Founder of 1% Better™ | Former accountant, future author | Follow me for the best self-development content on LinkedIn

Former accountant.
Future author.

I share actionable, educational, and entertaining self-development content to help my readers live their best lives.

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Colby Kultgen

The scariest part is how normal this feels.

Like we just woke up one day and our entire life existed between three different screens.

If you want to reduce your screen time in 2026, I wrote a step-by-step article on what actually worked for me.

Link in comments.

5 mindset shifts that will change your life in 2026:

1. I can't → I'll learn

Every expert was once a beginner who refused to quit. If you're struggling, it just means you haven't put in enough reps yet.

❌ "I can't do this"
✓ "I'll learn if I stick with it."

———

2. I don't have time → I'm not prioritizing it

Be honest about what matters. If something's truly important, you'll find the time. 

❌ "I don't have time to work out" 
✓ "I'm choosing other things over working out right now."

———

3. I need motivation → I need momentum

Motivation doesn't find you—you create it through action. Motion beats mood every time.


❌ "I just don't feel like it today" 
✓ "If I just start for 5 minutes, I'll probably keep going."

———

4.  I'm quitting → I'm pivoting

Sometimes the bravest thing you can do is climb down the wrong mountain so you can start climbing up the right one.

❌ "I've spent 5 years on this, I can't quit now." 
✓ "I've spent 5 years on this, better to cut my losses now and move toward something I enjoy."

———

5.  I failed → I learned

Failure isn't the opposite of success—it's part of the process. Every setback is data for your next attempt.

❌ "I tried and failed, so I guess I'm not cut out for this" 
✓ "I tried and it didn't work. Now I know what not to do next time."

———

♻️ Repost if these resonate.
Send this post to someone who could use it.

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A simple question I use to turn around an “off” day:

What’s the best way I can spend the next 5 minutes?

Yep, that’s usually all it takes.

5 minutes of movement.
5 minutes of writing.
5 minutes of conversation.
5 minutes of something that brings you back to yourself.

When an airplane is off course, a shift of just a few degrees can make the difference between landing in New York or ending up in the middle of the ocean.

Our days work the same way.

Never underestimate the power of 5 good minutes.

♻️ Repost this if it resonated.

Discipline doesn’t need to be difficult.

Here are 5 ways to stay consistent in 2026 (without superhuman willpower):

1️⃣ "Dailyish" Habits
Committing to something “dailyish” keeps you consistent without the guilt of missing a day. It’s flexible, sustainable, and removes the all-or-nothing pressure that leads could lead to burnout.

2️⃣ Shrink the Starting Line
Big goals feel overwhelming. Instead, start with a ridiculously tiny version of the habit: one push-up, one sentence, one minute.

3️⃣ Set "No-Later-Than" Rules
Set buffers instead of rigid deadlines. For example, instead of waking up at exactly 6:00 AM, commit to being up no later than 7:00 AM. Anything earlier is a win.

4️⃣ No "Zero Days"
Even on your worst days, find one small action to move forward. A single page, a quick stretch, or just tidying your workspace keeps the momentum alive.

5️⃣ Design for Bad Days
Don’t build habits for your most motivated self. Build them for the tired, distracted, low-energy version of you. If it only works on “good days,” it won’t last.

How do you plan on staying disciplined in 2026?

———

Shoutout to Oliver Burkeman for tips 1 and 3.
Image credit: No One Cares on Facebook

An exercise everyone should do in 2026:

The Calendar Energy Audit.

We often assume that our biggest limitation is time.

It’s not. 

The real limitation is our energy.

CEO coach Matt Mochary puts it like this:
“We all feel like we have limited time, but that’s not the case. What we really have is LIMITED ENERGY. If we start doing more things that raise our energy, it enables us to do more things in general.”

So where do you start with this?

By removing the activities that drain you.

