Singing a New Song in the New Work World
The other day I was driving to a client meeting, listening to a radio station that was playing Christmas songs. The lyrics to one, the oft-covered “Happy Xmas” by John Lennon and Yoko Ono, posed a question: “What have you done?” It brought a smile to my face and reminded me of the second step of the Faremouth Method™, “Ask Better Questions.” Many people are asking how they can move into 2026 with a positive plan, perhaps get a new job or expand in the one they are in to move forward with their lives and have meaningful experiences.
“All I want for Christmas is a job,” a client who’d been out of work for quite some time remarked recently. “How do I make that happen?”
Then, with my mind in the "meaning of lyrics” mode, I thought of two additional songs that have always been favorites of mine during this time of the year: “All I Want for Christmas Is My Two Front Teeth,” written by Donald Gardner, and “All I Want for Christmas Is You” by Mariah Carey.
The first song was born when Gardner was teaching music in a public school in Smithtown, NY. During a lesson in one of his second-grade classes, he asked his students what they wanted for Christmas. As each child answered, he noticed something they all had in common. Every student was missing at least one front tooth, causing them to answer with a bit of a lisp or whistle. Within 30 minutes, Gardner had penned the silly holiday tune, which was published in 1948 after an employee of a music publishing company heard Gardner sing it at a music teachers conference. While it might’ve been a simple little song, it was really about a basic need. It was about missing and wanting something essential.
The second song, by Carey, is obviously about wanting to have a significant other. During this time of the year, many get sentimental about not having someone to share things with or even feel sad about someone they have lost. We all want someone with whom to share those special moments.
These two songs made me think about this time of year when we reflect on what it is we truly want. While we sometimes want material things, during this holiday season we also think about what we want that money cannot buy. We want that thing that makes us feel like we have purpose and meaning. Having a job to go to gives us the sense that we matter and are doing something meaningful.
Perhaps 2025 has caused us to reflect on what we have lost or what we feel is missing in our personal and professional lives. It’s funny how much our daily lives in the past several months are similar to Gardner sitting in front of his class, noticing that all the children were missing a front tooth, hindering them in some way. We can all identify with the feeling of that one thing that is missing being what we want the most. We want to return to a time when we felt whole. We might also be experiencing loss in another way, like Carey’s song, that someone significant might not be here this Christmas.
What if we all wrote a new song? It could be called “All I Want for Christmas Is a New Mindset.”
Let’s look at strategic ways to start humming a new tune in the coming year and make our lives more merry and bright. Using the lyrics of Carey’s “All I Want for Christmas,” let’s consider efforts we can make now to make our song a more happy and positive one:
1. “There is just one thing I need”
A good starting point in this journey of finding a job is a positive mindset. We need to believe we have what it takes to find a job and then implement the right strategies to make it happen. We need a plan with our goal in mind and strategically take the steps necessary to obtain our desired result.
2. “Make my wish come true”
Wishes will always only be wishes if we don’t write them down and put a date by the time we want to actualize them. Writing down a daily, weekly and monthly list of what we wish to happen is a good first step in the process of making our wishes a reality.
3. “To hear those magic reindeer click”
The little magic reindeer should be the thoughts in our head telling us we have what it takes to direct our skill-set sleigh into the New Work World and apply our perhaps forgotten transferrable skills to a new area. To hear our own magic reindeer click, we might need to seek out the assistance of a “Santa’s helper” in the form of a career consultant.
4. “What more can I do?”
There is ALWAYS more we can do. We can:
a. Have a professional review our résumé for better results
b. Take a class to enhance our skill set
c. Send out more résumés
d. Connect with more LinkedIn and network associates
e. Engage in more mindfulness practices like yoga, meditation, prayer, positive thinking, etc.
f. Ask others who are in the same industry to share ideas and collaborate
g. Increase exercise for the boosted endorphins and other benefits
h. Get on a new and more healthy food plan to feel better about ourselves, physically and emotionally, and gain more clarity of mind
5. “I just want you for my own, more than you could ever know.”
Finding a job might be the greatest gift many people could receive these days. I am convinced that with the right mindset and a methodical approach, we all can be singing a new tune that will make us happier. With the right plan of action, we can make what we want happen. It all starts in the mind. We must keep our goal firmly seated in our thoughts as we set out to achieve what we want the most. With desire as the starting point of our motivation, and the new job in the New Work World as our final result, we can achieve what we want the most for our very own.
Ask yourself your own questions on how you can make this holiday more merry and bright even with impediments you might be facing. You may perceive those metaphorical missing front teeth as standing in your way, but you can bite into the new year with renewed perseverance and determination to make 2026 your best year yet.
“More than you could ever know, (you can sing a new song and) “make your wish come true!”
