2026: Embrace the Cringe

I’m going to tell you a story.

It feels almost comical but stay with me for this.

On my recent flight back from Panama, a dude a few feet away from me across the aisle mid-flight pulled out a bottle of cologne and started to spray it all over himself. To be honest, people shouldn’t do that. But after the initial shock at the event, I began to smell the cologne. And it smelled good! I was intrigued and to be honest wanted to know the brand so I could get some myself.

I wanted to ask him but I stopped myself. I started going through all the possible outcomes. Will he think it’s a weird question? Will he gatekeep the name of it? Do I really want to buy this cologne if I learn the name of it?

There I was in 1E spending this time ruminating on what would happen if I did ask trying to convince myself it was easier to just move on and let ignorance be bliss.

When we finally landed and were about to exit the aircraft, I decided to mutter three words to myself:

Embrace. the. cringe

And with that I politely poked the dude and asked him “That cologne smelled nice. What brand was it?”

His response? “Sorry, I don’t speak English.”

I felt a bit embarrassed until I realized he had talked with the flight attendant in Spanish earlier and I switched and asked this time en español. This time, his face lit up and we had a great conversation in Spanish about the cologne, how he had originally discovered it, and wished each other a great rest of the day.

I had spent so much time worrying about if he’d think the question was weird but when he heard the question, he was ecstatic to hear the compliment and share his story finding the cologne. And for me, I got to put my Spanish lessons to use and connect with someone new and feel able to do so. Sometimes the thing you think is cringe could actually make someone’s day. Asking for what you want doesn’t have to even be cringe; often asking for what you want gets you closer to finding the people, places, and things that also stand to benefit from you being willing to voice a need or desire to connect.

It was a small moment, but the impacts and lessons for it feel deeply resonant for me and are the foundation of my 2026 mantra: embrace the cringe.

It’s really easy for me to get stuck in my mind thinking about all the what ifs and trying to think about all the mitigation tactics. Thinking all about what if it goes wrong and ignoring/underinvesting in considering what if it goes right?

Doing a shitty job or doing the cringey thing and learning it is significantly more valuable than doing nothing and just thinking in what ifs. The former gets you a tangible answer the latter begets more questions and pondering. One gets you results the other gives you anxiety.

As I write this, I’m gearing up for my final semester of my EMBA at Columbia. It’s hard to think that a year and a half has flown by this fast. In this time, I’ve been pushed to understand and live by values, run LBO analyses for a private equity class, and dive deep into how operations is the bedrock of strong businesses. Along the way, I’ve gained friends, future cofounders, colleagues and memories for a lifetime. And during this process, I’ve been tested and really had to learn to say what’s on my mind especially when balancing a job, full time working, and friends can often feel and be an impossible task to do simultaneously.

One moment that sticks with me was during our first week in the program learning about values. Our Professor walked through the classroom handing each of us 7 notecards with different words and phrases.

• “Make a difference”

• “Legacy”

• “Family”

• “Happiness”

• “Growth”

• “Integrity”

He introduced to us the concept of a values card. Where you identify the values that drive you and that knowing and staying in jobs tied to your values is the equivalent to an $80k salary adjustment. He then asked us to take a look at the seven randomly handed cards we got and asked us if they were our values (of course, we all shook our heads no). Then he gave a simple task. Go around the room and trade cards with people to get your values. We all laughed, tired and uninterested but the results a few minutes later were shocking. People in the early conversation often cited “Wealth” and “Legacy” as cards they wanted but when people with those cards were willing to trade it for "Family” or “Happiness,” people would look disgusted and refused to trade those cards to get the former. In that exercise, our Professor made us quite literally fight for our values. Part of what makes values so critical is that when you know what matters to you and why, you’re much less willing to be waver on them and you’re keen to make what matters to you known no matter what.

To be able to fight and defend the ideas and concepts you love, you need to embrace the cringe. You need to practice being challenged, falling on your face, and getting back up because you’re steadfast in your goal and vision. Reflecting on the cologne experience showed me to build toward those big, often unnerving dreams and lofty expectations I have for myself requires making those small uncomfortable steps. Because those small steps can lead to massive changes and opportunities. They can take the impossible and make them come much closer to reality.

Learning from my peers, I’ve seen how much being successful has with embracing failure, embracing chaos, and being willing to ask for what you want even if you don’t think you’ll get it.

It’s that in order to bloom, you need to know it’s not a linear pretty path. Sometimes seeing your ultimate form requires falling flat, having to ask the cringey thing, and really stress test what you think is important. While building my 2026 goals, that moment on the plane highlighted to me I need to embrace more cringe versus expecting a steady path up and to the right. Because lofty goals and ambitions don’t come from playing it safe or worse, not playing at all in fear it could end up badly.

To internalize this, I’ve started to listen to my mind and when it has an ask, just going ahead and asking it out loud. “What cologne is that?” “It’s awesome you raised capital, can I see the deck or pitch you used?” “Can your refer me to this opportunity?” “When did you know it was the time to make the leap and start your own company?” When I feel the sensation to not ask, it’s my new goal this year to explicitly ask it. Even if I get a no back, that’s so much clearer and useful than letting the thought ruminate and howl from the back of my mind indefinitely. It’s been less than a week but this experience has already been incredible. It’s so freeing to get an answer or get something off your chest and iterate. And with this lead into this last semester, I want to focus on asking for more of what I want and using the unique experience and access of being a student for one last semester with the opportunities one gets as an MBA student.

Blooming has been my motif during this Executive MBA journey. This last semester and this year ahead, my big dreams hinge on embracing cringe and spending less time obsessing on what ifs and more on testing and asking for what I need and being prepared to iterate because at least I’ll have gotten more answers. I’m ready to make more cringe.

What do you plan to embrace in 2026?