Here’s how:
1. Review your calendar from a past week, hour by hour.
2. Label each activity GREEN (gave energy) or RED (drained energy).
3. Look for patterns. What consistently shows up as RED?
4. Reschedule, delegate, or eliminate those tasks.

For every RED item, ask yourself three questions:
• Does this need to happen?
• If yes, does it have to be done by me?
• If yes, how can I make it more enjoyable?

You won’t be able to eliminate every RED task (and that’s okay).

But even cutting a few can make a huge difference.

♻️ Repost this if it resonates.

graphical user interface, text, application

How to read 50 books in a year (even if you’re busy):

How to read 50 books in a year (even if you’re busy)

7 questions that will define your next decade (a 15-minute exercise you won’t regret):

7 questions that will define your next decade

The goal-setting method used by the best baseball player in the world:

If you don't know who Shohei Ohtani is, he's basically the Michael Jordan of baseball.

The single most dominant two-way player the sport has seen in a century.

When he was a high school freshman in Japan, he created this detailed 64-cell roadmap with one central goal: to be the number 1 draft pick for 8 NPB (Nippon Professional Baseball) teams.

And it worked.

If you're wondering, this is called the Harada Method.

Here's a quick breakdown:

1. Choose one clear, meaningful long-term goal and a deadline.
2. Break that main goal into 8 subgoals that cover different areas needed to achieve it.
3. Break each subgoal into 8 specific actions, skills, or habits (filling the 8×8 grid).
4. Turn the most important actions into a small set of daily routines and track them.
5. Review your progress regularly, adjusting subgoals and actions based on what you learn.

This is a pretty intense exercise, which I definitely don't think is for everyone.

But I do think it's an amazing way to break down a big goal into something actually actionable.

I’ve linked a template in the comments if you want to try it.

I’ve spent the better part of the last decade obsessing over productivity.

Not just how to get more done.
But how to get the IMPORTANT things done.

Here's everything I wish I knew 10 years ago summed up in 20 sentences.

Make sure to save them.

♻️ Repost this if it resonated.

I’m 34. 

Last year, I moved to a city where I didn’t know anyone.

I wish I could say that I immediately built a strong social circle, but that’s not true.

The reality is I struggled.

I’m a huge introvert, so socializing doesn’t come naturally to me at all.
And adult friendships don’t “just happen” like they do when we’re young.

The big unlock for me was realizing that building friendships requires the same intentional effort as anything else important in my life.

So that’s what I did.

I got intentional. I put in the reps.
And guess what happened? It worked.

Here’s everything I learned along the way:

How to build (and maintain) friendships as an adult

I love the message here.

It's so easy to get caught in the trap of "I'm too old", or "it's too late".

But here's the reality: Five years from now, you’ll be five years older regardless of what you do with that time.

You may as well spend it becoming the person you want to be.

It reminds me of a story I heard from writer Mark Manson:

"A friend of mine once told me a story about his grandmother. He said that when her husband died, she was 62, and for the first time in her life, she began to take piano lessons. For weeks, she practiced all day, every day. At first, the family thought it was a phase, but months went by and she kept playing.
​
By the time she was in her 90s, she had been playing piano every day for 30 years—longer than most professional musicians have been alive. Everyone who heard her play swore she must have been a concert pianist in her youth. No one believed her when she said she took her first lesson in her sixties."

As we head into 2026, don’t let “too old” or “too late” be the reason you hold yourself back.

 How to get your sh*t together in 2026

12 habits in 12 months to change your life forever.

My friend Justin Wright put together this useful cheat sheet of 12 daily habits with massive ROI.

My challenge to you:
Pick one habit per month for the next year.

Master it before moving to the next.

By December 2026, you'll have 12 life-changing habits on autopilot.

♻️ Repost to share with your network.
➕ Follow me (Colby Kultgen) for daily self-improvement content

Do these 5 things after 7PM to transform your life in 2026:

Do these 5 things after 7PM to transform your life in 2026

I’m 34.

