# Tuesday Unfiltered: Why I Kept the Schedule and Lost the Filter
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"Never give up on a great idea!" - Futurist Jim Carroll Two weeks ago I ended a streak that ran ten years and 2,582 posts. My Daily Inspiration series came to an end. I told you why: July 26 marked ten years since I got sober, and the Daily Inspiration had done its job: it carried me through. I said the blog wasn't going anywhere, it just wouldn't arrive on a schedule anymore, because I tired of the Daily Inspiration. It became a chore. Turns out I don't love the idea of not writing. I like a schedule. I like showing up. So here's what's replacing it. Starting Monday, August 10 (yesterday), I'm running a five-day-a-week structure instead of one daily quote: Monday: Monday Mining. I dig something out of the archive — a prediction, a post, an old idea — and check it against where things actually stand now. I'm actually using AI to data mine 35 years of work - an entire career - and there is fascinating stuff in there. Things we can learn from. Useful trends stuff. Innovation ideas. Tuesday: Tuesday Unfiltered. This one. Once a week, something more personal — what's actually going on, not just what I'm predicting. A lot of this might have to do with my sobriety journey, or might not, but I'll be honest, forthright, to the point. Wednesday: Signals. Something I noticed that week, worth thinking about out loud. Trends stuff, future stuff, things I'm seeing. Thursday: Thoughts. For years, I had to be careful what I said, what I wrote, what I shared - because the world is a volatile, unpredictable place. Maybe I wouldn't get a gig because I expressed some political view. Or might not get an industry event because I called out an industry that needed to be called out. No more. I've got a lot on my mind when it comes to 'big trends' and the 'big future,' and on Thursdays, I'll let myself loose. Friday: Fun. Whatever it wants to be. Tuesday's the one I want to explain, because it's new territory for me. For ten years I hid the real reason behind that daily quote in plain sight — the July 26 posts that were really anniversary messages to myself, dressed up as business advice. That worked. It gave me structure when I needed it, and it let me say something true without having to say it directly. I don't need to hide it anymore. So once a week, I'm going to write here the way I'd talk to you if we were having coffee instead of me being on a stage. Sobriety is part of that — it's the thing that reshaped the last decade of my life, and I'd rather talk about it directly than keep encoding it into quotes about resilience. But it's not the only thing. I'm a grandfather now. I'm easing into a strange version of retirement — fewer flights, more golf, still plenty of work, just differently shaped. All of that is fair game here on Tuesdays. It's an interesting journey. I'll document it. What it won't be: a daily grind, or a performance of vulnerability for its own sake. It's one post a week, when there's something real to say — the same rule I set for the blog overall, just with a day attached to it, because apparently I still need the day attached to it. Oh, and I might miss some, if I feel like it, since I can, and I don't have to, and it's my choice. Because it's not about the grind. If you want the fuller story of how the last ten years actually went, that's here. This is what comes after it. Yesterday – July 26, 2026 – marked ten years since I got sober. The photo above is my 10-year chip – one I ordered on Amazon and which I’ve carried with me over the last few days. I’ll get my actual chip at a small get together of many of my closet friends tomorrow night. I’ve never said that out loud – “I got sober,” in this space. But some of you may have sensed it was there, hiding in plain sight. Every year, on July 26, the quote was never really about business at all: One year in, 2017: “Freedom, achieved, needs ongoing innovation to be sustained!” Two years, 2018: “If it’s broken you can always fix it – you just need to know where to start!” Three years, 2019: “Expect miracles – once you decide to stop being your own worst enemy!” Five years, 2021: “You will always have the opportunity to turn the worst day of your life into the rest of your life!” Six years, 2022: “Some of your worst days can always become the first days of some of the best days of the rest of your life!” Seven years, 2023: “Be a hero. Just for one day!” Eight years, 2024: “You’ll never regret the gift of change!” Those were my anniversary messages. Little things I wrote to myself each July 26. You just didn’t know it. I was writing them to you – but I was also writing them to myself. Here's to the next chapter. Keep in touch.

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Source: https://jimcarroll.com/2026/08/tuesday-unfiltered-why-i-kept-the-schedule-and-lost-the-filter/