A conversation with Dave Scott
Q: Dave, what is one thought you can offer people as they leave behind 2025 and enter into 2026?
A: It’s important that we give ourselves permission to pause and reflect. The little mirror on the side of the car is called the rearview mirror—take a moment and look at it. Reflect.
Here’s the important reminder: we live life through the windshield, not the rearview mirror. However, if we fail to reflect, we risk crashing the car as we move forward because we can lose our way.
Q: Can you say more about losing our way or “crashing the car”?
A: Failure to reflect—and failure to practice gratitude—eventually makes us miserable. There’s a psychological concept called hedonic adaptation, which describes our human tendency to get used to changes—good or bad—so their emotional impact fades over time.
For example, when you get a new car, the excitement is real, but it fades. We are designed to adapt to our circumstances. The danger is that adaptation can push us into what’s called the hedonic treadmill.
You run harder—more money, more achievements, more experiences—but emotionally you stay in the same place.
The cycle looks like this:
Want something → Get it → Feel happier briefly → Adapt → Want more
Can you see how this makes people miserable? My theory is simple: miserable people make lousy drivers. And that’s how we crash the car or lose our way.
Q: This seems incredibly common today. What different pathway would you offer as we enter the new year?
A: I would challenge every person to look in the rearview mirror each night before bed and ask one simple question:
“What was a win today?”
By doing this, you generate gratitude—over something big or small—that happened that day. A win might be landing a huge client, or it might be as simple as having socks to put on that morning.
When the mind focuses on the win, it fills us with gratitude. Gratitude produces peace and satisfaction rather than restless misery.
Take this even further. Think back to where you were 30, 60, or 90 days ago. Take a mental snapshot of where you were then and where you are now. Why not go back a full year and reflect on how far you’ve come?
Q: Why do we have such a hard time doing this?
A: Because our culture is built on instant rewards. It trains us to stay locked in a looping pattern of pleasure. The danger is that pleasure replaces purpose, thrill replaces meaning, and our roots grow shallower and shallower.
Shallow roots lead to easily toppled lives.
We seem more irritable, more easily frustrated, and quicker to lose our cool than ever before. Why? Because our roots are shallow.
Q: What actually deepens our roots?
A: Struggle deepens our roots.
Think about a tree. If water isn’t found near the surface, the roots must struggle—reaching deeper and deeper until they find it. Surface roots lead to toppled trees. Surface people lead to toppled lives.
Q: Doesn’t the Bible speak directly to this idea?
A: Yes—Book of Psalms, specifically Psalm 1, teaches us that grounding ourselves in God’s truth creates rootedness unlike anything the world can offer.
Simply put, when you speak biblical truth out loud and meditate on it, it produces deep roots. Psalm 1 contrasts meditating on God’s Word with meditating on the noise of the world—social media, headlines, and endless information.
The result is powerful and profound:
“That person is like a tree planted by streams of water,
which yields its fruit in season
and whose leaf does not wither—
whatever they do prospers.” (Psalm 1:3)
The power lies in focusing on spiritual things rather than worldly distractions.
Q: What is the ultimate outcome of that kind of life?
A: A life that is full from the inside out.
When we are full internally, we can still pursue external things—but we no longer depend on them for our happiness.
Q: Can you tie this all together for our readers?
A: Fill up on spiritual, biblical things, and you will have the fuel to accomplish great and mighty things in the new year.
Keep chasing external things in hopes that they will fill the inner self, and you will remain miserable.
The choice is simple: deepen your roots, or keep running on the treadmill.
Q: One final thought as we land the plane.
A: This is a sacred opportunity to do things differently.
If you can relate to accomplishing a lot yet still feeling empty or miserable inside, here is my prayer for you:
Father, in Jesus’ name,
I admit that at times I am miserable.
I admit that I’ve been running harder on the treadmill,
only to find myself still empty inside.
Today, I ask You to fill me from the inside out.
I open my hands—palms up—
and I actively receive Your love,
Your approval,
and Your acceptance.
I give You all of me.
I place my hand in Yours.
Will You walk with me into this new year?
Make me new—right now.
In Jesus’ name, Amen.
Dave Scott 
Leave a comment