#133 - Action, Not Perfection: 6 Things Every Speaker Needs in 2026 with Marianne Hickman

This episode was supposed to reach you in January. It's reaching you now, and I'm not going to apologize for it, because waiting for the perfect moment is the exact thing I'm going to ask you to stop doing.2026 is the year of the horse — action, forward momentum, traction, awareness — and not one of those expires when the calendar turns. There are still months on this year with your name on them.I've spent this year letting myself fall all the way into my love affair with horses and all things equine, and here's what the round pen keeps teaching me: you cannot connect with your horse, your work, or your goals without doing the internal work. A car does exactly what you tell it. A horse has a mind of its own and can read what you're feeling before you can. It is the most honest mirror I have ever stood in front of. (If you want to see what that work does for a girl who's carrying something nobody can see, go look at what Bridle Up Hope is doing.)But this one is for the speakers.Here's what we get into:- Why action, not perfection, is the only version of a goal that ever gets reached- We cast a vote every single time we choose — this one caught me holding a leftover Halloween Twix on the phone with my health coach.- How I lost ninety minutes of a morning to one set of wet sheets, and what task-distraction is quietly costing you- Why trauma dumping from the stage sells pity instead of solutions, and what it looks like to become a vendor of hope instead- What McDonald's got wrong with AI and what Porsche got right, and the line I draw between a tool and an end product- Why I'd hand back every follower I have for the relationships I missed while four security guards walked me through a lobby- The sales course I built that literally nobody bought, and the one question that would have saved me the trouble- What your audience hears subconsciously when you actually spend time with them (your kids hear it too)- Why rewatching your own old videos is the worst and most necessary hour you'll spend this yearThere's a story in here about a young woman who found me three months after an event to tell me what had happened to the young man I called up on stage. The gravity of it has never left me. It's why I'm careful with my words; why I want you careful with yours; why the thank-you notes on your wall were never the point, only the milestones on the way to hearing well done.If a name came to mind while you were listening, send this to them — they've been praying for the permission you just got.You don't need a new year. You need a next step. Take action, get traction, and please, pick up the mic.Let me know what part stuck out to you in the comments below:Want the Podcast Database I talked about? Get it here: https://mariannehickman.com/database🔔 Subscribe now and start building the life you've always dreamed of with me as your support. YOU'VE GOT THIS.📘 Connect with Marianne ➡️ 801-509-5495 ➡️ https://mariannehickman.com ➡️ https://instagram.com/marianne__hickman ➡️ https://tiktok.com/@marianne__hickman ➡️ https://facebook.com/MarianneEHickman ➡️ https://www.skool.com/mastery-hive-7407/about ➡️ https://www.threads.net/@marianne__hickmanCheck out BridleUpHope.orgFind out more at www.mariannehickman.com Subscribe to my newsletter here: https://hive.mariannehickman.com/newsletter#TheMarianneHickmanShow