Here are 7 career “cheat codes” I wish I learned sooner:

7 career cheat codes I wish I knew sooner

7 cheat codes to remember (almost) everything you learn.

Save this and send it to your study/work buddy!

7 cheat codes to remember (almost) everything you learn

In a perfect world, we'd be off our phones completely.

Probably skipping through a meadow somewhere.

Sadly, we don't live in a perfect world.

So I figured if you're going to be on your phone, you might as well be doing something that actually adds to your life.

Save this and repost it if you got some value.

8 Apps to Grow Your Brain Instead of Rotting It:

Avoid these time management mistakes in 2026.

Save this and repost if it resonated!

5 brutal time management mistakes stealing your life

How to improve any relationship in your life in 2026.

Take out your phone and send this text message:

“How can I be a better [friend / partner / son / etc.] to you?”

When I first heard this idea, I knew I had to try it immediately.

To be honest, I was pretty nervous.

Sending a message like this requires a lot of vulnerability.

But the responses I received were amazing.

They gave me specific and practical ways to show up better in the lives of the people I care about most.

This is the kind of question we should feel comfortable asking but rarely do.

Instead, we go through life assuming we know how others feel.

What they need.
What they expect.
How they want us to show up.

But the truth is: most of us don’t have a clue.

Asking is how we learn.

Try this out.

You might be surprised by what they share and how much they appreciate that you cared enough to ask.

January 16th was National Quitter's Day.

Yep, by the second Friday of January, roughly 80% of people will have already given up on their New Year's resolutions.

Which makes today the perfect day to recommit.

Save this and send it to someone who needs it.

How to actually start doing something (and stick with it)

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-Started Referral Program Pros and living my passion of helping entrepreneurs grow.

I live in Seattle, WA with my wife and two kids - the 3 people who make me the luckiest guy I know.

Thomas Ryan Oakes

"Saw you went to Ohio State!" 

Nobody cares.

I mean it.

Your prospect doesn't care that you noticed their alma mater.

Or that they like golf.

Or that they posted a vacation photo last month.

That's not personalization. That's personalization theater.

And it's costing you replies.
Most folks think personalization means proving you did research.

So they scan a LinkedIn profile for 90 seconds and drop a reference into the message.

"Hey John, Go Buckeyes! Anyway, wanted to reach out about..."

It feels forced.
Because it is.

And worse? 

It has nothing to do with why you're reaching out.

Real personalization isn't about what you noticed. 
It's about what's relevant.

There are only 3 types of personalization that actually move the needle in B2B outreach:

1. Company trigger

Something just changed at their company that creates urgency or opportunity.

Examples:
-They just raised a Series B.
-They posted 6 new job openings in the last 30 days.
-They acquired a competitor.
-They launched a new product line.

This works because it's timely. It matches the moment they're in.

Sample message:

"Saw you just opened 3 new AE roles. Most teams hit a capacity issue right here. One VP I worked with solved it by changing how they structured onboarding. Want the breakdown?"


2. Role-specific friction

You're speaking directly to a problem their role deals with constantly.

Not a generic pain point.

A specific, predictable challenge tied to their job title and company stage.

Examples:
-VPs of Sales at 50-person companies struggle with rep ramp time.
-Marketing leaders at Series A startups wrestle with attribution.
-CTOs at agencies deal with scope creep on every project.

Sample message:
"Most CMOs at your stage tell me attribution is a mess. You're running 6 channels but can't prove which ones are actually working. I put together a 2-minute video on how one team fixed this without ripping out their stack. Want me to send it?"


3. Content engagement

They posted, commented, or shared something recently that signals what's on their mind.

This is gold because they're actively thinking about it right now.

Examples:
-They posted about struggling to hire senior talent.
-They commented on a thread about outbound strategy.
-They shared an article about AI in sales.

Sample message:

"Saw your post on hiring senior AEs. You mentioned the interview process feels broken. One thing that's working for similar teams: instead of selling the role in the first call, they're leading with a working session. Filters for skill and culture fit at the same time. Happy to share how they structure it if useful."

