Welcoming 2026: New Year, New Purpose?
Dear Vets — it’s 2026.
Are you still wondering whether you’re serving your purpose now, after service?
So have I.
The new year always forces reflection. Looking back on 2025, my life felt full—sometimes uncomfortably so. Two young businesses (one pivoting hard), international travel, a year-long business program, a nonprofit, a new home, and a two-year-old. I’m not gloating at all but sharing for context. It was a lot, but I’m grateful. Every experience sharpened me. Every win and loss taught me something great because I gave it my all.
And yet, I still ask myself: Am I doing what I’m meant to do?
After leaving the military, my first job came through a JMO headhunter into the sprinkler business. Not long after, I was asked to run a fiberglass insulation manufacturing company. I knew nothing about “business,” but I said yes. That led to work at a flow-meter manufacturing company, then business school, then a few self-started ventures (most failed), one that worked, a business acquisition, surviving eight years building MilSpec Talent, and eventually a push into government contracting.
None of these steps were part of some master plan. Each one simply unlocked the next. What I’m doing now only exists because of what came before it.
During my Executive MBA at Kellogg, I found myself surrounded by people I never expected to relate to. Senior executives. Board chairs. Department heads of major hospitals. Group VPs at global companies. Many times, I felt like I didn’t belong. Then I realized something that changed everything.
Many of them were there for the same reason I was: they were questioning personal direction. They were experts in their fields but unsure if they wanted to continue down the same path. Curious. Restless. A little lost. Titles and compensation hadn’t answered the deeper question.
Your current role does not mean you’ve “made it.” And uncertainty doesn’t mean you’ve failed.
So if you’re asking yourself now, “Should I be doing something different with my career?” You’re not behind. You’re not failing. You’re not alone.
What helped me most was finding people on the same journey. Sharing honestly. Learning openly. Being vulnerable enough to admit I didn’t have it figured out. I’ve come to believe that a successful transition after service often looks less like a straight line and more like a process of elimination, discovering what you don’t want to do until what fits becomes clearer.
And maybe it never fully resolves. I’ve learned to accept that, too.
During Special Forces training in the Q Course, one lesson stuck with me: “Control the controllables. Influence the invariables.”
In plain terms don’t waste energy on what you can’t control. Whatever you’re doing right now, even if it doesn’t feel like a perfect fit, give it everything you have. That’s how you learn. That’s how you grow. Anything less, and you’re cheating yourself.
2026 isn’t about having all the answers. It’s about intention.
Pause. Reflect. Then commit, fully, to where you are while staying open to where you might go. If you’re between roles, commit to learning. To networking. To stepping into rooms that make you uncomfortable. Join groups. Go to events. Explore interests. Do it with the same intensity you once brought to service.
Adjust your bearings but keep moving.
Press on,
Freddie J. Kim
If this resonated, join Azimuth Check: Adjusting your bearings after honorable service — a monthly reset for leaders adjusting their bearings after honorable service.
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