Brand Clinic: New Year’s 2025

Happy New Year! This time of year, we’re all guilty of the same thing: drafting resolutions, writing plans, and setting goals that sound like the demands of a drill sergeant. Run a marathon. Close a deal. Hit that revenue target. Build that perfect life, one ultimatums-heavy spreadsheet at a time.

But what if our relentless planning is the very thing holding us back?

Let’s talk about intentions—not ultimatums—and how stepping into the unknown, not forcing it into a mold, creates space for the future to surprise us.

The Vera Wang Playbook: “Who Would Have Thunk It?”

Vera Wang, queen of couture and weddings, just closed a deal with WHP Global to acquire her 35-year-old luxury lifestyle brand. But here’s the twist: she wasn’t actively looking for an investor.

“It’s exciting. Who would have thunk it?” she said. Her words capture the beauty of relinquishing control and being open to what shows up. WHP wasn’t in her 10-year plan. Hospitality wasn’t necessarily on her radar. But when opportunity knocked, she answered—not with rigidity, but with curiosity.

Her perspective? “Probably I’ve been searching to expand my brand throughout my whole career and my whole company life.”

The Vera-WHP partnership wasn’t something she could have scripted. It grew out of a question she’d been asking for decades: What’s next?

The Problem with Resolutions

Paul Graham once said that the greatest pain comes from our identities—the rigid ideas of who we think we must be or what we must achieve. Resolutions can be the same. We chain ourselves to narrow definitions of success and leave no room for detours, surprises, or pivots.

Here’s the truth: the world doesn’t care about your ultimatums. It cares about your curiosity, your ability to adapt, and your willingness to explore paths you didn’t see coming.

Acquiring a business is the perfect example. You can set a goal—buy this company—but you can’t control the seller, the funding, or the fit. Deals fall through. Better ones appear. The universe plays chess while we scribble checklists.

Set Intentions, Not Ultimatums

Instead of making resolutions, try this:

• Be Curious, Not Resolute. Ask questions of the universe instead of dictating terms. What’s possible? What’s next? Where am I needed?

• Relinquish Control. The right path is rarely the one you plan. Make peace with unpredictability.

• Stay Open. Vera Wang wasn’t “searching” for WHP—but she’d been asking the right questions her whole career. When the stars aligned, she was ready to say yes.The Turnaround You Can’t Pre-Meditate

Instead of trying to force the future into a rigid plan, focus on creating the conditions for growth: patience, resilience, and curiosity. The next big opportunity—your version of Vera Wang’s WHP deal—might not look like what you’re expecting. But if you stay open, it could be exactly what you’ve been searching for all along.

So this year, let’s set intentions, not ultimatums. Let’s ask questions instead of demanding answers. And let’s trust that what’s meant for us will find us—often in ways we never imagined.

Here’s to 2025: the year of curiosity, resilience, and saying yes to the unexpected. 🎉