See the difference?

None of these mention hobbies or alma maters.

They mention things that actually matter to the business problem you solve.

The test for real personalization:

If you removed the personalized line, would the rest of the message still make sense?

If yes, it's theater.
If no, it's relevant.

Everything else is noise.

Rooting for you,
Tom

Do outreach you can be proud of. We help B2B service businesses book more qualified calls using a proven Value-Offer Funnel that turns interest into clients. Join 7k+ others in GTM READY (free newsletter below)

"I've been sending 50 DMs a week. Zero clients."

That's what Marcus told me on our call last month.

He's a dad coach.

Helps millennial fathers go from surviving to thriving.

His offer is legit.

A 12-week program with group coaching, one-on-ones, and frameworks that actually work.

$5,800.

And the people who join? They love it.

But his outreach wasn't generating leads.

So we dug in...

Here's what we uncovered:

The problem wasn't the offer. It was the ask.

Marcus was trying to explain his entire program in the first message.

-The transformation.
-The commitment.
-The community.

It was too much.

Nobody books a 12-week coaching program from a cold DM.

But they will join a free workshop.

Here's what we changed:

1. We made the first ask smaller

Instead of pitching the full program, we focused on one thing:

Getting dads into his free monthly workshop.

No cost. No pressure. Just value.

The workshop becomes the filter.

If they show up and stay engaged, they're qualified.


2. We sharpened the targeting

Marcus was using Sales Nav, but his Boolean string was overly complex.

We simplified it:
-Director level and above
-10+ years of experience
-Keywords: "dad" OR "parent"

That took us from 3 million results to 190,000 highly targeted dads.

Way easier to personalize. Way higher reply rate.


3. We personalized around what matters

Marcus was sending decent messages.

But they weren't specific enough.

We shifted to a framework that only works if the message is built for one person:

-Reference something they posted (or a role-specific challenge)
-Connect it to a problem dads are facing right now
-Invite them to the workshop with a clear benefit

Example:

"Saw your post about balancing work and family time. Most dads I work with are stuck in survival mode and want to shift to thriving. I'm hosting a free workshop next week for dads looking to connect deeper with their kids. Would that be helpful?"

Short. Relevant. Human.

The takeaway:

Marcus has a strong offer.

He just needed a clearer path to get people into it.

Cold outreach doesn't start with your $5,800 program.

It starts with something free, valuable, and easy to say yes to.

Once they're in, the offer sells itself.

If you're sitting on a high-ticket offer but outreach isn't converting, ask yourself:

What's the smallest, most valuable thing I can offer first?

That's your wedge.

Everything else flows from there.

Rooting for you,
Tom

"I don't want to use AI to write. It feels inauthentic."

I get it. But here's what you're missing...

The marketing content you have is sitting inside the recorded calls and the blog posts from the past 2-3 years.

And it's doing absolutely nothing for anyone.

That's the reality for most consultants, fractional execs, and service providers I talk to.

You've got the ideas.
You've solved the problems.
You know what works.

But you're not sharing it.

Not because you don't want to.

Because you don't have time to write it all down.

And maybe because using AI to help feels... wrong somehow.

But here's the thing:

If your expertise is locked in your head (or buried in client calls), you're not helping anyone.

Not your future clients.
Not your current ones.
Not even yourself.

So let me reframe this for you...

The goal isn't to be a writer.

The goal is to spread ideas that help people.

And if AI can help you do that faster, that just means you can help more people.

Here's how I'm seeing smart operators use it:

1. Turn your client calls into content

-Record your sales and strategy calls (with permission).
-Upload the transcripts to Claude or ChatGPT.
-Ask it to pull out the key insights, frameworks, or patterns.

Now you've got the raw material for posts, emails, or case studies without starting from scratch.


2. Give AI your writing samples

-Pull together 5 to 10 posts, articles, or emails you've written that sound like you.
-Feed them into the tool.

