Welcome to the GTM Launchpad newsletter! Each week I will share a sales play to help you grow your business, level up your sales game and succeed in the trenches

The Quiet Week

(and what I’m actually thinking about going into 2026)

I almost skipped this issue

Not because I didn’t have anything to say…
but because this week doesn’t really need another “lesson” does it?

It’s that weird stretch between Christmas and New Year’s where

• inboxes are half empty

• Slack feels like a ghost town

• nobody wants a framework

• and everyone’s just catching their breath

You’re probably easing back in
Maybe cleaning things up
Maybe not opening every tab just yet

Same here

So instead of forcing a big idea or pretending this is a “normal” work week I just wanted to check in

No operator mode
No coaching hat
No GTM talk for a minute

Just me dropping into your inbox the same way I’d pull up a chair and say
“Alright… how are you actually feeling about the year we just wrapped?”

Because when things finally slow down like this I notice the same thing every year

It’s not the goals or the tactics that surface first
It’s the patterns

What felt heavy
What quietly worked
What drained more energy than it ever returned

So that’s what I want to share with you today

Not advice
Not resolutions
Just a few real reflections I’m carrying into 2026 and a few things I’m intentionally leaving behind

If any of this sounds familiar you’re not behind
You’re just paying attention

Let’s talk about it👇

This year was a lot

(and I’m guessing I’m not the only one who feels that)

I’m not going to recap the whole year
You already lived yours and you probably don’t need another highlight reel right now

But I do want to talk about how this year closed for me because if I’m feeling it I’m guessing some of you are too right?

December hit hard

On December 3rd my wife and I got rear-ended
Four rental cars in nine days
Chiropractor visits every other day
An MRI that triggered my first ever panic attack at 36

All while clients still needed support
Family still needed presence
Life didn’t exactly ask if it was a “good time”

Ever had one of those moments where everything stacks at once and you just think
“Okay… I hear you. Loud and clear.”

That was December for me

and just yesterday we finally turned a corner….NEW ride for the family, feet back under us, things settling

Not perfect
Just steadier ya know?

and that’s kind of how I’d describe all of 2025 if I’m being honest

Earlier this year I shut down the outsourced lead gen side of the business

Not because it failed we worked with 30+ companies and did work I’m genuinely proud of but because it stopped fitting who I was becoming

It was chaos
High squeeze, low juice
Draining in a way that didn’t make sense anymore

Have you ever looked at something you built, something that technically “worked” and still thought “ya… I can’t keep doing this.”

That was me

So I let that chapter close

When I refocused on community, coaching and building Outbound Underground things clicked fast

Not because it got easier…but because it finally felt aligned

and that’s really been the theme of this year for me

Alignment
Clarity
Choosing fewer things and actually standing behind them

If you’re self-employed, building something, leading a team or carrying real responsibility you don’t really prepare for years like this

You live them
You learn from them
and if you’re paying attention you come out calmer on the other side

Which brings me to this…

What I’m intentionally not taking into 2026

Since this is the last issue of the year let me ask you something before I answer it myself

What are you done pretending works?

For me here’s what I’m leaving behind when the calendar flips

• forcing urgency where there isn’t any

• overbuilding systems before the fundamentals are solid

• saying yes to work that looks good but feels off

• confusing noise, activity or attention for real momentum

None of that made this year better

What did help?

Clarity
Alignment
and being honest about what was draining vs. what was actually building something meaningful

That’s why I’m walking into 2026 steady not hyped, not frantic, not reinventing myself for the 12th time

Just clear

and if you’re feeling even a little bit of that same pull toward simplicity and focus…
you’re probably closer than you think

and that mindset shift is actually a good segue into this week’s sponsor

Because one of the biggest changes I’m making going into 2026 is how I think about outbound

Less “blast and hope”
More “build it right and let it compound”

That’s why this feels like the right moment to talk about Expandi

Sponsor | Expandi

(When LinkedIn is part of your motion and you want to do it right)

I’ve mentioned Expandi before but I want to give it proper context here

Not as a growth hack
Not as an automation flex
and definitely not as a “set it and forget it” tool

I’ve been deep in it recently while helping a founder I met through this newsletter

25 years in business
Selling off Outlook, tasks and memory
No real system, no visibility and no leverage

He replied to an issue, we talked and a week later we closed a $7k+ engagement

Right now I’m helping him walk into 2026 with an actual revenue operating system

HubSpot
ZoomInfo
Smartlead
Maildoso
Expandi
All tied together into one command center

Here’s what became really clear in that process

Expandi works best when

• you care about the relationship not just the reply

• you want consistency without sounding like a robot

• you’re playing the long game with accounts that actually matter

Used well it lets you stay present in LinkedIn without living in your inbox
Used poorly… it’s how people get flagged, ignored or burned out on the channel entirely

Most people abuse tools like this because they don’t slow down long enough to build intent into the system

That’s not how I’m thinking about outbound anymore and it’s not how I’m advising teams to think about it either

Going into 2026 my lens is simple

Fewer people
Better conversations
Clear systems
Calm execution

If LinkedIn is part of your motion next year for selling, networking, hiring or building relationships Expandi is worth checking out when used intentionally

👉 https://expandi.io

Tom’s Play of the Week

The 30 Minute Alignment Reset

This one isn’t for your pipeline
It’s for your nervous system

Before the calendar flips block 30 quiet minutes sometime this week
No Slack, no email, no music just YOU

Grab a notebook and answer these three prompts honestly

1️⃣ What actually worked for me in 2025 and why?
Not the highlight reel
The patterns
The things that created momentum without draining you

2️⃣ What drained me even when it “looked successful”?
Clients, projects, motions, habits
If it cost you energy every time you touched it…name it!

3️⃣ What deserves more space in 2026?
Not goals
Not KPIs
Just space

More space for

• certain conversations

• certain people

• certain ways of working

Then do one last thing most people skip

Write a short sentence you can come back to in January:

“In 2026 I will protect my energy by _____”

That’s the play

No tactics
No pressure
No performance

Why this works?

• it turns reflection into clarity

• it prevents you from recreating the same chaos with a new calendar

• it gives January a direction not just momentum

Most people start the year running
Operators start it aligned

This is how you do that

Before We Flip the Year

If there’s one thing I hope you carry with you into 2026 it’s this

You don’t need to come back louder
You don’t need a reinvention arc
You don’t need to fix everything in January

You just need to come back clear

Clear on who you actually want to work with
Clear on how you want your days to feel
Clear on what you’re done tolerating
Clear on what truly moves the needle for you not what looks good online

That kind of clarity doesn’t come from grinding harder
It comes from giving yourself space to hear yourself again

So if this week feels quiet… let it be
If things feel slower… that’s not a problem
It’s the reset most people skip

Next time we’re here we’ll start the year grounded not rushed

Until then

• log off when you can

• be present with your people

• let your body settle

Thanks for riding with me this year
I don’t take your attention lightly

See you in 2026

Tom 🤙

Thanks for reading. See you again next week at 8 am MST!

- Tom Slocum ✌️

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