the next step, reply to this email. Let's talk about what conviction looks like for you in 2026.

SPARK Insights™ Published weekly at sparkinsights.beehiiv.com © 2026 RJR Coaching. All rights reserved. Purpose Factor® is a registered trademark.