Now when you give it ideas, it can draft in your voice, not some generic AI tone.

You're still the author. You're just not starting with a blank page.


3. Talk through your ideas, let AI organize them

-You don't need to write. Just talk.
-Record a voice memo about a lesson you learned this week.
Transcribe it.
-Ask AI to structure it into a post or newsletter.

Your ideas. Your voice. Just faster.


I get the hesitation.
Nobody wants to sound like a robot.

But AI doesn't make your content inauthentic.
Bad prompts do.

If you're just asking it to "write a post about leadership," yeah, it's going to sound generic.

But if you're feeding it your actual thinking, your real examples, your specific frameworks?

That's when it becomes a tool, not a replacement.

And honestly the people you're trying to help don't care who typed the words.

They care if the idea lands.
They care if it helps them solve a problem.
They care if it makes them better at what they do.

So if you've been sitting on insights that could help someone close a deal, fix their messaging, or rethink their strategy...

And the only reason you haven't shared them is because writing feels like a chore?

Start using AI.
Not to replace your thinking.
To amplify it.

Because the world doesn't need more polished content.
It needs more useful ideas.

And if you've got those, you owe it to people to get them out there however you can.

Rooting for you,
Tom

Most B2B lead magnets get downloaded and deleted in under 90 seconds.

So use a "Value Offer" instead...

Not a whitepaper.
Not a guide.
Not another "Ultimate Checklist" that sits in a downloads folder forever.

Here's what actually works when you're trying to break through in B2B:

1. The Competitor Stack Audit

-Show prospects exactly where they sit compared to 3-5 competitors.
-Pricing tiers. Feature gaps. Market position.
-Takes 20 minutes to build using publicly available data.
-Gets forwarded to leadership within hours.

Because nobody can resist seeing how they compare.


2. The Mini Case Study (Just For Them)

-Build 60-second versions tailored to each prospect.
-Company like theirs. 
-Challenge that mirrors theirs. 
-Outcome in one sentence.

The personalization makes it impossible to ignore.


3. The Executive Cheat Sheet

Hand them a one-page brief they can actually use in their next meeting.
-"5 Questions Your Board Will Ask About AI Adoption"
-"What Private Equity Looks For in Your Market Right Now"

When they use it - you're top of mind.


4. The Compliance Gap Finder

If your buyer operates in a regulated space, build a simple no-code scorecard.

Walk through the baseline requirements, let them self-assess, and highlight the biggest gaps.

Once they see the gap, the conversation writes itself.


5. The Benchmark Report (Hyper-Niche Edition)

"How 20 Series B SaaS Companies Are Structuring Sales Comp in 2025"
-Pull real data
-Make it narrow enough that your prospect feels like it was built for them
-Watch how fast they share it internally

Here's why these work:

They don't feel like marketing.

They feel like shortcuts.

Your prospect doesn't have to trust you yet.

They just have to find the asset useful.

And usefulness is the fastest path to a first conversation.

After you send it to them, THEN ask permission to walk through it with them on a call where you can share MORE ideas for them.

Want to talk through what this could look like for your business?

Send me a message.

Rooting for you,
Tom

taplio

The Battle

Colby Kultgen

Thomas Ryan Oakes

Followers

Posts

Engagements

Likes

Performance ScoreColby Kultgen's LinkedIn Performance

Performance ScoreThomas Ryan Oakes's LinkedIn Performance

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taplio

The Battle

Colby Kultgen

Thomas Ryan Oakes

Followers

Posts

Engagements

Likes

Performance Score.css-goub6s{font-size:var(--chakra-fontSizes-md);font-weight:500;color:var(--chakra-colors-gray-600);display:block;margin-top:var(--chakra-space-1);}Colby Kultgen's LinkedIn Performance

Performance ScoreThomas Ryan Oakes's LinkedIn Performance

Ready to grow your LinkedIn presence?

Performance ScoreColby Kultgen's LinkedIn Performance