Look, 2026 is going to feel exactly like 2025 and 2024 if you keep doing the same stuff. Same excuses. Same half-effort. Same as “I’ll start next week.” And then three months from now you’re back in the same spot—broke, stuck, frustrated, and wondering why nothing is moving.

So I’m saying this straight: nothing changes unless you change. This has to be the year you finally decide you’re done being unfulfilled, done being unhappy, done living the same week on repeat.

Stop saying you want it if you’re not going all in

I talk to people every day who say they want medical device sales. They want the money. They want freedom. They want a career. They want life.

Then I ask, “What are you doing to change it?”

And most people are doing… the same thing. Or nothing. That’s the whole problem. You can’t follow the same habits and expect a different life. That’s literally insanity.

And the biggest trap I see is this: “Let me think about it.”
Let me translate that for you: “I don’t want to make a decision, because fear is driving.”

Because nobody “thinks about it” when the reward is obvious. If someone offered you a million dollars, you’re not going to sit there like, “Hmm… let me journal about it.” You’re grabbing it.

So the real question is: do you actually want to change your life?

The people who win made a decision first

The reason some people break in fast and start making real money is not magic. It’s not luck. It’s not “they knew someone.”

They did one thing most people won’t do: they decided they were all in. Burn the boats. No backup plan. No half-trying.

Most people “try” like this:

• Monday: motivated
• Tuesday: kinda
• Wednesday: tired
• Thursday: nothing
• Friday: “I’ll restart next week”
  
  

That’s why you’re stuck. Not because the industry is impossible.

Choose your hard

Let me be real: it’s hard either way.

• It’s hard being broke.
• It’s hard being unfulfilled.
• It’s hard getting rejected.
• It’s hard breaking into medical device sales.
  
  

So pick your hard. But don’t sit on the fence pretending you’re “in the process” when you’re not fully committed.

Either decide:

• No, I’m not doing this (and stop torturing yourself with “maybe”),
  or
• Yes, I’m doing this (and act like it every day).
  
  

You can’t say you want a great life and only try part-time. That’s not how anything works—career, relationships, fitness, any of it.

If you’re serious, here’s the basic strategy to stand out

You don’t need some secret sauce. You need to do what other people won’t.

1) Fix your LinkedIn

• Good profile photo
• Solid “About” section
• Updated experience
• Make it look like you’re someone worth talking to
  
  

And please take “Open to Work” off if you’re trying to land a hunter role. Medical device sales is not “please hire me.” It’s “I create opportunities.”

2) Network the right way
Don’t write novels. Don’t say “pick your brain.” Don’t send a 7-paragraph trauma dump.

Short, clear, intentional:

• who you are
• why you’re reaching out
• what you’re hoping to learn
  
  

And include your number so they don’t have to chase you.

3) Come prepared
The bar is painfully low. Most people reach out for six-figure jobs and haven’t spent five minutes learning what the person sells.

Use the internet. Use ChatGPT. Do basic research so you can sound like you actually care.

4) Do the job to get the job
Medical device sales is:

• prospecting
• outreach
• follow-up
• closing
• emotional intelligence
  
  

If your calls are “going amazing” but you have zero interviews, your calls aren’t amazing. They’re amazing for you because you feel good talking. The other person isn’t getting value.

5) Stop limiting yourself with fake rules
“I have to stay in this city.”
If the offer was big enough, you’d move. So don’t lie to yourself.

“I only want this one company.”
That’s not loyalty. That’s fear. Build options. Create leverage.

Final thoughts

If you want 2026 to be different, you have to stop acting like the same person who created 2024 and 2025; make the decision today—fully in or fully out—because staying halfway is the fastest way to stay stuck, and if you commit, show up daily, and actually do what other people won’t, you’ll look up a few months from now and realize your life finally started moving.

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All the best,

Jacob McLaughlin